Technology is progressing at a lightning-fast pace. Both carriers and phone makers continue to provide support to keep devices up and running. Based on which phone maker and carrier you are using, the level of commitment of support may vary. After almost 6 years after its introduction, major U.S. telecom carrier T-Mobile is now pulling the plug on Wi-Fi Calling 1.0 features. This has created some casualties on the way.
T-Mobile introduced the Wi-Fi Calling 1.0 feature back in 2015. This enhanced calling on T-Mobile devices to a great extent. However, the U.S. carrier has decided to pull the plug on the feature on May 31st. There’s no surprise here since T-Mobile is already using newer versions of Wi-Fi Calling and that is why it is pulling the plug on the older version. This has resulted in some casualties as there are 13 devices that won’t be able to use Wi-Fi Calling on May 31st.
List of Affected Devices after Wi-Fi Calling 1.0 is Shut Off
- Samsung Galaxy Avant
- Google Nexus 6
- Samsung Galaxy S5
- Samsung Galaxy S4
- Samsung Galaxy S III LTE
- Samsung Galaxy Note 4
- Samsung Galaxy Exhibit
- Alcatel Fierce 2
- Alcatel One Touch Pop Astro
- Microsoft Lumia 640
- LG Optimus L90
- LG Optimus L70
- ZTE Obsidian
Note that T-Mobile has maintained that all the smartphones listed above that will no longer function with Wi-Fi Calling 1.0 will continue to work on the network as usual. Upgrading to newer devices will give you coverage for more features, specifications, and services for sure.
Regular calls over your cell phone use a cellular network while Wi-Fi Calling uses a Wi-Fi network when available. This proves instrumental in clear voice from either end of the nodes and compensates for the poor cellular network in some regions. The Wi-Fi Calling feature is free of charge assuming that you have a Wi-Fi network at your house/office. It is treated as a regular call but uses a Wi-Fi network which is far more reliable than the cellular network.
