You may be in for a shock, unfortunately. As I understand it, VoLTE can’t be implemented in Samsungs running custom ROMs due to their proprietary shenanigans, and VoLTE is now a requirement for activation on every U.S. carrier (and therefore every MVNO), and phone calls won’t be possible without it, especially with AT&T’s underlying network (no 2G, no 3G left to fall back to).
This is unless there have been recent developments that somehow made VoLTE possible on Samsungs.
Awh, man. That sucks. The whole reason I finally decided to get a custom ROM is because it’s finally compatible with good quality hardware. Maybe there is another high end phone available, but I’ve been using the Samsung Note for years and appreciate what it has to offer.
I saw people mentioning the VoLTE thing, but I thought it just reduced call quality (can’t use data and call at the same time). It didn’t realize it was a deal breaker. And I didn’t even learn about that until I purchased the phone and started configuring it.
Is there a way to ask the e/os developers about this issue directly? To get an idea if there is any hope for a solution? I’m guessing I’ll encounter this same problem with legacy/os?
What do you think?
Yes, VoLTE is a hard requirement in the U.S. now. AT&T, since they went VoLTE-only, has even blocked SIMs when they detect them being used in non-VoLTE phones, or so I’ve read.
Samsung is the only unlockable phone I’m aware of that has the VoLTE problem with a custom ROM installed. You can certainly email /e/OS Support and ask about the current status.
Presumably, you could revert to standard Android, with Samsung’s proprietary firmware, but I don’t know if there are any special problems there. It would be a shame to give up /e/OS, though. Even so, as the phone is a European variant, who knows if AT&T will authorize it, or if it has been certified for AT&T VoLTE.
There are plenty of other good phones to choose from if it comes to that. As long as the model (and specific variant) you pick is certified for VoLTE with the particular carrier you want, you shouldn’t have a problem.
One other possible solution if you want to keep the Samsung with /e/OS, is to use it with a data-only SIM, then activate an XMPP account with JMP.chat (calls, SMS, MMS through XMPP). If the Note 10 is regarded by the carrier as a tablet, it will be easier to get data-only authorized by the carrier. If not, you’re looking at needing an international data-only SIM for roaming in the U.S. (so the U.S. carrier won’t complain), or else sign up to get one of JMP’s physical data SIMs (there’s a waiting list). That way, connections are possible via JMP on both wireless and while roaming on a U.S. network. (I have both JMP chat and their new data SIM; they work for most situations, but the call quality might not be superb.)
There are several threads on the above options which you can read, so I won’t derail this particular thread any further. Apologies for not noticing sooner that you were using a Samsung.
Hi there Manoj,
I want to make a proposal to update this link: https://doc.e.foundation/devices with a big, bolded notice to say that all Samsung devices are inoperable in the USA because of the VoLTE issue.
It would have saved me a headache and might help others, as well as keep a good reputation for e/os.
I had been waiting for degoogled phones to be compatible with better hardware and I am a long time user of Samsung Note models. So when I saw it on the approved list, I purchased an unlocked Note 10 plus with the correct model number. I installed e/os successfully and after a couple weeks of configuring and getting it ready for use, was disappointed to discover that there is no way to make the phone work as a phone in my country.
Is this the right place to post this? Or somewhere else?
Checking if there are other users from the US complaining about VoLTE on Samsung devices. If there is a consensus, we can add a warning on the Samsung device specific pages.
Based on members in this community and personal research, it appears Samsung is keeping the code for enabling VoLTE secret. In the US now, all the major cellular networks have switched over to VoLTE. So all the Samsung e/os owners cannot use their device.
If there is anyone out there who has found a work around, I would love to know. My research hasn’t yielded any results.
Also, if you only add the warning to the Samsung specific pages, there might be people who miss it.
Wanted to check with users if VoLTE works on Samsung phones with custom ROM’s ? I got feedback that it does not work.
Ho. Mobile italy uses vodafobe network works fine
When I do a little web searching, I find the same news everywhere. Samsung uses proprietary VoLTE implementation, which is hard to reverse engineer. There seems to be no one planning to fix this:
https://www.reddit.com/r/LineageOS/comments/t5v2dw/helpvolte_support_on_lineage_os_181_samsung_s10/
Although that might change as 3G is getting shutdown in Europe these years. It looks like at the latest, 2025 there will be no country that has it. And hence Samsung phones will be nonfunctional if they have a custom ROM.
https://blog.telegeography.com/3gs-sun-is-setting-in-europe
I feel new potential e/os users would appreciate a warning before investing a lot of time and money in a phone that might now work now and definitely won’t soon.
What phone do you use?
If you have a Samsung phone and the VoLTE works. Please share more. You might have the solution many people need!
I’m sorry you had to go through all this. What a freaking hassle. I almost got a Samsung while they still sold them for the US market in the /e/OS online store. I’m glad I delayed my purchase and ended up with a phone without this issue. I barely lucked out.
I hope you get your situation worked out one way or the other. I hope your life is good besides your phone issue!
Thanks for your concern.
Everything worked out for me. No hard feelings. I’m still very grateful for the work being done here. It’s very important to have a opensource ROM that is user friendly, and this is the closest I’ve seen to it. I suspect there is enormous amount of work going on to make it happen.
Fortunately for me I’m only out $2 USD for some tracefone SIM cards. All the weeks I spent working on this are not a complete waste. I now know how to install e/os and reinstall the original firmware. I also know how I like to configure my custom ROM best. When I get the right phone, next time everything will be much smoother as a result of all this work. So in the end, the mistake was actually valuable.
But this might not be the attitude for others, hence the reason I am attempting to get the developers to make a clear warning for the Samsung phones. Unfortunately, I haven’t yet been successful.
Some of you may or may not have come across this issue and I can only speak to Motorola phones but if your phone has never been on a given carrier before you install /e/ or any alternative, de-Googled OS WITHOUT INSTALLING THE GOOGLE PLAYSTORE, you will not be able to get on the network - I have to assume that this is some sort of agreement between Google and the major carriers. The workaround is to install the stock OS onto your phone or a different OS that allows you to install GAPPS (never had any luck installing GAPPS with /e/), connect to your carrier, make and receive a few phone calls / make and receive some texts, connect to carrier data and make sure everything is working, then install /e/. I had this issue with a new Motorola cellphone when I installed /e/ before I had installed the sim card and I just had that issue again when switching my phone from AT&T to Verizon. In both cases, the issue was resolved by using the Motorola recovery software to install the stock ROM, putting the phone on the network and reinstalling /e/.
Regain your privacy! Adopt /e/ the unGoogled mobile OS and online services
I’m aware of this problem, but my experience is different than yours - and, it’s not a general problem with /e/OS or other deGoogled custom ROMs, but depends solely on the 4G LTE frequencies supported by the device and carrier, and the carriers’ network and APN settings. You do not need a stock Android with Google Mobile Services, Play Store and other GApps to set it correctly.
LineageOS contributors mentioned it too, placing a call in stockrom somehow enabled VoLTE with the non-stockrom (if the device is generally able to do so). The technical details evade me, but there are a few identifiers you send on IMS registration that a provider can use to filter
I fall into that “screwed by Samsung VoLTE” due to proprietary nonsense category. I presently have a Samsung S9 Dual Sim International SM-G960F running on LineageOS 17.1. I was using LineageOS just fine until AT&T dumped me (via MVNO Red Pocket Mobile) last year in spring. After that I was forced to T-Mobile as my effort to convert to Verizon failed. T mobile covered has lots of holes if you aren’t super urban and my service quality sucks to the point where I’m compelled to change.
Back in 2022, after a very disruptive and lengthy service interruption, and despite me scouring the internet forums, it was unclear that there was this Samsung / VoLTE relationship. Since then, I mistakenly bought another Samsung (loving the form factor) S10e and started the bootloader unlock and the like only to discover that the SM-970U or U1 aka G970U didn’t work with VoLTE. I found that there was an unofficial build with the US versions (which is a Qualcom Snapdragon processor), but it was reported to have the VoLTE limitation. My workaround was going to be to try to find another dual sim Samsung phone (like I did in the past with my international Dual Sim Galaxy S9), until I FORTUNATELY found THIS THREAD. I have read another thread that suggests that this VoLTE nonsense is a matter of Qualcom (Snapdragon processor manufacturer) wants X number of dollars or cents for licensing but somebody didn’t want to pay (so we’re subsequently screwed as hardware owners). I have since decided to try the Pixel 4a (maybe 5G version) and/or the Moto G7 Power. I intuitively hate Google for all of their privacy violation and bad political influence and techocrisy but now it seems I have a reason to start hating Samsung as well. Ironically the harder they squeeze it seems the more determined it makes me to want to be free of their BS. Although I think the carriers also have quite a bit to do with this micromanagement and planned obsolescence as well. So yes, please put big big big warning labels for us dumb and lazy and entitled Americans that think that we have a right to have custom Samsung ROMS.
I can’t say that I have a solution but I’ve been running LineageOS 17.1 on a Samsung S9 Dual Sim international model 960-F on T-Mobile’s network through Red Pocket after AT&T gave me the boot. The interesting thing is that under “Mobile Network” there is NOT a menu option for VoLTE, but rather it defaults to “Preferred network type LTE (recommended)”. I perceive that T-mobile may have engineered a workaround, maybe being the underdog of the big boys as far as carriers are concerned. After all, it’s still 4G LTE tech. As I understand (or infer or perceive) this VoLTE is more or less a matter of coms protocol and the carriers have some latitude to manage these at the network level. Xmodem, Ymodem, or Zmodem. It’s all 1’s and 0’s and a bunch of crap. Give me my C64 again. The Delorian was probably much better of stuck in 1985, 1955, or maybe even 1885. The fate of all mankind, it seems, is in the hands of fools.
I live in the countryside. So many holes in the T-Mobile network. I wish I could use them.
After all the hassle, I’ve decided to shelf this project for now. I’ll be back in a year or two. I’m only interested in switching if I can have quality hardware that just works. This will be my only phone. I cannot mess around with service interruption.
I hoping either the Samsung issue gets sorted out or even better we get some ROM developers in the US, who make this happen.
Motorola is having a sale on the 2022 Edge which has a Lineage OS and, I think, an /e/ ROM as well.