I would like to apologize for posting incorrect information about using e/os galaxy s9 in the US. My phone is currently making calls and texts on t-mobile’s 3G system which will be offline in July.
But I have found a solution that Taurus previously mentioned. It is jmp.chat. I signed up for the service and have a new working Voip phone number that I can also use for messaging. I created a free jabber account at ubuntu-jabber and use it to access my number. Finally, I had to install the f-droid app store so I could get an updatable version of the cheogram app that works with jmp.chat. The app converted all of my current contacts into cheogram contacts and enabled sip calling on my phone’s dialer. When I can no longer make mobile calls I will simply forward all calls from my mobile number to my jmp number and I will still be able to use my phone for calls and texts. Then just before my current plan runs out I will port my number over to jmp and sign up for a new unlimited plan of which talk and text I will never use.
One advantage the /e/ Samsung users have is that T-mobile apparently doesn’t realize that VoLTE isn’t currently working on these phones, so you could actually subscribe to any T-mobile or T-mobile-based MVNO plan and use it just to have data for the jmp.chat account to ride on. There are a lot of cheap MVNOs to choose from.
Just saw this post now. I shipped it back to e and they said it was in good condition, so I’m getting a refund (not sure how much yet though). I purchased it in Feb 2021, returned it last month in March 2022. So, this is more than a year, but they seemed willing to work with me on it given the unique nature of this situation.
I have a similar problem here in Canada, when I make a phone call it always drops to H or 3G.
But interestingly when I make a Signal call I remain 4G (I’m far from tower now) but suspect it works on 4G+. I have never seen my OnePlus Nord show 5G yet. I have another post about this.
Once I get a chance to meet with my daughter she is on another provider that seems to have VoLTE working. I will try her SIM then and update (both threads).
But a short term work around for above problem maybe to use Signal for VoLTE calling?
Signal is associated to your phone number after all.
The difference in my case is if I set phone to 4G (I should be saying LTE) only. I can not make calls at all, this is what I am trying to figure out.
That’s why I want to try other provider that makes LTE calls. For the most part I know all my phones can make LTE calls because Signal works off the cell tower (not WiFi) in LTE mode…
Unless I am missing something about how Signal works over LTE.
I think Voice over LTE ≠ LTE somehow… I.e. signal over LTE is putting your voice through a different data connection??? I’m really unsure about the latter…
Hi everyone, an update that I too was issued a full refund for this phone, which I was pleasantly surprised about. I kept the phone in very good condition (minimal scratches, sturdy case, etc.), so that may have impacted the refund.
There were good workarounds suggested in this thread. I’m glad to see people are willing to help each other out. The bottom line for me though was that at some point this year these phones would no longer make calls, so I wasn’t interested in delaying the inevitable. I voiced this politely to them in my email, and they understood.
I can’t speak to their decision on selling this phone in the USA in the first place; who knows what they were considering at the time. They only recently started selling here too, which was probably a logistic hurdle in itself to overcome. Perhaps there are some legal concerns one could raise since we only got a short time to use the phone, but at least they’re making amends now. I’d rather a privacy-focused company like this one continue to stay alive and compete against Google.
Also, there are at least 12 users possibly impacted by this (I’m guessing more since there are a lot of views for this thread but not as many chiming in). I’m very glad they are willing to work with the few of us affected in the USA. Even though we had this mishap, I still think they’re a reputable company trying to do the right thing.
I have the same issue
after the latest update bricked my new oneplus nord, I tried to use an s9 as a backup but it cant receive calls because of this. This will be the 4th phone Ive tried to use /e/ with
Yes but this is the problem it needs to work on VoLTE at the end of the day. Up here in Canada we still have 3G and H+. VoLTE is higher quality calling and works in the 4G band (I think 5G too if equipped). Also 4G bring better security of calling, 3G is quite easy to eavesdrop.
