Good 4G but only one cherry for voice calls

[#1]

I'm puzzled - I get good 4G with PN, but very often it will be impossible to make voice calls as I'm only getting one or two cherries on the meter. This is probably down to my ignorance but I sort of assumed they went hand in hand?

Also puzzled that numbers I dial don't always ring, sometimes folks will just answer, sometimes it goes to a 1571 voicemail and they later tell me they have nothing in voicemail from me.

[#2]

The transmitters (and receivers) for the different bands are separate. It could of course be a problem with your account or sim but you'd have to give more information first.

Do you have this issue everywhere or just in the one location? What is your phone? Is it a dual sim by any chance? If so take the second sim out and put the PN sim in slot 1 and check your settings.

[#3]

Hi

4G/LTE s a data only protocol, to support voice it uses Voice Over LTE  (VOLTE). In essense it is voice over IP.

As there is no standard for VOLTE carriers are free to implement bespoke solutions and charge for acces to the service.

EE have implemented  VOLTE on their network but do not offer it to MVNOs like Plusnet, BT mobile etc.

So with a PN SIM voice  calls will fall back to the EE 2g or 3G networks.

Perhaps EE have an issue with their 2G or 3G networks in your locality or maybe the phone has an issue switching back?

Richard

[#4]

Thank you - that certainly would explain it. We are in a general not-spot, however at certain points around the house or in the garden, on different days, we get different voice strength sometimes up to 3 cherries.

The phone is an HTC 510 single SIM - nothing fancy.

As an aside, what is very odd is that with my old Nokia 5800 (O2 locked) and a Tescomobile SIM I get excellent voice and 3.5G data all over the place. Put that in an Android phone of any sort and it drops to 1-2 cherries - mind you it does have an SAR of 1.11 head and a thumping great aerial in the bottom of the handset!

I suspect that - given what you say about different transmitter/receivers - that it's just one of those things. Elsewhere the data is still good and voice does go up and down according to location. At home is where I see the most extreme variation between the two.

[#5]

@RichardB thanks very much - I've been following @Oldjim and his discussions about VOLTE - and your explanation has been most useful.

I think the relevant part is where you mention that it may be dropping to EE 2G as my wife has an old Samsung flip phone on either Orange or EE and that struggles in the same way.

Not the end of the world, it's just puzzled me why the strengths would be so different - now I know - isn't the internet amazing!!

[#6]

Small list of phones that may support VoLTE https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voice_over_LTE#Devices

[#7]

Sadly that list compared to what EE say is supported illustrates the VOLTE situation.

http://ee.co.uk/help/phones-and-device/4g-calling

Many android device manufacturers claim their products support VOLTE but as their is no standard the networks are free to implement VOLTE as they see fit.