Can not make or receive phone calls from an specific locale in United States

rpcanam · ‎04-05-2023

My mobile plan includes unlimited voice/data in US.

This is a location specific issue for me.

I can use my ~3 year old Pixel 6 in my home region of Ottawa, Ontario for calls/text. It works well when travel to Montreal and Vancouver as well. But when I travel to Ocean County, New Jersey to visit family, calling in and out works erratically.

* calls in go immediately to voicemail

* calls out end immediately with "call ended" message, including trying to check voicemail

* text/SMS still works

* data still works

* home carrier is Videotron, visiting network defaults to AT&T

In past visits I've been able to get *sporadic* calling-capable connections by turning off Automatically Select Network and manually selecting a T-Mobile or Verizon connection. These may work for 1 call, sometimes more, before I have to select a different one.

That describes how I got through a few stressful visits last year. Now none of my past fiddling does any good.

My phone is updated as of this AM, I've rebooted multiple times, reset to factory for Wi-Fi, BT, cellular, and cleared the phone app cache. Preferred Network Type = LTE, Voice Over LTE is on.

The entire state of NJ is supposedly covered in the online Partner Network coverage map, but no joy.

Is there a known solution to this issue or troubleshooting tips?

JoéCL · ‎04-05-2023

Hello rpcanam,

This sounds like an issue with the VoLTE option.
For the Voice-over-LTE option to work , you need not only to have your cellphone compatible and certified with the VoLTE option, but for your SIM card to be compatible and have the option provisionned onto your SIM card.

Because the 3G network is still available for a little over a year in Québec or in the rest of Canada, you wouldn't notice any problem until you are unable to reach Canadian cellphone towers. Similarly, if it was a problem with service reception in general, your text services and mobile data wouldn't work.

While unlikely, it is possible that your SIM card is not compatible with the VoLTE option, it is very unlikely. The most probable answer to this problem is that it might not be provisioned to your SIM card. A quick call or chat with our technical support can help shed some light on the situation. If the SIM card isn't provisioned with the correct options, we'll be happy to rectify that mistake.

Hope to see you soon! 😸

rpcanam · ‎03-06-2023

I had a chat in early May with support. That concluded that I needed to have my SIM card upgraded once I returned to Ottawa. Supposedly I had received emails notifying my that I needed to upgrade with the changes to 5G in the states....but could not find any record of that.

Anyway, I did go to a kiosk in Ottawa upon my return and the clerk remarked that yes indeed my SIM card was "old". That was in early May.

I am now visiting again in New Jersey and travelling in the same region. Besides one halting phone call I was able to make upon landing at the airport my phone is behaving exactly as described in my original post.

This is beyond frustrating. Despite my plan covering unlimited calling in Canada/US, out of desperation today I thought maybe there was a billing/account issue and if I just paid for a daily travel pass I'd be able to call out. That did not work either, so probably bought that for nothing.

Below are two maps from CellMapper.net. I am located in the middle of this area. The first map is LTE-ATT towers, signal. The second is LTE-T-Mobile. When using automatic network selection my phone always selects AT&T. When I manually select a nearby T-Mobile it does not help.

AT&T

T-Mobile

rpcanam · ‎03-06-2023

This is "Carrier Settings version" : videotron_ca-43000000050.58
2022-12-08