How to enable iPhone Wi-Fi Calling

iphone wi-fi calling

Cellular network can be spotty in certain regions or specific locations inside a building. You might travel upcountry and find your mobile service provider’s network weak and unreliable. Perhaps the cellular network signal may be weak when you are in the basement of a building.

While there is not much you can do to influence the cellular network in your location; the same cannot be said about your Wi-Fi network. You can position your router that the Wi-Fi network reaches all corners of the building. If not you can then boost the network using repeaters and spread the network even further.

If you ever find yourself in a situation where your cellular network is weak (or non-existent), and Wi-Fi network is strong. You can turn to using Wi-Fi Calling instead of making your calls over cellular network.

How Wi-Fi Calling works

iOS devices can make FaceTime calls over Wi-Fi only connections. However, Wi-Fi Calling works differently, as it uses not just your Wi-Fi network, but also a technology called SIP/IMS (IP Multimedia Subset). This technology enables your iPhone to make and receive calls over a typical Wi-Fi network.

Your voice call, or rather voice packets, are not routed to your nearest carrier’s closest cell tower. Instead, they are tunneled through the internet to a controller owned by your carrier and then bounced across their cellular network to the person you are speaking. Your call is tunneled through the internet, and then through your carrier’s controller, then relayed to the person on the other end.

This feature is particularly important to users living in areas with poor cellular reception. It is also useful if the cellular network in some regions in your house or work building is spotty.

Enable iPhone Wi-Fi Calling

Though Wi-Fi Calling is now available on both iOS and Android, iPhones have supported the feature for a long time now. The first step to using this feature is to ensure your carrier supports Wi-Fi Calling, if they do, proceed to the steps listed below:

Go to Settings > Phone > Wi-Fi Calling.

Turn On the Wi-Fi Calling on This iPhone by pushing the slide to the on position.

You will get a pop-up warning you about location data and other information your carrier will get from your iPhone by turning on this feature. To continue, tap Enable.

Enabling Wi-Fi Calling on other devices

Again, subject to availability from your carrier, you can enable additional devices under your iCloud account to make and receive Wi-Fi Calls; even when your iPhone is not accessible. Follow the steps below to activate the feature:

Go to Settings > Phone > Wi-Fi Calling, and if enabled by your carrier, go to Add Wi-Fi Calling for other Devices.

Related: How to enable Wi-Fi Calling on your Android Phone

Related posts

How to Check and Stop Apps Running in the Background on Android

Fix: Google Chat and Spaces not available on Gmail App

How to Set Up Discord on PS5 Console