topic Re: Advice from 2 dozen ThreeUK assistants proven false this afternoon. in Network

Wifi Calling texts not working

aka_pseudonym — Mon, 26 Sep 2022 17:05:50 GMT

I have two iPhones with two different Three numbers. Neither are receiving texts over wifi calling. Both are fine for actual calls using wifi calling. "Three Wifi Call" is displayed at the top so they are connected. Is there a current issue? I've tried rebooting, resetting network, iMessage on and off, wifi calling off-on, and everything else I can think of - even swapped routers! It's very irksome as logging on to some things require that I receive a security code. I have no mobile signal (for any network) where I live. Always worked fine in the past - for years - but I first noticed texts weren't arriving late last week. Any help please?

Re: Wifi Calling texts not working

JonathanB — Tue, 27 Sep 2022 14:26:36 GMT

Hi @aka_pseudonym,

Welcome to the Three Community.

That's very strange, I'm not aware of any current issues with receiving texts whilst on WiFi calling signal.

Just to confirm, does it definitely seem to be relating to being on WiFi instead of mobile signal? Did all the missing texts arrive as soon as you went to an area where you were picking up signal again?

Are both routers on the same service provider, if so, can you potentially test on a friend, neighbour, or family members WiFi to see if the issue persists?

Let me know on the above, and I'll check into the next steps. 🙂

JonathanB

Re: Wifi Calling texts not working

aka_pseudonym — Tue, 27 Sep 2022 18:47:04 GMT

Hello Jonathan - thanks for replying. As you suggested I went to get a signal (1.5 miles away sat in the car) and a plethora of login security code texts arrived on both iPhones. So it was the wifi call element which was blocking them. Back with wifi only all now seems to be working. However one phone took multiple reboots, wifi calling off/on, hard resets etc and about an hour before it would say "Three Wifi Call". Other phone was fine almost immediately.

For reference one is a '6 on iOS 12.5 and the other an 'SE on iOS 15.7. So it's not an iOS 16 bug surprisingly! I also turned off iMessage on both so I could test by swapping texts when I had a mobile signal and that wouldn't turn back on on either - said it needed Mobile Data which it had. So all very, very strange.

Re: Wifi Calling texts not working

JonathanB — Wed, 28 Sep 2022 14:32:47 GMT

Hi @aka_pseudonym,

Thanks for confirming that it's started working again, that's great to hear. Let me know if this issue crops up again. Just to check, did this iMessage issue fix itself too, or is it still not reactivating?

JonathanB

Re: Wifi Calling texts not working

aka_pseudonym — Wed, 28 Sep 2022 18:15:16 GMT

Yes @JonathanB , once the phones had wifi. No idea why they didn't with mobile data. And no idea what caused the problem in the first place. Presumably it was either the Three text server not sending the messages, or it was the phones not accepting the messages, but no idea which, or why, or what messed it up initially, or why it was cured with a mobile signal. (Maybe I'll start a conspiracy theory and blame GCHQ for being slow getting around to reading my texts.)

Re: Wifi Calling texts not working

aka_pseudonym — Thu, 29 Sep 2022 12:56:56 GMT

Stopped working again, so that didn't last long. What is going on? Any ideas @JonathanB ?

Re: Wifi Calling texts not working

PeteG — Sun, 02 Oct 2022 18:54:42 GMT

That's not so good. Can you try placing the phones in Flight Mode/Airplane Mode and then manually turn the Wi-Fi back on to see if it's able to connect to Wi-Fi calling and texting then?

Pete.

Re: Wifi Calling texts not working

aka_pseudonym — Sun, 02 Oct 2022 20:56:41 GMT

@PeteG Both iPhones connect to wifi calling and display "wifi call" at the top. Both phones can make and receive calls over wifi. But neither phone is receiving texts. I would expect - from recent experience - if I take them to somewhere where they can get a mobile signal then missing texts will arrive, and they'll get texts over wifi until the next time they are shut down. Once restarted they won't. But "wifi call" will show and calls will be fine.

Incidentally - and I didn't realise this - turning on airplane mode on the phone running iOS12 switches off wifi too, but on the phone running iOS15 it doesn't.

Re: Wifi Calling texts not working

Skylark001 — Tue, 11 Oct 2022 13:46:23 GMT

@aka_pseudonym. I am so pleased to have found your alarm call, as I have been having exactly the same problem for the last two weeks! I live in a remote rural location, have no mobile signal, so am dependent upon connecting my phone to my broadband via wifi. On my phone, via my wifi connection, I can email, browse the internet, and provided wifi-calling is switched on I can send and receive calls. I can also receive texts from a neighbour whose account is with EE as long as my wifi-calling is switched on. But for two weeks I have not been instantly receiving security codes (verification codes) from my bank, and online sellers. Sometimes their security codes will appear on my phone a day late. Sometimes their security codes have never appeared. Like you, if I drive 30 minutes to my nearest town, where there is good mobile reception, I will receive a "dump" of late texts.

This issue is serious for me as we are dependent upon receiving security codes within the brief window in which they have to be used to verify one's identify (usually within 10 minutes). On Sunday I did the monthly grocery shopping and had to pay a hefty bill at check-out. The supermarket diverted to my bank and my bank required me to type in a security code which they had sent to my phone, but of course the security code never appeared on my phone.

For over a week I have been reporting this to Three via their Twitter account and via their Chat facility. The people operating Three's Twitter account speak good English and clearly understand what I tell them, but they always say they can't do anything to help and that I have to go to Three's Chat facility. When I go to Three's Chat facility I always get someone who doesn't speak good English and, so far, I have had to explain how "Wifi-Calling" works to each one of them - because each one of them has clearly had absolutely no idea of what "Wifi-Calling" even is! One person could only see the "Wifi-" part of "Wifi-Calling" and kept insisting that "for all wifi problems you must go to your broadband provider"! I think I had to tell him half a dozen times before he accepted it that it obviously wasn't a wifi problem because he and I were "chatting" perfectly well via my mobile phone being connected to my broadband service via wifi!

Anyway the problem of not receiving security codes from Three via Wifi-Calling remains and I am at my wit's end. I'm a pensioner and the final years of my life shouldn't be blighted by problems like this. Beside needing security codes to purchase our groceries online, my doctor and my pharmacy contact me by way of texts. Texting has become commonplace. Some sites, like eBay, will not email security codes to customers. So what am I to do?

Re: Wifi Calling texts not working

Skylark001 — Sat, 15 Oct 2022 15:07:50 GMT

We are in the same boat. Please see my message below. The problem still has not been solved by Three. Several of their assistants have promised to fix the problem and to phone me on my landline but the problem remains and nobody at Three has phoned me. If you're still having the problem, could we join forces?

Re: Wifi Calling texts not working

Kevbur123 — Sun, 16 Oct 2022 14:05:13 GMT

Very interesting, has this been solved ? Is marked as resolved though it looks like the problem persists. I had a similar problem but it was related to RCS android and I do not believe iOS supports RCS ?

Re: Wifi Calling texts not working

aka_pseudonym — Tue, 25 Oct 2022 22:34:09 GMT

@Skylark001 I gave up on Three. There were occasional times when security texts would arrive but mostly they didn't. Totally unsatisfactory. And it seemed unlikely Three were going to bother to sort it out. I am PAYG, so I moved to ipMobile who use the EE Network and everything is fine. Used a PAC to transfer my number across. Another benefit is that Three recently jacked up their PAYG call prices from 3ppm to 35ppm - a 1166% increase! 1pMobile charge 1p per minute as the name says. Meraviglioso! (I hope this reaches you and that it stays up on this forum but I have a feeling it might get disappeared!)

Re: Wifi Calling texts not working

aka_pseudonym — Tue, 25 Oct 2022 22:37:58 GMT

Yes, it isn't solved. And it does persist. But I have personally solved it if you read my post to Skylark above. EE's wifi-calling works perfectly.

Re: Wifi Calling texts not working

Skylark001 — Wed, 26 Oct 2022 14:11:03 GMT

@aka_pseudonym, buon pomeriggio!

Thank you so much for your reply! I am answering you promptly in the hope that you will see this message before it may disappear!

Amazingly, only this morning, before finding your reply, I began looking around for an alternative carrier and decided to seriously consider moving to "1p Mobile", partly because my partner (who lives at the same address as myself) has been using their service for the last 12 months without any significant problem (very occasionally a text is a bit late). It'll cost me £30 a year but I know that it will be almost 100% reliable.

The last month has been one of much misery. I've spent literally hours chatting to Three via Twitter, Facebook, their Chat facility, and phone calls. I have often wondered if the staff at Three have any idea of the complexities of transmitting and delivering texts via Wifi-Calling, i.e., how the system physically works!

Thanks for mentioning that Three have recently increased their PAYG call prices by so much. I didn't know.

Thanks and best wishes.

Re: Wifi Calling texts not working

Skylark001 — Wed, 26 Oct 2022 14:16:09 GMT

@aka_pseudonym, may I ask which method you used to get your PAC from Three? (I understand one can either text "PAC" and one's date of birth to 65075, or one can ring 333.)

Re: Wifi Calling texts not working

aka_pseudonym — Thu, 27 Oct 2022 17:27:12 GMT

@Skylark001I sent a "PAC" text to 65075. The code that comes back is valid for 30 days. Once you have signed up to 1pMobile there's a button on your account page to enter the PAC. It was about a five day wait for me before the transfer happened but that included a weekend. They tell you when it'll take place. Buona fortuna!

Re: Wifi Calling texts not working

Skylark001 — Fri, 28 Oct 2022 16:09:22 GMT

@aka_pseudonym, it's now Friday afternoon, and I have not received FIVE texts which I know have been sent to me since Tuesday, which is appalling. I've informed my MP, who has assured me that she will take up the issue with Three executives - probably because in my isolated rural area many others are also dependent on texting via Wifi-Calling. I've also left a review on the page for "www.three.co.uk" on the Trustpilot website, where the majority of reviews are negative. To date there are 21,740 reviews of ThreeUK on Trustpilot, and their average score is shown as currently being 1.4 (out of 5)!

Anyway, I've now got the PAC to take to 1pmobile and am much looking forward to receiving 1pmobile's SIM so that normal texting can resume shortly after.

Molte grazie!

Advice from 2 dozen ThreeUK assistants proven false this afternoon.

Skylark001 — Sat, 29 Oct 2022 15:23:20 GMT

This Saturday afternoon I have removed the ThreeUK SIM card from my mobile-phone and replaced it with a SIM card from 1pmobile. I have then immediately tested the phone and have been able to send and to INSTANTANEOUSLY receive texts via "Wifi-Calling", as well as to make and receive clear calls via "Wifi-Calling".

But for the last FOUR WEEKS about two dozen ThreeUK assistants, on Twitter, Facebook, in the Chat facility, and on the phone have all told me insistently and repeatedly:

1. that there is a problem with my mobile phone

2. that there is a problem with my broadband provider

3. that there is a problem with my router

But these statements by all of those ThreeUK employees have now been proven ABSOLUTELY FALSE.

Did they make their assertions out of ignorance of how wifi-calling and the text networks operate? Or is Three playing some kind of game. Whatever is the answer, ThreeUK's behaviour is completely unacceptable. I have reported my history with ThreeUK to my MP.

It is no wonder that ThreeUK has such a lower rating (1.4 out of 6) on the Trustpilot website.

What a joy and a relief it is to now be rid of the inept Three mad-house!

Re: Advice from 2 dozen ThreeUK assistants proven false this afternoon.

Skylark001 — Sat, 29 Oct 2022 15:33:17 GMT

Correction: It is no wonder that ThreeUK has such a low rating (1.4 out of 5) on the Trustpilot website.

Re: Advice from 2 dozen ThreeUK assistants proven false this afternoon.

sc1999 — Sat, 29 Oct 2022 20:16:15 GMT

I do not think that the purpose of this community is to grammer and spell cheque people's posts.