What is Wi-Fi calling and SMS?
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Wi-Fi Calling and SMS
Wi-Fi Calling lets you make and receive phone calls over a compatible Wi-Fi connection or hot spot. Wi-Fi SMS lets you send and receive SMS.
Your Wi-Fi Calling or SMS compatible mobile will use a Wi-Fi network to connect with other compatible devices within Australia – even when on a Pre-Paid plan. This is useful when:
- You’re travelling overseas
- You want to extend your coverage while indoors
- You need to stay connected if there’s a mobile network outage.
An icon on your screen like a phone with a Wi-Fi symbol next to it means your phone will use Wi-Fi Calling to make or receive calls. Because your device still authenticates with Telstra, Wi-Fi voice calls are protected by the same industry standards as other mobile calls.
What does it cost?
There’s no additional charge to use Wi-Fi Calling on a Telstra mobile and the Wi-Fi data is unmetered if you’re using a Telstra fixed broadband connection.
Wi-Fi Calling allows you to make and receive calls to devices in Australia at no additional charge. Calls to all other countries will need to be made over the mobile network and standard charges will apply.
Calls made using Wi-Fi Calling will appear on your bill as a Wi-Fi Call.
On other broadband providers, data will be metered and charged according to their plan. Your location will be the ‘default regional location’ so you may need to include the area code when calling, for example: 03 9000 000.
Learn about using Wi-Fi Calling and SMS overseas.
Frequently asked questions
Wi-Fi calling is turned on by default on all compatible devices and turning on Wi-Fi Calling will also turn on Wi-Fi SMS. If you disable it you may no longer be able to make calls or send and receive SMS when there’s no Telstra mobile coverage available.
For Apple devices
- Go to Settings
- Select Mobile
- Select Wi-Fi Calling
- Turn Wi-Fi Calling on or off.
To enable Wi-Fi SMS, you’ll also need to disable and re-enable iMessage if it’s already turned on:
- Go to Settings
- Select Messages
- Turn iMessage off
- Restart the phone
- Turn iMessage back on.
For Android devices
- Go to your phone’s calling app
- Select More or the three dots in the top right corner
- Select Settings
- Turn Wi-Fi Calling on or off.
Yes, your MessageBank® and your EasyCall® features such as call waiting, call conference and #100# will still work as normal on Wi-Fi calling.
No. Currently Wi-Fi Calling can only forward calls based on your existing settings. To change your call forwarding settings, connect to the Telstra mobile network.
Emergency calls in Australia will still work whether you’re on a Telstra broadband Wi-Fi connection or another provider’s connection.
Calls made to emergency services while using Wi-Fi Calling outside of Australia are not supported. Use the mobile network when making emergency calls outside of Australia.
We allow you to use any DNS on your Wi-Fi modem. However, this can sometimes:
- Affect how well we can locate your phone
- Affect the accuracy of 1800/1300 services
- Place the wrong area code in front of a landline number if you’re in a region where area codes overlap such as VIC/TAS, NSW/ACT, QLD, SA/NT or WA
We recommend using Telstra DNS for best results.
If you’re on the Telstra 4G network, your call will seamlessly move between the Wi-Fi and 4G.
If there’s no mobile connection available, then your call will drop out when you leave Wi-Fi coverage.
Calls made on Wi-Fi Calling when roaming will drop out when you leave Wi-Fi coverage. Ensure you are back within Wi-Fi coverage if you would like to re-establish a Wi-Fi call back to Australia, otherwise standard charges will apply for calls made while roaming on an overseas mobile network.
No, VPNs are not supported.
No, your phone will make and receive calls over the Telstra mobile network whenever it can. Wi-Fi Calling only kicks in when you can’t make calls because there’s no network coverage. Your smartphone will automatically choose the best connection for a call.
Yes, if you’re using a Telstra Gateway or Smart Modem, then Wi-Fi Calling will work. It may still work if you’ve purchased your modem from another internet service provider.
You’ll need to have:
- IPsec pass-through enabled
- Certificate fragmentation support
In most cases it won’t make a difference. Telstra Wi-Fi Calling uses approximately 100-120Kbps of your broadband Wi-Fi bandwidth.
Your Wi-Fi call may be affected if:
- You have poor upload speeds. Your Wi-Fi call may disconnect.
- Lots of users are streaming video on the Wi-Fi network. You may get a loss of voice quality.
Troubleshooting
It means you can’t use Wi-Fi Calling with your current Wi-Fi hotspot. This may be because the hotspot:
- Uses an unsupported internet service provider
- Has a firewall that blocks Wi-Fi Calling
If you can use Wi-Fi Calling on your network but not on someone else’s, it may be because:
- Their internet service provider is not compatible
- Certain firewall settings are blocking it
- It’s a public Wi-Fi hotspot and it’s set up differently.
When you’re using Wi-Fi Calling, you should see a Wi-Fi Calling symbol on the top of your screen.
If you can’t see the symbol and you get the message ‘Fail to connect to VoWiFi’, then Wi-Fi Calling isn’t possible where you are.
We run performance tests on all phones we sell. We only enable Wi-Fi Calling on devices that pass our tests. We also check ongoing performance of Wi-Fi compatible phones to ensure they’re working correctly.
It could be because you’re in a location where more than one area code is present, such as the borders of VIC/NSW & TAS, NSW/ACT & QLD, SA/NT & WA, and your phone recognises the interstate area code.
For example: You make a call in VIC (03), close to the NSW border. If you don’t add the (03) area code, the default location of NSW (02) may be recognised by your phone instead and inform you that it’s a wrong number.
To avoid this, add the area code to the number you are calling. Otherwise, try moving back into a mobile coverage area and turning the airline mode off and on to reset the location.
If you try to make a call and your 4G drops back to 3G, you may not have VoLTE enabled. Try turning your phone off and on, if the issue is still occurring, chat now.
Your phone will decide if the mobile network or Wi-Fi Calling should be used for calls based on the signal strength and quality of each connection.
- If the mobile network connection is strong, your phone will use it for calling
- If the mobile network connection is weak and there is a strong Wi-Fi connection, it will switch to Wi-Fi Calling.
You can help maintain good call quality by understanding which network your phone uses when at home or work.
Good to know: If you experience poor quality while using Wi-Fi Calling and you’re on the fringe of your Wi-Fi coverage, take a few steps towards your Wi-Fi Modem to help restore the call quality.
Currently, only SMS is supported over Wi-Fi.
Yes, your Wi-Fi Calling or SMS compatible mobile will be supported, provided it's running the latest supported operating system.
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