What is 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 phone simply uses your Wi-Fi network instead of the mobile network, so you can make and receive calls as you would normally.
Your Wi-Fi Calling or SMS compatible mobile will use a Wi-Fi network to connect with other compatible devices within Australia. This is useful when:
- 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 Boost Mobile, Wi-Fi voice calls are protected by the same industry standards as other mobile calls.
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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 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.
Emergency calls in Australia will still work.
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.
If you have mobile network coverage, your call will seamlessly move between the Wi-Fi and the mobile network.
If there’s no mobile connection available, then your call will drop out when you leave Wi-Fi coverage.
No. VPNs are not supported.
No, your phone will make and receive calls over the 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.
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.
If you try to make a call and it fails, you may not have VoLTE enabled. Try turning your phone off and on.
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.