T-Mobile is about to turn off Wi-Fi Calling to a number of older phones. Have you been prudent enough to see the day when your phone's been made obsolete? Well, at least in one small factor.
The carrier began texting owners of affected devices (as seen here in this Reddit thread) this week with the announcement that support for the feature on their device was ending with a link to this support page explaining that the cellular industry is essentially done with version 1.0 of the Wi-Fi Calling standard, which came out in 2015.
The list of 13 devices includes:
- Alcatel One Touch Pop Astro
- Alcatel Fierce 2
- LG Optimus L70
- LG Optimus L90
- Microsoft Lumia 640
- Google Nexus 6
- Samsung Galaxy Note 4
- Samsung Galaxy S5
- Samsung Galaxy S4
- Samsung Galaxy S III LTE
- Samsung Galaxy Exhibit
- Samsung Galaxy Avant
- ZTE Obsidian
For those rocking a T-Mobile, T-Mobile Prepaid, or Metro by T-Mobile SIM in any of these phones, Wi-Fi Calling will no longer work after May 31. You can still use Wi-Fi in pretty much in any other capacity — like, to access the internet — and can make calls via the cellular network but if your device does not support Wi-Fi Calling 2.0 or later, that particular ability is going away.
T-Mobile won't be offering specific relief in terms of upgrades or plan changes to those affected (and aggrieved). If you want to use your old device while traveling abroad but rely on Wi-Fi for free calls to the United States, the company suggests that you take advantage of its international cellular amenities.
Thanks: Jman100