Dropped calls - solution

[vader]

Where i live, the reception goes between 4G and 3G. I used to get a lot of dropped calls - sometimes several per "call". After searching online, this is not an uncommon thing. Everything from iphones to samsung also can experience this. The problem is that with VoLTE, when the signal changes from 4G to 3G it drops the call. The very simple fix is to turn off VoLTE if you experience drops.

In Android, go to settings, Wireless and network, more, Network settings and turn off VoLTE. If you live in a strong 4G area, then you wont have this problem. I actually got this  fix from the iPhone forum of AT&T, so it definately isn't a gemini thing.

Hope this helps people.

[Alius]

Will be keeping this in mind once my Gemini arrives, thank you!

[Pdajah]

I've used my Gemini for.many calls in the last 4 weeks including 45 minute conference calls. Have not suffered any dropped calls. Using UK Vodafone

[vader]

I've used my Gemini for.many calls in the last 4 weeks including 45 minute conference calls. Have not suffered any dropped calls. Using UK Vodafone

If your connection doesn't leave 4G, then it will be fine. It only drops when the connection goes from 4G to 3G while you are talking. If you have really strong 4G signal, then you should have no problems. I found that even in a strong 4G area, if you are indoors you might walk into a room with bad reception and the call drops. With VoLTE off, it doesn't drop, but might stutter a bit (normal mobile in bad reception). I live in a hilly area which has notoriously inconsistent reception.

I suppose I am saying that if you experience drops regularly, turn off VoLTE. I have had zero drops since I turned it off.

[depscribe]

I've used my Gemini for.many calls in the last 4 weeks including 45 minute conference calls. Have not suffered any dropped calls. Using UK Vodafone

If your connection doesn't leave 4G, then it will be fine. It only drops when the connection goes from 4G to 3G while you are talking. If you have really strong 4G signal, then you should have no problems. I found that even in a strong 4G area, if you are indoors you might walk into a room with bad reception and the call drops. With VoLTE off, it doesn't drop, but might stutter a bit (normal mobile in bad reception). I live in a hilly area which has notoriously inconsistent reception.

I suppose I am saying that if you experience drops regularly, turn off VoLTE. I have had zero drops since I turned it off.

What if any effect does turning it off have on cellular data transmission?

[vader]

What if any effect does turning it off have on cellular data transmission?

To be honest, I don't know. A quick check implies that VoLTE is not counted towards your data, but it uses LTE to transmit the voice rather than 3G. You shouldn't use more data with LTE, but it requires  4G to work.

[depscribe]

What if any effect does turning it off have on cellular data transmission?

To be honest, I don't know. A quick check implies that VoLTE is not counted towards your data, but it uses LTE to transmit the voice rather than 3G. You shouldn't use more data with LTE, but it requires  4G to work.

I was thinking more in terms of transmission speed. I sometimes need to send ~15mb photos on deadline, so it's kind of important to me.

[Varti]

I was thinking more in terms of transmission speed. I sometimes need to send ~15mb photos on deadline, so it's kind of important to me.

If you have an active VoLTE call and the call drops when switching from LTE to 3G, this means that the operator you're using doesn't support SRVCC (Single Radio Voice Call Continuity). This feature is still not widely supported among network operators, at least in Europe. In such cases, switching the VoLTE support off is the only way to avoid having dropped calls if you don't always have LTE coverage. Without VoLTE, a feature called CSFB (Circuit Switched FallBack) is used: everytime a call is received or started, the phone first switches to 3G or 2G, then the call is established.

When the call is released, most of the times the phone should register back to LTE: the network can force the phone to do a 2/3G->LTE handover, or it expects it to perform this operation (e.g. all the phones certified for the european Vodafone networks are expected to behave that way). If the network does not implement nor require this, it's up to the phone's manufacturer to decide if the phone should go back to LTE or not.

The drawback of having VoLTE disabled is that any data transmission might continue after a handover from LTE to 3G/2G (depends again on the operator if it supports this), albeit at a slower speed, but if the data transmission is still ongoing there's no way to return back to LTE. This mean that, when a call is dialled/received, the phone switches to 3G and the data transmission might still continue; once the call is released, the phone will remain in 3G until the transmission ends, and only then it can return back to LTE.

As for LTE vs. 3G downlink/uplink speed differences, theoretically in 3G you can go up to 672 Mbpss downlink/168 uplink (8 carrier MC-HSPA), in LTE 300/75 Mbps (until LTE Advanced will be deployed), actually the real speeds are usually much lower. E.g. in UK, LTE average speeds are between 29 and 15 Mbps (https://www.4g.co.uk/vodafone-4g-network-summary/#speeds), in 3G between 6.8 and 5.2 (https://www.ofcom.org.uk/about-ofcom/latest...3g-4g-bb-speeds).

Varti