back to article Sorry, I can't hear you, the line's VoLTE

EE has improved the reliability of its voice calls after a bumpy transition to an all-IP mobile network, according to network sleuth RootMetrics. The introduction of VoLTE saw EE fall from the top spot in RootMetrics' network ratings for call reliability. Three and Vodafone beat EE in the first half of last year for the …

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    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: It's only a challenge...

      I have run VOIP-only networks going as far back as the late 90-es. If done properly the quality and reliability is significantly higher than PSTN at a fraction of the cost of PSTN.

      Anyone having issues with VOIP either does not know what they are doing or is trying to cling onto the remnants of PSTN resulting in a "have your cake and eat it" situation. Mental experiment: "Have cake, eat cake, there is no cake". You either go all the way and do it properly or not do it at all.

      1. HereIAmJH

        Re: It's only a challenge...

        VoLTE is a much more complicated environment than your VOIP and Asterisk server. VoLTE has to be able to hand off to PSTN and other carriers as the cell handset moves between towers and changing signal coverage. What do you do when the subscriber moves from a strong LTE signal to a 1xRTT or a 3G with no available bandwidth? What do you do when the subscriber roams out of your coverage area? A VOIP solution would be to just drop the call and force the caller to reconnect. That is not an acceptable solution for VoLTE.

    2. ARGO

      Re: It's only a challenge...

      >the sound quality is a massive step up from traditional telephony

      Not so much in the UK; all the mobile networks except O2 were using WB-AMR before VoLTE came along. And the VoLTE codec is.... WB-AMR. So don't expect a bump in quality from VoLTE.

      Maybe in a year or two we will get the EVS codec. But don't hold your breath - when did you last hear a UK network advertise on voice quality?

      1. Older Not Wiser

        Re: It's only a challenge...

        No need to hold breath and looks like EE do understand the importance of voice quality....

        http://newsroom.ee.co.uk/ee-launches-enhanced-hd-voice-to-enable-highest-quality-phone-calls-on-the-latest-smartphones/

        https://www.ispreview.co.uk/index.php/2017/09/ee-uk-launch-enhanced-hd-voice-calling-4g-network-wifi.html

        Etc.....

      2. A Non e-mouse Silver badge

        Re: It's only a challenge...

        But don't hold your breath - when did you last hear a UK network advertise on voice quality?

        What we really need is for the carriers to interconnect at something other than G.711.

        1. myithingwontcharge

          Re: It's only a challenge...

          "What we really need is for the carriers to interconnect at something other than G.711."

          Um, if you've used a phone to call cross network in the last year, you'll realise they already do! (cross network HD voice seems to work fine now) :-)

    3. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: It's only a challenge...

      This is only required because the 4G standards committee decided not to put a circuit switch voice profile into the spec. Many shook their heads in sorrow...

      They very nearly did the same thing with 3G, but chickened out at the last minute. Just as well, coz initial 3G roll outs were woefully under-provisioned. and then we'd have remained dependent on 2G for voice calls to the present day (unless that hypothetical disaster spurred them into putting voice back in to 4G).

      I honestly don't know why circuit switched voice is looked down on so much. Huawei showed how you could wrap circuit switched calls up within IP once you'd got the call connected back to the NOC where you can have as much bandwidth as you like for the price of a few Ethernet switches. So circuit switched isn't expensive like it used to be.

  2. ARGO

    Correction needed

    >Three and Vodafone beat EE in the first half of last year for the reliability of calls – and both are relative laggards in implementing VoLTE

    Nope. Three were the *first* UK network to deploy it. See the Reg's own report from September 2015

    But that means they've had longer to iron the bugs out.

    1. Tom7

      Re: Correction needed

      They may have been first - but two and a half years later, they still only support a handful of handsets on it, and even then only when you buy them directly from Three.

      1. ARGO

        Re: Correction needed

        A handful? Over 50 Androids last time I checked, including over a dozen from Huawei or ZTE that can be sourced from anywhere and will configure themselves to the network being used.

        Plus all the iPhones from 6 onwards will work regardless of source (Apple's "carrier bundle" autoconfig has always been rather powerful). Some of the later ones get WiFi calling too.

        1. Tom7

          Re: Correction needed

          Hmmm, so they've updated the list since I looked a couple of months ago. Still no good if you bought your own handset.

          1. ARGO

            Re: Correction needed

            I've got a (non-custom) Mate 10 Pro which works just fine.

            It's the dual SIM version and does VoLTE on 3 and EE at the same time.

            And WiFi calling on both as well.

            I can't even confuse it by swapping the SIMs around.

            Clever folk these Chinese!

          2. handleoclast

            Re: Correction needed

            @Tom7

            Still no good if you bought your own handset.

            Try the Three in Touch app. Supports VoLTE and, if you're connected to Wifi (or even cabled) VoIP. However, it may not work on your unsupported handset, but you won't know until you try.

            1. HollyHopDrive

              Re: Correction needed

              @TOM7 - I've one a oneplus 3T and their "three in touch" application is shocking - needs rebranding to "out of touch". Used to be just about usable on my Nexus 6 but they haven't updated it in ages and its showing that fact by not really working, also, its fugly as hell.

              Shame, its the only fly in the ointment with three these days. But I'm not going to apple just to get wifi calling, thats a walled garden I'm not up for playing in, but each to their own.

              1. NonSSL-Login

                Re: Correction needed

                I also have a OnePlus 3T which can handle VOLTE but it won't work on Three as they refuse to add it to the Volte list. No reason for them not to add the support other than the fact they don't sell the phone themselves.

                The Three in touch app is utter shite and it annoys me that I am expected to use it on a phone that supports Volte natively but is nerfed by the Three network.

                From what I understand, other networks do it too. So it's not as if I can switch to another provider to get Volte working on my current phone. My mobile pet peeve beyond the obvious broken SS7 protocol.

                1. ARGO

                  Re: Correction needed

                  >it won't work on Three as they refuse to add it to the Volte list. No reason for them not to add the support other than the fact they don't sell the phone themselves.

                  A network can't just add a device to a list to make it work. All the required changes are at the device end of the system. The network settings are what they are - if the device is set up correctly it will work regardless of whether the network lists it as supported. For example there are a bunch of Xiaomi handsets that will quite happily do VoLTE on 3 and EE.

                  The device vendor needs to install the correct settings and (ideally) do interop testing against each network. So obviously they prioritise - in the case of OnePlus they've prioritised other countries as their tame UK network doesn't have commercial VoLTE yet. Their next model is supposed to get UK VoLTE, but the networks still won't list it as supported.

                  (In case you're wondering, I work in device test and have spent the last few years on VoLTE)

                  1. blahblah

                    Re: Correction needed

                    I picked up a cheap Maze Alpha handset from Amazon a couple of weeks ago..displays that VoLTE working on EE. I was quite surprised as I'm sure it's unlikely to be a tested and supported device on any UK network being a pretty obscure chinaphone.

      2. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        "only when you buy them directly from Three"

        Not true for Apple - standard handset (the only one you can get) works just fine.

        1. Tom7

          Re: "only when you buy them directly from Three"

          Oh, good. So the only way to escape the Three walled garden is... to... join Apple's walled garden?

    2. Andy_111

      Re: Correction needed

      They may have launched earlier, and have had more time to iron any bugs out, but they are still only taking less than 5% of calls through it, which is pretty poor compared to 95% on EE.

      They still need to do something to improve the volumes, whether that be handsets or something else, capacity? core network?

  3. Christian Berger

    The problem probably isn't IP

    The problems probably arise in SIP and it's hugely complex implementations in VoLTE which allow you to have handovers to UMTS and even GSM during a call, as well as authentication via the 56 bit DES Key in your SIM, instead of a password. (OK, I'm overdramaticing, SIMs are slowly switching over to tripple DES)

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: The problem probably isn't IP

      You get an upvote from me. It’s a mess and it’s pretty awfully documented. For those suppliers integrating into the edge of the core network, it’s a nightmare.

  4. choleric

    re-VoLTE

    If at first you don't succeed, dial, dial again?

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