MWeb blocking MTN VoWiFi connectivity

deweyzeph said:
WIFI-calling and roaming have nothing to do with each other though. WIFI-calling is completely IP-based through the internet. In theory it makes no difference whether you're sitting in Cape Town or Beijing, WIFI-calling should work exactly the same as a local call.
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Hey we’re on the same side here, I totally agree with you lol..


But the greedy bunch at MTN want you to activate old school roaming and use it outside the country so they can milk you properly, that’s why they block all attempts to get onto WiFi calling when travelling. Trust me I tried so many different VPNs even those claiming to be hosted in SA but still no dice with MTN…

It’s a rather short sighted view from them, Vodacom and Cell C actually earn revenue off me when I’m outside the borders and MTN gets Zero. Now with dual sims and multiple eSims they’re losing so much revenue that they could generate if only they chose to see past their nose lol!
 
R_Factor said:
Hey we’re on the same side here, I totally agree with you lol..


But the greedy bunch at MTN want you to activate old school roaming and use it outside the country so they can milk you properly, that’s why they block all attempts to get onto WiFi calling when travelling. Trust me I tried so many different VPNs even those claiming to be hosted in SA but still no dice with MTN…

It’s a rather short sighted view from them, Vodacom and Cell C actually earn revenue off me when I’m outside the borders and MTN gets Zero. Now with dual sims and multiple eSims they’re losing so much revenue that they could generate if only they chose to see past their nose lol!
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Yes, MTN's implementation of WIFI-calling so sketchy. I tried VPNing into my Afrihost/Openserve fibre connection at home from overseas and that didn't work either, even though MTN wifi-calling works fine from home normally. But I also think that's because it seems like you can't establish an IPSEC tunnel through a VPN.
 
WiFi calling is unfortunately very badly named for what it is, if more people understood then it would completely kill off a big part of the "roaming" market.

Been using Cell C VoWifi for years as I live overseas. Vodacom has been too spotty and MTN doesn't activate for me. Have my main SA number and then sims from the other providers to "try it out" once in a while to see if any of them work better.
 
Confirm if your MTN / MWEB combo WiFi calling is working.
Received a call today indicating that it should be working for everyone within the next 24hrs

Mine is working 100%
 
whatwhat said:
WiFi calling is unfortunately very badly named for what it is, if more people understood then it would completely kill off a big part of the "roaming" market.

Been using Cell C VoWifi for years as I live overseas. Vodacom has been too spotty and MTN doesn't activate for me. Have my main SA number and then sims from the other providers to "try it out" once in a while to see if any of them work better.
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The correct term is Voice over wifi
 
From our account manager from MTN:

Thank you for your patience, I received confirmation from our network team the VoWifi product was not launched for Roaming services.
 
Rickster said:
From our account manager from MTN:

Thank you for your patience, I received confirmation from our network team the VoWifi product was not launched for Roaming services.
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That's sounds about right. It will / should only work in SA.
 
Rickster said:
From our account manager from MTN:

Thank you for your patience, I received confirmation from our network team the VoWifi product was not launched for Roaming services.
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These idiots at MTN don't even realise that VoWIFI has absolutely nothing to do with roaming. It doesn't even make sense to use the word "roaming" in the same sentence as VoWIFI. What they actually mean is that they've blocked VoWIFI from working from non-South African IP addresses to make more money from you using international roaming.
 
deweyzeph said:
These idiots at MTN don't even realise that VoWIFI has absolutely nothing to do with roaming. It doesn't even make sense to use the word "roaming" in the same sentence as VoWIFI. What they actually mean is that they've blocked VoWIFI from working from non-South African IP addresses to make more money from you using international roaming.
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It makes perfect sense, VoWiFi calls still use airtime as well as data.
 
Rickster said:
It makes perfect sense, VoWiFi calls still use airtime as well as data.
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The whole point of VoWIFI is to enable to you make a cellphone call through a WIFI connection, using the data of the ISP that your WIFI connection is using, without connecting to a cellphone tower. It shouldn't make the least bit of difference what country you're in, it should work just as well whether you're in South Africa or Mongolia and it should be billed the same. International roaming is only relevant when you are overseas and physically connecting (roaming) through the physical cellphone tower infrastructure of a third-party network. VoWIFI uses the internet to make the connection so there are zero interconnect charges with third-party networks. It is in no way related to roaming.
 
As I have said countless times before, VoWiFi on MTN works fine for me abroad, and I use it daily. I have more issues with it not establishing a connection in SA than I do outside of SA.
 
Segg said:
As I have said countless times before, VoWiFi on MTN works fine for me abroad, and I use it daily. I have more issues with it not establishing a connection in SA than I do outside of SA.
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I had no such luck. I stayed at 3 different hotels in 2 different EU countries and had no joy whatsoever connecting to MTN's VoWIFI through their WIFI networks.
 
Rickster said:
It makes perfect sense, VoWiFi calls still use airtime as well as data.
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Sort of, but no.

Instead of using the cellular network it uses a data network for making/receiving your phone calls and SMS. Yes, you still pay for the call using airtime, as if you were in SA, however there is no roaming cost.
Cell C used to have a package (might still do) for R200 a month you get unlimited VoWifi calls.

My local (HK, SG, TW etc) sims all support VoWifi, so my numbers work wherever I am in the world using a wifi connection or a roaming prepaid cellular data connection (as VoWifi works on cellular data too, not just Wifi, which is why I say it's so terribly named). They are esim too so they just change on demand when needed.
 
deweyzeph said:
I had no such luck. I stayed at 3 different hotels in 2 different EU countries and had no joy whatsoever connecting to MTN's VoWIFI through their WIFI networks.
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That's why I have two iPhones, the one I use and older SE which just has my Cell C sim in it at my apartment. Whatever gets received on my SA number is just sync'd on iCloud to the "main" phone, so I instantly get my messages etc. without a problem.
 
deweyzeph said:
The whole point of VoWIFI is to enable to you make a cellphone call through a WIFI connection, using the data of the ISP that your WIFI connection is using, without connecting to a cellphone tower. It shouldn't make the least bit of difference what country you're in, it should work just as well whether you're in South Africa or Mongolia and it should be billed the same. International roaming is only relevant when you are overseas and physically connecting (roaming) through the physical cellphone tower infrastructure of a third-party network. VoWIFI uses the internet to make the connection so there are zero interconnect charges with third-party networks. It is in no way related to roaming.
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That how it works on Vodacom, I was a overseas for 3 weeks, with VoWifi on, had a mobile wifi dongle with local sim with me. So effectively always on wifi, used my phone as normal receiving and making calls.
In the end only got charged for one call when dongle dropped, otherwise no roaming charge.
 
3Gee said:
Confirm if your MTN / MWEB combo WiFi calling is working.
Received a call today indicating that it should be working for everyone within the next 24hrs

Mine is working 100%
Click to expand...

I’m currently away from home. Back tomorrow at the latest. Hope it’s enabled on my side.

What you say sounds awesome and gives me hope that I can successfully hold a business call or even emergency calls during load shedding! Will revert back to the forum, fingers crossed!!
 
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deweyzeph said:
I had no such luck. I stayed at 3 different hotels in 2 different EU countries and had no joy whatsoever connecting to MTN's VoWIFI through their WIFI networks.
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Are you able to try using someones hotspot etc? I'm thinking there is port blocking on the hotels side going on with a lot of these issues.
 
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