MWeb blocking MTN VoWiFi connectivity

[deweyzeph]

If anyone is interested, I managed to get MTN Wifi-calling to work on a network that MTN has blocked wifi calling on through a wireguard VPN back to my home's Afrihost internet connection. The big problem with wifi-calling on Android is that no matter what VPN app you have on your phone, wifi-calling will ALWAYS bypass the VPN on your phone to make the connection back to MTN's servers. So using wireguard on the phone itself will not work. You have to setup the wireguard VPN in front of the phone, and for this purpose a Raspberry Pi is perfect. So I installed wireguard on the Raspberry Pi, which then setup a VPN to my home, where wifi-calling always works, and then setup the Pi as a mobile hotspot which my phone then connects to. So as far as MTN can see, I'm connecting to their WIFI calling servers from my home connection, no matter where I am in the world. It works like a charm.

 

[William1102]

If anyone is interested, I managed to get MTN Wifi-calling to work on a network that MTN has blocked wifi calling on through a wireguard VPN back to my home's Afrihost internet connection. The big problem with wifi-calling on Android is that no matter what VPN app you have on your phone, wifi-calling will ALWAYS bypass the VPN on your phone to make the connection back to MTN's servers. So using wireguard on the phone itself will not work. You have to setup the wireguard VPN in front of the phone, and for this purpose a Raspberry Pi is perfect. So I installed wireguard on the Raspberry Pi, which then setup a VPN to my home, where wifi-calling always works, and then setup the Pi as a mobile hotspot which my phone then connects to. So as far as MTN can see, I'm connecting to their WIFI calling servers from my home connection, no matter where I am in the world. It works like a charm.

Wow all that work for WiFi calling , rather move providers cause MTN is just trying to protect their international roaming revenue

Telkom just works whether at home , office or overseas

Used it in Dubai and had a mobile WiFi with a local sim connected to that and vowifi works no issues

 

[deweyzeph]

Wow all that work for WiFi calling , rather move providers cause MTN is just trying to protect their international roaming revenue

Telkom just works whether at home , office or overseas

Used it in Dubai and had a mobile WiFi with a local sim connected to that and vowifi works no issues

I swore an oath a long time ago to never ever ever have anything to do with Telkom ever again. I never want anything to do with them ever again, I don't care how good their products are.

 

[Ma’bad]

Did it work?
And is it still working?

I wanted to provide some feedback on the migration process. I applied to transfer to Afrihost just 10 days before my previous ISP was due to cancel my line. Afrihost informed me shortly afterward that the line was already with another ISP and halted the process. No amount of explaining to afrihost that my line will be cancelled at the end of the month made any difference.
Thankfully, Link Layer (guy by the name of Luvo) contacted me a few days before to retrieve their router, and when I explained my intention to migrate rather than cancel, he assisted with the process after I provided my reference number. I lost signal from my previous ISP at midnight, and by 8 am, the internet started working with Afrihost. Later that night, I had to log in through a web page and activate the line with an OTP.

MTN wifi calling works when signal is weak, worked automatically on my phone , but required resetting of network settings my wife’s phone.
I also managed to activated ipv6

 

[quovadis]

I swore an oath a long time ago to never ever ever have anything to do with Telkom ever again. I never want anything to do with them ever again, I don't care how good their products are.

I disliked (to put it mildly) Telkom too. Never had a days downtime though on my fibre and saved a fortune moving the family and extended family onto Telkom mobile sacrificing nothing. Obviously, my own experience.

 

[DapperDanMan]

I swore an oath a long time ago to never ever ever have anything to do with Telkom ever again.

This could be your brother from another mother:

Telkom - Worst Service Provider Ever!!!!!

I got an IPhone 13 on contract from Telkom recently. I paid for the bill on the 20th of February 2024 using the Telkom App Online Payment Method. The payment did not reflect and I was told to send proof of payment to documents@telkom, which I did on the 24th of February 2024. Since then, no...

mybroadband.co.za

 

[deweyzeph]

This could be your brother from another mother:

Telkom - Worst Service Provider Ever!!!!!

I got an IPhone 13 on contract from Telkom recently. I paid for the bill on the 20th of February 2024 using the Telkom App Online Payment Method. The payment did not reflect and I was told to send proof of payment to documents@telkom, which I did on the 24th of February 2024. Since then, no...

mybroadband.co.za

I've never even had a Telkom Mobile product, my beef with Telkom is still from the old landline days when they made it next to impossible to cancel your landline. I eventually managed to cancel it but it left such a bitter taste in my mouth, especially with their billing department, that I won't go near them again. No company should make it so difficult to cancel their products.

 

[Kelerei]

Reviving an old thread here...

It appears that MTN has removed the geoblocking, I suspect due to some countries having completed their 2G and 3G shutdowns and MTN maybe not yet having VoLTE roaming enabled for all of their roaming partners. Their website has been updated to show that Wi-Fi calling can now be used abroad (Android only though, iPhone users are out of luck but apparently this is imminent™).

Since I have an MTN prepaid SIM abroad that I keep active (for various legacy reasons, and also because having to go through RICA every time I come back for a visit is a proper pain in the arse), I've been testing this out over the past week. It didn't work initially, but after some emails back and forth between MTN and myself, it turned out that VoLTE wasn't provisioned for me on their end: once MTN sorted that out, both VoLTE roaming and Wi-Fi calling started working -- so, if Wi-Fi calling doesn't work for you, this is something worth checking.

What I did find interesting is MTN's roaming order of precedence and hand-off. The phone will choose whichever of VoLTE roaming or Wi-Fi calling is available (VoLTE roaming seems to be preferred if both are available) and then stubbornly stick to it until that option becomes unavailable. So, even if I'm within range of a Wi-Fi network, it will not switch to Wi-Fi calling if it is using VoLTE roaming, but if I switch to airplane mode to force it onto Wi-Fi calling and then disable it, it will stay on Wi-Fi calling indefinitely until I leave the range of the Wi-Fi network.

To force Wi-Fi calling to be always on, the workaround that I have found is to force the MTN SIM to 3G and lower. This works for me because all 2G and 3G networks in New Zealand were shutdown as of March 2026: your mileage may vary in a country that still has active 2G and 3G networks. Due to the 2G and 3G shutdown here, the effect is that the MTN SIM can no longer connect to any roaming partner, and thus it always uses Wi-Fi calling calling when I'm in range of a Wi-Fi network and routes through the data connection of my primary NZ SIM when I'm on the road.

Hope this helps someone.