T-mobile Wifi calling and Windows Phone continue to have problems sending text and picture messages

I just want to say that I am a loyal T-mobile customer. I love T-mobile's philosophy and way of doing business right now. Of course I am somewhat skeptical that the Uncarrier will continue to be so consumer friendly once it has achieved its goals of growing, improving its network and becoming self-sustainable, but I hope that the Uncarrier is more of a culture and less of a marketing ploy. All that being said, T-mobile is not perfect.

As some people already know, T-mo's higher frequency spectrum is not as conducive to strong signals on the inside of some buildings as its two giant competitors' signals. That being said, I live in a well-built building where T-mo's signal just will not penetrate. For this reason I rely on WiFi calling at home 100 percent of the time. I got sick of going outside every time I wanted to make a call when I was with Family Mobile and switched from the MVNO to the real thing (which happened to be cheaper, BTW). As you can probably tell, I am a budget conscious person that loves a value, that's why when I got the chance to upgrade from my bottom-of-the-barrel-barely-a-smartphone, Huawei Prism, to the Lumia 521 I couldn't resist. It didn't matter to me that Windows Phone didn't have as many apps as Android, or that the screen wasn't the latest or greatest---none of that. I just wanted a budget phone with some good enough features that wouldn't easily break. I bought three of them and I really loved them. I even think that my teenager liked it better than he thought he would being that most of the apps he used were available. We were all pleased until we noticed that some of our texts weren't going through, and to top it all off it was impossible to send multimedia messages while at the house. I did all the troubleshooting and noticed that if I turned off WiFi calling and went outside that I could send messages via SMS and MMS without issue. I went through all the rigmarole with tech support, and to make a long story short, I ended up sending them the Lumias and they sent me the Galaxy 2s (which aren't all that either, but that's another story) as a replacement. If I had just done a little more research I would have found this article: Wi-Fi Calling is a black eye for T-Mobile and W... | T-Mobile Support.


And now, many months later, I have become aware that there are many people with Lumias and other phones that run Windows Phone software that continue to have the same issue. Microsoft's Windows Phone and T-mobile's WiFi calling have problems with basic text messages and multimedia messages. They have not fixed this issue as of this date. The Windows Black update (Does the Lumia Black Update fix the text (SMS) ... | T-Mobile Support), nor any other update has fixed this issue. And yes, I have recently tweeted T-mo's customer support, and the issue is still on their radar.

I tell you all this because if you are a T-mobile customer, or thinking about becoming a T-mobile customer, then you had better think twice about getting any device that runs Windows Phone. I will not buy another one until the issues are fixed. Don't get me wrong, if I had a sufficient cellular signal inside my home and at work, I would purchase me one of the nicer, newer Lumias or HTCs that T-mobile is still pushing. But if you are like me, and rely on WiFi calling inside---especially at home---just know that you are opening yourself up to frustration, or at least a little exercise as you walk outside regardless of weather and mosquitoes to get some texts and all picture messages sent.

T-mobile and Microsoft have had months to get their acts together with the WiFi calling and Windows Phone software's inability to properly send messages via SMS and MMS. The problem is still on their radar, but until they come up with a real, definitive fix, all those slick new Windows Phones will be off my radar.

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I have the Nokia 635 now (since September) with the Windows Cyan update to bring the phone to 8.1. I have been using wifi calling all along with little issues to report. I did have an Apple Airport Extreme router that worked fine for calling and texts. Last weekend I picked up my free "T-Mobile Cell Spot Router" (TM-AC1900 ) and did a few problems initially trying to connect calls but after a reboot and updating it's firmware I have had no problems. Good Luck!

The problem has never been WiFi calling unto itself, but intermittent texting and the inability to send multimedia messages while WiFi calling is enabled, which I need where I live for T-Mobile service.

It irks me because I like Windows Phones and T-mo, but they are not listening to their customers.

A true incident worth speaking up

Great job dear.

cool information.

It irks me because I like Windows Phones and T-mo, but they are not listening to their customers.

I like Windows Phones and T-mo, but they are not listening to their customers.