WIFI Calling Preferences Being Forced to Cellular Preferred

I have Note 10, Note 10+ and Note 20 Ultra5G. They all have this issue. I updated the phones and did factory reset also but I still have this issue.

I rely on Wifi calling at home and with this feature gone the phones are useless.

When will this be resolved or else it might be time to such back to iOS.

I am working with T-Mobile corporate to try to resolve/mitigate my issues. Like most here, I have the Wi-Fi optimization issue, switching from Wi-Fi to cellular, even though I am just feet away from a very good ASUS router. My cellular signal strength varies from 2-3 in the best location to 1 or none in other areas. I want to be able to take my phone anywhere in my house and not lose a call. This originally worked great with Ethernet connected CellSpot routers, but died after a software update. Many updates later and still doesn't work reliably. I since upgraded to ASUS RT-AC86U routers, hoping to have better connectivity and reducing the impact of leaving T-Mobile. Didn't help my Wi-Fi optimization problem, but my kids notice the faster speed when they visit.

Call support was no help. Every suggestion failed.

I have an additional issue that I haven't seen explicitly addressed. I frequently have incoming calls routed directly to voicemail after what seems to be a futile attempt by the T-Mobile network to locate my phone. It takes about 30 seconds for this to happen. The voicemail notification may be quick, or it may take a while to appear. This can happen when in cellular or Wi-Fi mode. It might be after a phone directed optimization takes place, but no way to know for certain.

Being old, I don't game or watch videos (other than news or weather), so my phone is primarily for communication. Since it often fails to communicate, I consider it defective and subject to replacement under my T-Mobile warranty. The problem is getting a replacement phone that doesn't have the problem.

To be certain to remedy this issue on T-Mobile, that means an iPhone.

Since this problem seems to be exclusive to T-Mobile, it is actually cheaper for me to switch to Spectrum Mobile using the $14 per Gig plan. 

If T-Mobile doesn’t have a solution soon, I may have to switch.  

I set my Galaxy S9 to airplane mode, then turned on Wi-Fi and Wi-Fi calling last night. It should never switch to cellular and always be active on the internet. This afternoon, I called my cell from my home phone and got the message 'This phone is not accepting calls, try again later'. Five minutes later I tried again and my phone rang almost immediately. Five minutes later I tried again and after about 30 seconds I was sent to my voicemail. This has to be a phone and T-Mobile Wi-Fi calling network issue.

There is no workaround for this problem, and T-Mobile and Samsung seem unable to fix it. If you need to use Wi-Fi calling when you have poor cellular service, expect to miss a lot of calls.

The only fix on T-Mobile is to switch from a Samsung phone to another cellular phone company product. This probably means a phone upgrade at regular price to fix a problem caused by T-Mobile and Samsung. 

If you like Samsung phones, like I do, the solution is to switch to another cellular provider. I have Spectrum Mobile in my area and their price for a senior citizen not using much high speed data is much cheaper than my T-Mobile plan. The problem is it uses the Verizon network and my S9 is not supported. I will have to get a new phone, but even then if I use less than 1 Gig per month the Spectrum plan cost will still be less than my current T-Mobile plan, even paying for a new phone.

The secondary issue I have is with customer support. My problem was forwarded to Technical Support and I was told to expect a callback. A week later, after no callback, I called in again and eventually was connected to Technical Support. They had me try a few things, but nothing corrected the problem.

I am in contact (I thought) with corporate customer support, but after first contact they seem to be ignoring me as well.

I get the feeling they want customers with problems they can’t fix to go away.

They will soon get their wish.

This will be my last post on the Wi-Fi preferences changed issue. Once I switch carriers, I will have no reason to say anything else.

I have three issues

1. My Calling preference for Wi-Fi calling being changed to Cellular against my wishes. No, my preference didn't change, it was changed without my permission.
2. While using Wi-Fi calling, some incoming calls are missed. This has no relation to #1, since it happens when I am in Airplane mode with Wi-Fi and Wi-Fi calling turned on. My preference for Wi-Fi calling isn't changed.
3. T-Mobile customer support does not have the practices and procedures to support their customers with this issue. T-Mobile and Samsung seem to not have the competence or desire to fix this issue.

I switched to T-Mobile specifically to get Wi-Fi calling. We traveled to Sedona on vacation and stayed in a resort in the Oak Creek Canyon wilderness area. The resort offered Wi-Fi, but there is no cellular service in this area. To use my cell phone, I would need Wi-Fi calling. My T-Mobile phone worked without problems on this trip. In future trips we have stayed in remote accommodations not offing cellular service but with Wi-Fi. My Wi-Fi calling has worked flawlessly.

But with what I have heard called as the Pie update, Wi-Fi calling has been an issue. For a couple of years T-Mobile customers needing Wi-Fi calling due to no or inconsistent cellular service, Wi-Fi calling has been unreliable. No suggested settings, no workarounds, no updates fix or mitigate the problem.

More disappointing is the incompetence I have seen in customer support. T-Mobile practices and procedures, as well as the technology used to support contacting the customer have exacerbated the issue. Customer support does not get back to the customer when a response is promised. Customer support seems to not understand the serious of the issue to the customer.

I have used and worked in IBM customer support. Their system is oriented in getting solutions and keeping the customer informed of the progress of the solution. The support system keeps a knowledge base of known problems and solutions, and reminds customer support when a response is due to the customer. The T-Mobile system seems to offer none of these important features.

I was employed at IBM when Lou Gertsner was hired to do its turn-around. He told us anyone dealing directly with a customer was in sales. I was skeptical, but came to understand what he was saying. It is especially true today when most of our interaction with companies is through the internet. Unless we visit a T-Mobile store, our dealings are with customer support. They don't sell us things, but they can definitely make us ex-customers. Poor customer support and inability to fix or understand the customer's problem makes the customer to look for solutions elsewhere.

I was at such frustration with phone customer support I wrote a letter to corporate customer support and heard back from a corporate rep. I was in negotiations for a solution when the rep seems to have disappeared. No rep, no solution. Only silence.

Although my cellular service is still weak, and very weak or nonexistent in parts of my house, I have turned off Wi-Fi calling for now. I spend most of my time at home in my man cave, and the T-Mobile signal is strongest (usually 1-2 bars) in this room. I leave Wi-Fi on for other functions to work in weak signal areas. This works at home, but I will need reliable Wi-Fi calling on vacations, so I need to find a cellular service that supports reliable Wi-Fi calling.

I don't use 5G now, and probably won't need it for a while. I don't game or stream. But since it is available, I will get a 5G capable phone when I switch. What makes this decision sad is T-Mobile is poised to offer the best 5G C-Band service, as Sprint owned a good number of the C-Band frequencies.

I am looking at 3 Verizon network options

• CREDO - good but not lowest price for my usage, but among the best customer support. Solo por Internet.
• Spectrum Mobile - best pricing, but very new at the customer support business for cellular service. Does have a local office.
• Verizon - Owns and controls the network. Not best pricing. As a previous customer, the support was good.

@manotee well said. Ditto. 

I know this is an old issue, and I have also been seeking a solution for a LONG time, but I have cautious optimism that I may have discovered a solution. Samsung includes a "feature" called "Intelligent Wi-Fi" through its "Knox Ecosystem" that, apparently, attempts to adjust its phones to optimize data usage through the application of artificial intelligence to monitor user behavior over a period of time after which settings are automatically modified, including the prioritization of either wifi or cellular data for handling calls and/or texts. I recently noticed a notification on my handset informing me that it had automatically switched my wifi calling setting from wifi preferred to cellular preferred. For some reason, this prompted me to go to my actual wifi settings rather than my wifi calling settings, after which I tapped the 3-dots icon in the upper right corner and selected "Advanced" Wi-Fi settings. There I discovered a category called "Intelligent Wi-Fi" with a setting called "Switch to mobile data" turned ON, and that contained an explanation saying "Use mobile data whenever your Wi-Fi internet connection is slow or unstable." A little research revealed this article on Samsung's website: https://docs.samsungknox.com/admin/knox-platform-for-enterprise/kbas/kba-360034073174.htm, where I learned that Samsung had experienced problems in the past with users having their phones switched to cellular data against their wishes, causing them to update the software in the manner described in the article. This inspired me to turn the "Switch to mobile data" setting OFF, after which I have now gone several days without experiencing the dreaded automatic switching back to "Cellular preferred" on my Wi-Fi Calling feature. Not enough time has gone by for me to feel completely confident that this issue is resolved, but I am cautiously optimistic. We shall see.

Alas, after several days, my phone spontaneously changed my wifi calling setting back to cellular preferred, so turning off the "intelligent wifi" setting was not a permanent solution after all. I am left to conclude that this "feature" must be baked into the software, and immune from deactivation by the user. Oh well, it was funwhile it lasted.

I have the same problem. I do not have good service at my home so this is a big pain.  I tried the solutions on here and I don't want to pay for an app so the solution I came up with is to put my phone in airplane mode and then enable my wifi. Cellular preferred is no longer an issue. Only down side is I have to remember to take my phone off airplane mode when I leave the house. Oh and my phone is a OnePlus. If that doesn't prove the issue is TMobile, IDK what does

This has been a long ongoing problem.  I have had it happen on many phones including now on my S22 ultra.   From what I've found out it is only on Samsung phones and only on T-Mobile. 

Every time it happens I call T-Mobile.  Yes, it is a PITA but if everyone does it maybe they will take notice.