How’s that 5G rollout going in your area? Even in 2025, there’s no guarantee you’re going to be able to get reliable cell service everywhere you go, especially if you happen to live somewhere that’s especially crowded or remote — or if you work in your company’s basement.
How to set up Wi-Fi calling on Android and iPhones
That’s where Wi-Fi calling comes in, which routes your phone’s calls and texts over Wi-Fi rather than the connection to your local cell tower. Obviously, it won’t work when you’re in the middle of nowhere, but there are going to be times when you find reliable Wi-Fi is more readily available than cellular coverage.
How Wi-Fi calling works
Phones are configured to use Wi-Fi first to get online, if it’s available. It’s usually faster and offers more capacity than a cellular network (or, at least, that was the case before LTE and 5G became widely available). It also means you’re not using up your data plan on web browsing and streaming.
However, calls and texts continue to be treated separately and are going to be routed through a cell network even if you’re hooked up to a fast Wi-Fi network by default. This is partly because telephone calls have been around a lot longer than the internet and actually use a different kind of technology (circuit switching vs. packet switching).
Circuit switching, which is what calls run on, has traditionally been better if you just want to speak to someone — it’s more reliable and offers lower latency (which is why your phone call might stay connected in a tunnel while your Netflix stream won’t). But as both Wi-Fi and cellular infrastructure improve, those distinctions are blurring (and, of course, we’re regularly using Wi-Fi to make Zoom and FaceTime calls now).
On a phone, Wi-Fi calling manages the tricky task of routing calls and texts through Wi-Fi networks rather than LTE or 5G, and it switches between the two technologies if the Wi-Fi network becomes unavailable, for whatever reason. It requires supported hardware on the phone (which is the case on most handsets now) and support from your carrier network (all the major US carriers are now on board).
You can still use Wi-Fi calling to contact emergency services, as long as your carrier supports the feature — though the location information that’s automatically sent to them may not be as precise as it is when you’re using a cellular connection.
Wi-Fi calling on Android Pixel
Assuming that both your phone and your carrier support Wi-Fi calling, these are the steps to enable it on your Pixel phone:
- Open Settings in Android.
- Choose Network and Internet.
- Tap SIMs.
- Select your primary SIM (usually showing the carrier’s name).
- Tap Wi-Fi Calling.
- Enable Use Wi-Fi Calling.
- You will probably get a page titled Activate Wi-Fi Calling, which asks you to enter a US address in case you need to make a 911 call and suggests you change your location each time you use a different Wi-Fi network so your location is accurate. You’ll also be asked to agree to Terms & Conditions.
- Once that’s done, you’ll be taken back to the Wi-Fi calling page.
- Use the Emergency address item to change your location.
- Use the Roaming preference menu to determine whether your phone should default to Wi-FI calling every time (even if a cell signal is available) or try a cellular connection first before switching to Wi-Fi calling if that doesn’t work.
Wi-Fi calling on Samsung Galaxy
Wi-Fi calling. Right: you can also enable the feature from the Quick Settings panel.
If you’re on a Galaxy phone, the steps are slightly different:
- Open the Phone app.
- Tap the three dots (top right)
There’s also a Wi-Fi Calling toggle button in Quick Settings: swipe down from the top right of the screen, then swipe down on the bottom edge of the buttons panel to find it.
How to set up Wi-Fi calling on iPhone
Wi-Fi calling on an iPhone
The iPhone and iOS offer support for Wi-Fi calling, as well:
- Open Settings in iOS.
- Tap Cellular.
- Choose Wi-Fi Calling.
- As with an Android phone, you may need to confirm your address so that you can be contacted by emergency services if necessary.
- Toggle on Wi-Fi Calling on This Phone.
- Confirm by selecting Enable.
If your carrier supports the feature, you’ll also see an Add Wi-Fi Calling for Other Devices toggle switch — enable this if you want to use Wi-Fi calling on other devices linked to the same iCloud account as your iPhone.
How’s that 5G rollout going in your area? Even in 2025, there’s no guarantee you’re going to be able to get reliable cell service everywhere you go, especially if you happen to live somewhere that’s especially crowded or remote — or if you work in your company’s basement. That’s where…
