Moto Z3 Not receiving calls on wifi

[kylew.nrrl1d]

What phone do you have?
Moto Z3 play
What plan are you on?
MyChoice
Does your plan include data, or just talk & text?
1GB data

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Issue Description

My Z3 play has suddenly become very spotty about receiving calls on wifi. I’ll often look at it, and it will tell me “emergency calls only” and show that it’s not connected to republic. But, everything still works, data is connected (so it’s not having connectivity issues with the wifi) and I can even make calls via the wifi (no cell reception out here). The strangest part is that even if I’m on a call, it still won’t allow calls in, and will send them straight to voicemail. I’m stumped as to what could do that, how can I call via republic… but not receive a call via republic? Tried everything short of a factory reset.

[jben]

I would start with these Links

1. How to Reset a WiFi Network – Republic Help
2. How to Refresh the Republic Wireless Activation – Republic Help

[kylew.nrrl1d]

Thank you for the response, though those were two of the first things I tried. I should clarify that I’ve reset everything I can up to the point of doing a factory reset on the phone itself. The strange nature of this problem doesn’t make me think a factory reset would be the best option at this point though.

[jben]

Thanks, it’s sometime hard to determine what ‘tried everything’ means, as this often differs from user to user.

• Have you tried WiFi at a different location?
  • This will help determine if it is a phone problem or your internet/router at home.

[southpaw]

@kylew.nrrl1d

I’ll often look at it, and it will tell me “emergency calls only” and show that it’s not connected to republic.

Hi @kylew.nrrl1d,

When the phone is in this state, what does it take to correct it? Does opening the Republic app “fix” this temporary problem?

[kylew.nrrl1d]

Good question: Unlocking the phone generally removes the error, and republic says it’s connected again (though as I said I can be on a call, and it still won’t let calls in).

[kylew.nrrl1d]

I don’t have enough data on that point (we’re not going places often right now)

[jben]

Understood, I have been locked down since the 3rd week in March

• Perhaps if you would run the Republic Diagnostics, found in the RW App under the (?) tab. It will take a couple of minutes and result in a graphic with key pass/fail/warn info that might help (posting a screenshot is best)

[kylew.nrrl1d]

Not too much to see

[jben]

Well, it actually shows quite a bit, and considering 53 passed, no warnings on WiFi … so it thinks that normal WiFi connection to RW servers passed, and you have a good strong signal with no interference from neighbors … therefore WiFi Calling should work both ways.

• When you get the “emergency calls only” failure are you just picking up the phone and unlocking it to get connected.
  • To me this indicates you have poor or no cellular connectivity and the phone has gone into Doze.
• I would try this, keep the phone plugged into charger and in the same place it usually fails … give this a try (as it is the only way I know that will 100% prevent Google from shutting off your WiFi to save battery)

[kylew.nrrl1d]

• Unlocking often fixes it, but not always. Plus again, even if it says it’s connected, and allows me to call out, it may not let a call in. And yes, we have terrible to no cell connectivity, though that hasn’t caused an issue for me in the year I’ve had my Z3

• Actually just did that this morning, and the issue persisted. I’ll post a screenshot that may be insightful. Well call it “the quantum connection” where I’m connected and not connected at the same time.
  

  

[southpaw]

@kylew.nrrl1d

Unlocking the phone generally removes the error […} (though as I said I can be on a call, and it still won’t let calls in).

When you get in this state, please see if opening the Republic app allows calls in. (I’m trying to determine if the phone’s battery manager has put the Republic app to sleep.)

Testing @JBen’s suggestion to keep the phone on a charger and see if doing so prevents it from even getting into this state is also a worthy test, and you probably can’t test both at the same time.

[jben]

I like your term “the quantum connection”, so at this point, I will defer to @southpaw and the good folks at Republic to guide you through this

[kylew.nrrl1d]

Turned off any sort of battery saving/optimization and still same issues.
Tried calling in from my home phone and wife’s phone, but those calls went through no matter what, even when it was saying it wasn’t connected. (apparently it just doesn’t like important phone calls coming through)
Tested it on cell network, and no issues, worked 100% fine.
Testing it on another wifi network tomorrow.

[southpaw]

When you get in this state, please see if opening the Republic app allows calls in, or clears that message.

How did you receive word that the “important” calls weren’t coming through? What did the caller experience?

[southpaw]

Also, as @jben mentioned, it can be hard to know what “tried everything” can mean for different people, so I just want to be sure you’ve tried resetting the network settings and reseating the SIM card.

[kylew.nrrl1d]

Finally got a call to fail. I was in the app when I got it to fail. It seems the app was trying to shove me onto cell networks.
It (in general) clears up when I unlock my phone, so by the time I’ve opened up the Republic app, the issue’s already been cleared.
The lock screen shows the republic app not only running, but connected, though the status-bar with show “emergency calls only”
Battery and app settings all show the app as running unimpeded.
Calls that have not come through have been from different providers (some cell, some landlines)
When calling in it sends them to voicemail, they leave a voicemail which I receive as normal
Reseating the SIM did nothing
Have not tried resetting network settings, but I cannot do that since I don’t even have enough cell reception to call 911 (and yes… that’s been tested)
But I did get this beauty

My two questions from this are:
Why does unlocking my phone generally clear that issue up?
And why do calls out still work in that state?

[southpaw]

Your “Actually just did that this morning” reply to @jben earlier was about keeping the phone on the charger?

What kind of internet service do you have?

Without SIP connectivity, we can’t reach the phone to deliver a call on WiFi. Since your cellular coverage is poor, we can’t deliver a call that way, either.

I believe outbound calls work in this state, because we don’t have to “find” the phone for outbound calls. You also said it generally clears up when the phone is unlocked, so that would make it hard to even make an outbound call in this state.

It’s interesting that it just started recently. You said you did reboot your network… (router/modem). Has anything changed recently about your network? Have you added any apps to your phone recently? Particularly performance-boosting apps, battery-saving apps, “cleaner” apps, or anti-malware apps?

Not that it addresses this problem specifically, but it looks like we may be able to provide you better cellular service with a SIM card that uses Sprint’s network rather than T-Mobile’s. Did you have the same coverage woes on the first phone you had with us?

(I’m signing off for the night soon, but look forward to seeing how things go when you test on an alternate WiFi network.)

[kylew.nrrl1d]

Okay, after a few days testing, and 2 additional wifi connections later, I’m back.
Replying to your questions in order:
Yes I was talking about leaving it on the charger, and that not making any difference.

DSL through CenturyLink (which has been notoriously weak in the 3 years I’ve had it, though has never interfered with my calls, even when we spent 2 months with a corroded wire)

That makes sense

That also makes sense

Nothing has changed in the network recent enough to be related (last change was ~7 months ago, this has only been a problem for ~2 months). I purposefully stay away from performance-boosting apps, battery saving apps, etc. I also hadn’t added any new apps for months before this started (I’m pretty set in my ways, and stick to a comfortable setup)

Never had these issues with your Sprint network cards, but also haven’t had any issues with your T-Mobile cards in the ~4 years I’ve been using them. I do know that my in-laws (who live in a connected house using the same wifi) have had trouble with T-Mobile’s wifi calling and messaging at points, though I didn’t share the issues and just sung the praises of Republic at them. (they are currently not experiencing the same issues as me) (I should add that Sprint doesn’t seem to have much better coverage where I am)

Wifi testing: First network worked perfectly, no issues, always told me it was connected, all good. Other network had the exact same issue as my personal network. Both networks were home networks, not commercial networks.