wifi calling intermittently working. (Soft fix)

[jsz]

I've looked into countless threads of this issue but no one at netduma or netgear has seem to figure out the solution or at least provide an update via firmware.

Today I swapped out my modem for a DOCSIS 3.1 variant and for some reason this triggered WIFI calling to work intermittently (Until I reset router) but I cant figure out why as trying to replicate the steps resulted in WIFI calling to be blocked again. I had disabled QoS from functioning prior to the swap (Bufferbloat setting) and I'm not sure if that has anything to do with it as I did enable it before resetting.

The rest of my settings for wan include 

-Disable IGMP proxying

-Disable SLP ALG proxying 

both checked which I assume was the default.

I've only had this router for a week and I was advised to open apple ports 500 and 4500, but that hasn't exactly solved anything so.. I'm not sure whats causing this but all I know is swaping the Modem for some reason "allowed" wifi calling to work if that helps contribute a fix. 

I will likely return the router if I cant find a solution that is static for multiple devices.

 

Edit: WifI calling showed up again after disabling QoS for the 2nd time and unpluging WAN.

Edit2: This is 100% reproducible. It's an issue with DUMAOS QoS setting and Netgear WAN not resetting.  Enabling QoS (DUMA OS side of things) removes the ability to make WIFI calls. Please fix?

dis

[Netduma Fraser]

Hey, welcome to the forum!

This is an issue we have identified and so we are working on fixing this so it should be good for 3.0. I would suggest you sign up to the XR beta so you can get into it sooner and then let us know if it is still an issue: http://www.netgearinnovation.com/dumaos-beta/index.html

[jsz]

Thanks. I know a lot of the early post seemed to have indicated a net gear issue but this is clearly an issue with dumaOS from how i can replicate it.  I just wanted to make sure you guys are aware of it.

hopefully the software doesn't take too long.

[The0dark0one]

Ugh, I've been battling WiFi calling issues so much lately since I've been at home a lot lately with a bad cellular signal.  Are you saying that you got it to work by disabling QoS on the router?

[Netduma Fraser]

57 minutes ago, The0dark0one said:

Ugh, I've been battling WiFi calling issues so much lately since I've been at home a lot lately with a bad cellular signal.  Are you saying that you got it to work by disabling QoS on the router?

Yes that's right, would also be one of my suggestions to see if it helps.

[jsz]

On 6/5/2020 at 12:29 PM, The0dark0one said:

Ugh, I've been battling WiFi calling issues so much lately since I've been at home a lot lately with a bad cellular signal.  Are you saying that you got it to work by disabling QoS on the router?

Disable QoS from the bufferbloat settings menu then unplug WAN and replug. Should work after that assuming your cellular service wants to switch due to low signal. I have an IPhone so I just use the quick settings menu to turn off my LTE to make sure it's working as my signal is borderline good/bad.

Not sure why the QoS is conflicting, but its very annoying considering how laggy the current dumaOS is when changing settings, though that might be sort of a hardware limitation of the R7800/Qualcomm stuff..  Granted Synology's RT2600AC is a bit faster with almost identical hardware.

 

[Netduma Fraser]

3 hours ago, jsz said:

Disable QoS from the bufferbloat settings menu then unplug WAN and replug. Should work after that assuming your cellular service wants to switch due to low signal. I have an IPhone so I just use the quick settings menu to turn off my LTE to make sure it's working as my signal is borderline good/bad.

Not sure why the QoS is conflicting, but its very annoying considering how laggy the current dumaOS is when changing settings, though that might be sort of a hardware limitation of the R7800/Qualcomm stuff..  Granted Synology's RT2600AC is a bit faster with almost identical hardware.

Make sure you sign up to the 3.0 beta so you can let us know if it is fixed in that version or not, if not then it gives us the perfect opportunity to fix it.

[4KVidTech]

I am having a similar issue. I have gone through hours of testing with AT&T and Apple and no one can solve it. I did not think about looking at the WIFI as the culprit. Turned off QOS and everything started working. Console ping dropped down from 196 to 31. I am using the new 3.0 firmware because some smart home devices fall offline and this was supposed to be fixed in the new version. Starting to wish I had returned it when I had the chance but I'm not buying another WIFI router.

For a quick reference the QOS settings I had set were 3 devices with priority for video calls. Nothing was set as far as bandwidth allocations or anything. Just prioritization. Maybe the bandwidth allocation is a better path but disabling QOS appears to have fixed my issue. 

[Netduma Fraser]

6 hours ago, 4KVidTech said:

I am having a similar issue. I have gone through hours of testing with AT&T and Apple and no one can solve it. I did not think about looking at the WIFI as the culprit. Turned off QOS and everything started working. Console ping dropped down from 196 to 31. I am using the new 3.0 firmware because some smart home devices fall offline and this was supposed to be fixed in the new version. Starting to wish I had returned it when I had the chance but I'm not buying another WIFI router.

For a quick reference the QOS settings I had set were 3 devices with priority for video calls. Nothing was set as far as bandwidth allocations or anything. Just prioritization. Maybe the bandwidth allocation is a better path but disabling QOS appears to have fixed my issue. 

We are aware of the issue and looking into it, I'm confident we will be able to get it resolved.

[JxRYE]

Has this been fixed? I am still not able to get my wifi calling to work. (pretty rough since I have a metal roof and nearly no signal in my home). It will be nice to not have to turn my iphone wifi off and stand in my driveway to make calls!

[Netduma Fraser]

13 minutes ago, JxRYE said:

Has this been fixed? I am still not able to get my wifi calling to work. (pretty rough since I have a metal roof and nearly no signal in my home). It will be nice to not have to turn my iphone wifi off and stand in my driveway to make calls!

Hey, welcome to the forum!

Sorry to hear you're having this issue. Can you disable Private Mac addresses on the WiFi please and see if that works?

1. Open the Settings app, then tap Wi-Fi.
2. Tap the information button next to the XR WiFi network
3. Tap to turn Private Address off. 

[DmyTgregu]

@Netduma Fraser I own an xr500 running the 3.0 beta and I tried disabling qos and turning private network on my wifi connection off and still can’t manage to make a wifi call. I even opened some ports I heard can help to no avail. I posted about this on the beta duma os forum as well but that was quite a while ago. Any updates on this issue? My wifi calling works fine on other peoples networks with my same isp so I have to assume it’s the router. Thanks 

[Netduma Liam]

10 hours ago, DmyTgregu said:

@Netduma Fraser I own an xr500 running the 3.0 beta and I tried disabling qos and turning private network on my wifi connection off and still can’t manage to make a wifi call. I even opened some ports I heard can help to no avail. I posted about this on the beta duma os forum as well but that was quite a while ago. Any updates on this issue? My wifi calling works fine on other peoples networks with my same isp so I have to assume it’s the router. Thanks 

Could you please completely disable QoS from the three-line menu in Congestion Control and see if this then resolves the issue?

[DmyTgregu]

4 hours ago, Netduma Liam said:

Could you please completely disable QoS from the three-line menu in Congestion Control and see if this then resolves the issue?

I thought I did disable it? On the qos tab under congestion control there were 3 toggles: always on, auto-enable and off. I chose off. Is there another method to completely turn it off?

[Netduma Fraser]

1 minute ago, DmyTgregu said:

I thought I did disable it? On the qos tab under congestion control there were 3 toggles: always on, auto-enable and off. I chose off. Is there another method to completely turn it off?

Yes click the  icon top left of the Congestion Control panel and you disable it

[JxRYE]

Nothing has worked that well. I have taken every step that I have been able to find and we still have issues with wifi calling. The one thing that helped was when I updated the software on the 500. It does not always work and is often bad, but I can make and receive some calls (usually still have to go outside). Wifi calling works just fine on other networks and my wife's phone has the same problems. 

[Netduma Fraser]

19 minutes ago, JxRYE said:

Nothing has worked that well. I have taken every step that I have been able to find and we still have issues with wifi calling. The one thing that helped was when I updated the software on the 500. It does not always work and is often bad, but I can make and receive some calls (usually still have to go outside). Wifi calling works just fine on other networks and my wife's phone has the same problems. 

Disable Private Addresses/Random MAC addresses on the device - check the settings on the actual SSID when you're connected. See if it works better after that

[DmyTgregu]

2 hours ago, Netduma Fraser said:

Yes click the  icon top left of the Congestion Control panel and you disable it

Okay finally some good news. 
 

I can confirm that with qos fully disabled as you suggested above, AND my home network set to have private off that wifi calling consistently works across 2 different iPhones. That’s good enough for now. 
 

The only issue is,  I bought this router for gaming obviously. Now I’ll have to go into the router control panel and re-enable this prior to each gaming session. Also, I don’t love having to change my home network off of the private network setting. Any hope of getting these fixes into the next beta beyond the current .120?

Thanks for the help 

[Netduma Fraser]

58 minutes ago, DmyTgregu said:

Okay finally some good news. 
 

I can confirm that with qos fully disabled as you suggested above, AND my home network set to have private off that wifi calling consistently works across 2 different iPhones. That’s good enough for now. 
 

The only issue is,  I bought this router for gaming obviously. Now I’ll have to go into the router control panel and re-enable this prior to each gaming session. Also, I don’t love having to change my home network off of the private network setting. Any hope of getting these fixes into the next beta beyond the current .120?

Thanks for the help 

The private off, are you referring to my suggestion above? You could try with Traffic Controller allowing all traffic for the device, in theory that could work as well. I couldn't say whether it would be the next or not but we are working on it.

[DmyTgregu]

22 minutes ago, Netduma Fraser said:

The private off, are you referring to my suggestion above? You could try with Traffic Controller allowing all traffic for the device, in theory that could work as well. I couldn't say whether it would be the next or not but we are working on it.

Hi- yes sorry for the confusion, I meant turning the private MAC address option to off on my iPhone. Both that and qos completely disabled (as you also suggested above) are needed for my wifi calling to work. It would be nice to not have to do either. 
 

Could you please expound a bit on this traffic controller suggestion?

thanks 

[Netduma Fraser]

32 minutes ago, DmyTgregu said:

Hi- yes sorry for the confusion, I meant turning the private MAC address option to off on my iPhone. Both that and qos completely disabled (as you also suggested above) are needed for my wifi calling to work. It would be nice to not have to do either. 
 

Could you please expound a bit on this traffic controller suggestion?

thanks 

Ahh the private addresses is fine, it doesn't make your network any less secure - just stops the phone using random MAC addresses which seems to confuse the router.

If you're on the 3.0 beta, there is a feature called Traffic Controller so you can setup rules per device e.g. block between these times etc. So if you make a rule to allow all traffic all the time then that might help with the issue and allow you to re-enable QoS.

[DmyTgregu]

10 hours ago, Netduma Fraser said:

Ahh the private addresses is fine, it doesn't make your network any less secure - just stops the phone using random MAC addresses which seems to confuse the router.

If you're on the 3.0 beta, there is a feature called Traffic Controller so you can setup rules per device e.g. block between these times etc. So if you make a rule to allow all traffic all the time then that might help with the issue and allow you to re-enable QoS.

Hi so I tried various permutations of private Mac setting, qos enable and then a traffic controller  rule that seemed to allow all traffic on my phone (2 completely bright green circles in the rule). 
 

I’m putting my phone into airplane mode to force on wifi calling. 
 

Turning on private Mac on my phone seems to leave my phone in a state of wifi calling ready (with qos disabled my phone says it’s available up top) but always kills the ability to make a call. After this wifi calling seems to kick out from availability as well. Turning it back off brings wifi calling back on. 
 

While private Mac is set to off, disabling qos immediately allows wifi calling with no issues whatsoever. Turning airplane mode off removes wifi calling temporarily but when put back on it immediately comes back and calls can be answered and made at will. However, once wifi calling is shown as available- if qos is enabled wifi remains functional as long as you leave the phone in airplane mode. Once I cycle it off and back on though, wifi calling does not seem to come back. 

The traffic rule seems to not really affect anything. At first I thought this rule being on was why you could re-enable qos while wifi calling was available and it still worked, but cycling airplane mode off and back on with the rule set in place AND qos enabled does not bring wifi calling back. 
 

I hope this helps as it does seem like for now I need to disable qos after every gaming session and then re-enabled before the next one. Hope this is addressed in a future beta. 
 

thanks 

[Netduma Liam]

4 hours ago, DmyTgregu said:

Hi so I tried various permutations of private Mac setting, qos enable and then a traffic controller  rule that seemed to allow all traffic on my phone (2 completely bright green circles in the rule). 
 

I’m putting my phone into airplane mode to force on wifi calling. 
 

Turning on private Mac on my phone seems to leave my phone in a state of wifi calling ready (with qos disabled my phone says it’s available up top) but always kills the ability to make a call. After this wifi calling seems to kick out from availability as well. Turning it back off brings wifi calling back on. 
 

While private Mac is set to off, disabling qos immediately allows wifi calling with no issues whatsoever. Turning airplane mode off removes wifi calling temporarily but when put back on it immediately comes back and calls can be answered and made at will. However, once wifi calling is shown as available- if qos is enabled wifi remains functional as long as you leave the phone in airplane mode. Once I cycle it off and back on though, wifi calling does not seem to come back. 

The traffic rule seems to not really affect anything. At first I thought this rule being on was why you could re-enable qos while wifi calling was available and it still worked, but cycling airplane mode off and back on with the rule set in place AND qos enabled does not bring wifi calling back. 
 

I hope this helps as it does seem like for now I need to disable qos after every gaming session and then re-enabled before the next one. Hope this is addressed in a future beta. 
 

thanks 

Another thing you could possibly try (to prevent you having to disable QoS everytime) would be to add a new rule to Traffic Prioritisation for your phone. Traffic Prio is at the bottom of the QoS page, please add a rule for the phone and use the advanced configuration, to begin with just do:
Start: 1
End: 65535
For both source and destination and see if that works. If it does, we can fine tune it a bit to try and only prioritise Wi-Fi calling from your phone and not all traffic in general.

[DmyTgregu]

4 hours ago, Netduma Liam said:

Another thing you could possibly try (to prevent you having to disable QoS everytime) would be to add a new rule to Traffic Prioritisation for your phone. Traffic Prio is at the bottom of the QoS page, please add a rule for the phone and use the advanced configuration, to begin with just do:
Start: 1
End: 65535
For both source and destination and see if that works. If it does, we can fine tune it a bit to try and only prioritise Wi-Fi calling from your phone and not all traffic in general.

Hi guys-

i tried this briefly this morning before work and it did not seem to make any benefit. It seemed to work similarly to the traffic rule attempt where it did stay in wifi calling mode after qos was re-enabled and this traffic prioritization rule (sorry for the ‘z’ I’m a yank;) was active with a red light and some packets being sent and received. my worry was there were multiple entries for my phone but it seemed active so I think I got the correct one. 

 I set the rule for both source and destination from 1-65535 as you suggested and TCP/UDP enabled for gaming/voice. 
 

[Netduma Fraser]

I've got two ideas that might help and prevent you having to disable QoS each time:

1. Make a guest WiFi network and connect the phone to it - does this work with QoS on?
2. Put the phone IP in the DMZ in WAN Setup - if it does work then disable DMZ and let us know