Hi,
I have a stock FP4 that I bought from Fairphone in Europe. I have used it successfully in Europe (Netherlands, Spain), Great Britain, the USA, Fiji and Australia. In the USA I have a T-Mobile ‘pay-as-you-go’ account - the $15-a-month one others here have referred to. I get 5G and everything (phone calls, SMS, data) works fine.
For those interested in a Fairphone 4, Murena is looking for “volunteer testers in the US on AT&T or Verizon, it can also be Mvno from these carriers”. Note the phone will and must run /e/OS.
Unfortunately, I won’t be signing up for another discourse server just to add a reply to that thread. But I’d be interested if T-Mobile was a candidate.
Hey @FPWulf , so in your case, you have a fully functional network with the FP4 on a T-Mobile sim? Can you verify that you have VoLTE (i.e. IMS registration) working too? And what kind of subscription is this? I have not seen this on the T-Mobile USA website.
Yes, I do. And it seems I need to add characters in order to get this reply to post.
Oh wow @FPWulf , would be great to see VoLTE working on FP4. I wanted to ask you about one more thing to check because this app you use also says LTE voice network is used on my phone, but VoLTE is clearly not available. Would you mind trying the following?
Please use the *#*#4636#*#* code in the dial screen to get access to test settings. Choose “Phone information”. Click the three dots icon and choose “IMS Service Status”. Please let me know what the shown IMS status is. Thanks!
Tnx, appreciate it! Though it seems that you unfortunately also not have VoLTE on the network despite having data and SMS working fine on 4/5G. Basically the same situation as I am currently in (and I guess most others in this thread). And that despite the fact that the T-Mobile website IMEI checker says the FP4 is fully supported by the network. I assume that for calls, the phone kicks back to 2G or so.
Not sure if you are interested to spar with T-Mobile to see if you can get them to make VoLTE work but if you do, please let us know how that goes!
Yep I don’t really have VoLTE. There have been instances where I make a call and someone on the other end can’t hear my call. But my internet works and I can use various apps while connected that allow me to do what I need so I’m happy there. Just wish I could order the spare batteries in the US because Europe has some kind of shipping restriction for batteries not inside a device.
A FP4 user running (Google free) /e/OS and being able to use VoLTE has shared his experience, see Information on VoLTe on network in US.
I can also confirm VoLTE is working perfectly in the USA but ONLY when using a ROM that is LineageOS-based such as e/OS or the
(unoffical) FP4 LineageOS build. (Make sure you actually turn the VoLTE toggle on under cellular settings and go to the ##4636## menu and enable data connection).
For now, when using the stock Fairphone OS or any AOSP-based ROM, you will NOT have VoLTE here in the states. I’ve tried on T-mobile and ATT.
It’s worth noting that I have had SOME success getting VoLTE to work when using certain PHH-treble ROMS/GSIs such as LeOS but you have to go into the treble settings menu and download the shady apk file to get it forced on. Only problem that I’ve noticed with this is sometimes the data connection gets lost and I have to go back into the ##4636## menu and toggle Enable Data Connection again for VoLTE to re-register with the network.
I personally use the current e/OS image (1.6) and have not looked back.
Hope this helps someone!
Welcome to the community forum.
Just to avoid misunderstanding … every Android OS out there is based on AOSP, LineageOS and its forks, too.
So it would seem LineageOS includes a customisation which makes VoLTE work under the circumstances? Interesting.
Good point. Yes its strange but im just happy to get VoLTE working finally!
Hello All! I thought I’d give a brief overview of my experience with a FP4 in the US. To be more specific, midwest United states. In short; it works, mostly. There are some weird times where I loose connection in places I wouldn’t expect, like on the sidewalk in a major city, or while driving on the interstate just outside of the downtown of a major city. However the experience is much better than that of the FP3. I am from a tiny town in the middle of nowhere, South Dakota. I drove from a major Minnesotan city back home on a semi regular basis. That route often ended in me having no cell signal for significant portions of the trip, and almost no signal at all once I crossed into the South Dakotan border. However, on the FP4, I am able to have at least 4G signal almost the entire way, with only some spots having that 4G come in weak. To specify, calling of Signal was spotty but could hold most of the time, and the times where a call wouldn’t work, music streaming was serviceable. All in all, it’s much better than it used to be!
If anyone has any questions or wants more information, please let me know and I’d be happy to provide.
Some specs:
Phone: FP4, 256GB, 8GB RAM Speckled Green version
Mobile Network: T-Mobile(have not tested other networks on FP4 yet)
Build Number: FP4.FP4G.A.170.20220920
I moved your post here to not have spread single descriptions through the forum and cumulated together in this topic
Hi @duhg , can you share a bit more about your success with the unofficial FP4 LOS build and VoLTE and how you got there? I just flashed the latest LOS 20 image from @mmustermann (I was already eying that thread for a while), but I still do not get an IMS registration and the “4G calling” toggle remains gray. Using Mint mobile (T-Mobile network). Like, are you using that exact same image or an older one, did you had to configure anything special, or any specific APN settings?
I have only tested on mmustermann’s LOS 19 image and e/OS (1.6 dev image). I am still with my family on Christmas holiday break but when I get back to my place I will grab a Mint Mobile sim to do some more testing. I will also try out the LOS 20 image. Originally I had used a prepaid Tmobile sim so in theory Mint should work flawlessly as well… Im not sure if it would make a difference but the Tmobile sim that I had tried was “already active” with one of my other devices and I just swapped it over after flashing the FP4. I will report back soon 
@duhg you enjoy your holiday break, the issue seems to be resolved! See FP4 and LineageOS - #558 by lriesebos .
So in summary, Running the latest LOS 20 build (lineage-20.0-20221228-UNOFFICIAL-FP4 by @mmustermann ) will result in a fully functional FP4 in the USA on the T-Mobile network (Mint mobile for me)! That includes data, text, and VoLTE! The FP4 also supports all major bands used by T-Mobile, so coverage should be as good as it gets. Y’all have a happy new year!
That’s great news! I hadn’t bought a Mint Mobile sim yet so I will refrain from doing so.
Cheers!
