AweSIM and VoLTE status

[irvinewade]

@johnk

digital audio is not technically Voice over IP

That’s right. In the way that most people use the term VoIP, a voice call with your MVNO/MNO is different from VoIP.

Hence

@Captain_Morgan

if voice and data can use the same basic internet protocols or ride on them then the network provider wouldnt be all that much wiser what you are using the phone for (assuming it is encrypted and you have the keys)

isn’t really right.

If you are genuinely using VoIP (over a mobile network) and you are using encryption then your MVNO/MNO has not much idea ^* what you are using the phone for, not much idea ^* what codec you are using, no idea what you are saying. Your MVNO/MNO does not have the keys needed to get involved with your VoIP call.

^*Obviously your mobile provider sees what IP address and port you are communicating with, so if that’s sip.example.com on port 5061, and your mobile provider sees the average bandwidth that you are sending to that IP address, then the provider can make reasonable guesses.

On the other hand, if you are using a voice call (whether over 3G or 4G) then encryption is not relevant to your mobile provider - because the encryption endpoint is your MVNO/MNO and hence they have the keys and they know everything about the call - codec, content, …

[SteveC]

Unfortunately, my L5 USA has been totally unusable on T-mobile. This is even after getting a different modem shipped to me. (And yes, I’ve been communicating with tech support on this, but it has been 2 weeks since the last contact.)

[johnk]

I too tried T-Mobile and was unsuccessful with getting VoLTE working. Purism released the SIMple service plan, which is cheap enough for me to justify paying for it because the vast majority of my life is in trusted WiFi range), and that works, so I now have a usable Librem 5 (which is cool). That being said, the whole “Purism devices allow for freedom!” notion is a bit nonsense in my opinion. At least currently, you are free to have a Librem 5 that is a pocket computer in a smartphone form factor, but if you want to have a Librem 5 that actually operates as a phone, the only guaranteed way to do that is by buying your cellular service through Purism. Your freedom is constrained by its functionality (or lack there of) on cellular service plans other than Purism’s MVNO.

[TacticalPandaLE]

Its ironic that our quest for digital freedom has simply lead to the transfer of our dependency from one ecosystem to another. Still, I’d rather overpay for my privacy respecting AweSIM service than give it to AT&T.

[johnk]

Maybe I’m getting old, but the more I’ve thought about it, the more freedom looks like using less technology in general. Don’t have to worry about texts being snooped on if you go to the lake with your friend and have a real conversation in real life. Obviously I haven’t followed this to it’s logical conclusion (as I have a Librem 5 and several other computers and computing devices), but that’s what freedom is looking like more and more.

[amarok]

@johnk

Your freedom is constrained by its functionality (or lack there of) on cellular service plans other than Purism’s MVNO.

One L5 user, at least, is having a different experience with an MVNO on AT&T’s network:

New Phone Can`t Connect With Calls

With the “command successful” response from the modem, I’d bet the modem is good to go now for VoLTE, and the issue is with something else. But the issue could be with a different setting, or with AT&T. Again, this is just a hunch, but I’d say it’s worth a last tinker with the easier to change settings. Mine is still working with PureTalk, on AT&T backbone, but maybe they are less restrictive with the phones on the MVNOs. So the settings I’d look at are under the Settings -> Mobile. On mine…

[irvinewade]

@johnk

if you want to have a Librem 5 that actually operates as a phone, the only guaranteed way to do that is by buying your cellular service through Purism

I assume this sentence is qualified by “in the US”. (I tested two of the three MNOs in my country and both of them worked out-of-the-box with the Librem 5. I don’t have a suitable SIM for the third MNO.)

So it seems as if all this whitelisting / IMEI checking BS may be country-specific. That in turn suggests that the problem may be political, not technical. That is, you need to bust the balls of your Congress-critter to make this kind of restrictive practice illegal.

If you can fight for your right to repair then you can fight for your right to use the phone of your choice.

@johnk

Don’t have to worry about texts being snooped on if you go to the lake with your friend and have a real conversation in real life.

Just make sure you don’t take your phones with you. Or if you take a Librem 5, use the HKS to kill the microphone. Even without any phones, so many places are under camera surveillance. So a lake is probably a good choice.