Confusion regarding phone and 3G

[FireGryph]

I've become more and more confused the more I talk to various Rogers customer service reps concerning this 3G shutdown, and the thought that I may have to get a new phone.  Or not.   I am on a Bring-Your-Own-Device plan from Shaw originally, and my own device is a Sony Xperia 1 iii.    According to the device compatibility page here at Rogers, this device is NOT compatible and I will need to upgrade.    I have received that same response from 2 separate CSR's on their hotline concerning the shutdown of 3G.     

However, I went in to 3 different Rogers outlets here in person, hoping to speak with someone face to face and to get my hands on a new phone to see how they feel and which to decide to go for, and all 3 representatives in person have told me that my current phone will work and that I do not need to upgrade.   Each verified that my phone is new enough, and that it was currently using the 4G band at the time.   They each said that the emails I have received are simply a scare tactic, since no one seems to take notice until they are threatened with an extra fee, and that these emails are just sent out to everyone.

So now I'm just confused as heck.   Will my device work, or not?!    I have no intention of being charged $75 just to have my service get cut off.  But if I can keep my Xperia, I would vastly prefer that.   I did as much research as I could, and the Xperia does support the necessary bands, plus it supports VoLTE, yet it may not be connecting to VoLTE if the secret menu is any indication.  I've seen mention of 'whitelisting' and how my device will simply not get whitelisted since Rogers never sold it themselves.

All I really want is a clear answer!    To have various Rogers representatives tell me different things has thrown me through a loop!    I didn't have any issues with my service until now, and it feels like all my options are bad.   If I want to stay on this Shaw plan, I have to pay for a new device up front.   If I want to finance a new phone I have to change my plan, which is even more costly.    And I feel like not getting a new device is risking the service fee that is ultimately going to end in my service being cut off anyways.

[RSTRA]

Does “4G” show up in the status bar?

From Sony:

The following Xperia models are compatible with 4G VoLTE and/or 5G and will not be impacted by the current cellular network retirement: Xperia 1, J8170 (software version 55.2. E. 0.148 or higher, available FOTA Oct 2021)

[FireGryph]

Yes, 4G does show up in the status bar.  If I go into Setting -> About Phone -> SIM status...  it tells me that the current mobile voice and mobile data network types are also 4G.

Though this is not an 'Xperia 1,'  it is an 'Xperia 1 III' which is a different phone than the model and software you listed.    

[RSTRA]

Yes, sorry I see that now. It looks like you are good to go.

[FireGryph]

Alright, thank you.   

If you don't mind, one last question and the one that's nagging at me.   If I go into the hidden menu via the keypad, and into Phone Info, it shows a toggle of 'VoLTE Provisioned.'   This toggle is disabled, and greyed out, as I cannot select this at all.   Should I be worried at all about this?

[RSTRA]

No, that is a carrier setting that you can’t change.

[FireGryph]

And if I am required to use VoLTE, and Rogers does not change this for my phone, then I will need a new device?

[Pauly]

I dunno man, if it was me, I would just go out and buy myself a new 4g or higher phone compatible with rogers and call it a day.  I am by no means rich, but I would spend the money and buy a phone that is compatible and works with the latest technology and make good use of it for the next 2-4 years or whatever I can get out of it.

[yakyeti]

I have the Xperia 1iii. And while using data shows 4G connection, when you make voice calls, it requires to use the 3G network as the Sony Xperia 1iii is blocked from accessing the VoLTE network (along with the 5G network). Unfortunately, we're all already been charged the $3/mo + $75 setup fee as a result which will show up in August's bill. All because Sony wouldn't pay the high certification fee that Rogers was demanding. It is so extremely expensive that Sony opted to quit selling to the North American market all together.

[wildallan]

I had my service suspended today, even though I can connect to 4G LTE. They're doing this to force you to buy a phone from Rogers instead of using your own device, even if it works on the network. Even if you never, ever used 3G in the past 15 years, they will still suspend your service. Make sure to check Google for the next class action and try to join in on it. It's sad that this is the direction Rogers has decided to go. I've had an account with Rogers for 20 years and this is how they treat us now.

[Pauly]

My phone line has NEVER been suspended,  I was NEVER forced to buy a phone from them, I bought ALL my recent phones directly from Apple, Google, LG and even Samsung.

One thing I do different than most people is actually study the phone company I am with. I learned about the 2G and 3G shut down a few years ago from my parents Alarm system company.  So instead of doing absolutely nothing, I decided to be proactive and research my phones. I had a 4G phone at the time which did NOT have VoLTE, and yes this one was an official phone sold by Roger's.   The early 4G network only used 4G for data and used 3G for voice calls.    I made myself aware about this and eventually my next phone was 4G VoLTE compatible, and my current phone is 5G compatible.    I dunno why people are having all kinds of problems? if you just do your home work and read up, you can prevent this "surprise" from happening

[wildallan]

It sounds like you are telling us we should all rush out and buy new phones because our phone lines have been suspended. This is completely unethical and not legal. And you're implying that we did nothing. Yeah. I don't have a 3G phone buddy, of course I did nothing. My phone is a 4G LTE phone - has been since December 2017. VoLTE has been enabled for the past 8 years. Good grief.

[RogersCorey]

Hi @wildallan!

I apologize for any inconvenience. If your phone was previously able to connect to VoLTE and you're unable to connect today because of the 3G shutdown, we need to troubleshoot.

Please feel free to send a private message to @CommunityHelps so we can assist you further. For more information on how our Private Messaging system works, you can find out more here.  

~RogersCorey

[wildallan]

Why is it hard for Rogers to simply remove the phone line suspension? This isn't an isolated incident. Take a look at r/Rogers on reddit. I have been able to contact customer support this morning, but while transferring me to another agent, the line was hung up. Since then, it has been impossible to use the customer service line.

[LordDrakkon]

That seems to be the message without admitting it's the message.

To be fair. Just becauae a device supports the right bands and is capable of VoLTE, does not mean it will work with Rigers. There are 3 completely different implentations of VoLTE used by different carriers and regions around the world. Those 3 variations are not compatible with one another.

Yes, all North American carriers and many others around the world do charge the manufacturer a fee for device certification. That doesn't mean the device won't necessarily work though. However, Rogers seems to have a fairly tight grip on the provisioning of any devices that have not been purchased directly from them.

From my own Personal experiences, Telus is no better and started this . back during COVID. However, I have a friend on Bell here in Toronto that is using a POCO F7 Pro she bought from Amazon and it's working perfectly for her
VoLTE enabled, 5G+, but I have no idea about the WiFi Calling. Freedom does not limit the device you use as long as it is comoatible with their VoLTE implentation and supports the correct bands.

Most of those multi-provider booths you see in malls have active SIM's you can try in your device to see if it will provision.

[wildallan]

You're just not listening to the problem here. This is not a technical help problem, it is a service line suspension problem. The line has been suspended. I am connected to Rogers 4G LTE with VoLTE right now as we are here in real time. There's zero technical issue here. The problem is a case of removing a suspension on my account.

I'm not going to drive 560 kilometers away to visit a Rogers store.

[yakyeti]

I feel for you. I gave up and bought a new phone from BestBuy - a phone that is definitely supported by Rogers since they support it. The big diff - BestBuy was selling the phone for $1800 while Rogers was selling it for $2400 (ie I ain't buying it from Rogers). I called in earlier this week to inform them I have a 5G enabled phone. Guess what happened today - yup, my account was also suspended too. Lines are jammed because chances are, a lot of people had this happen to them. I was only fortunate that there was a Rogers store across the street from where I worked. They said that the suspension was carried out from an automated script which probably was badly fumbled. Anyhow, from misleading mailers ($75 admin fee + $3/mo for 3G legacy support...that doesn't exist), to suspending accounts with valid phones, this 3G retirement has been a train wreck (and also expose the anti-competitive nature of the telcos - you can only use devices that the carrier sells/were paid handsomely by the manufacturer to certify the phone).

[wildallan]

This is what they want you to do. Force you to buy a new phone for no reason just to increase sales. Create a problem by cutting off your service, lying to you that you were using a 20 year old network, gaslighting us into believing that even though your phone is 100% compatible, Rogers has some magical Jesus tech that only works on specific phones. Then selling us the solution: to buy a new phone, not from the Samsung store, no, but from Rogers on a new contract and new plan. Because they want to upsell you on a more expensive plan with connection fees and a new agreement. It's an illegal business practise. Under Canadian Contract Law, you have the right to stay month to month under your previous agreement past your contract. The only way they can legally stop this is by getting you to change your plan or buy a new phone from a Rogers store. This is all about removing existing contractual obligations.

[FireGryph]

buying a new phone is what I ended up doing, too. Roger's was absolutely no help during this, as I stated. multiple different answer from different CSR'S, and I wasn't up to risking my connection being shut off and wrestling with Roger's anymore. So I grabbed a Samsung phone from Best up (much cheaper than Rogers) and made the swap to esim, so far connection has been fine and phone is working. I absolutely still feel like I was jerked around so that Roger's could get a few more bucks out of my wallet, though. And all this said, someone seemed to have marked their response as the answer to my question.... it was absolutely NOT the answer or solution. Seems pretty sketchy.

[Pauly]

sounds like you need to rethink about your cellular provider, if the provider treats you a certain way why would u continue being their customer? im NOT telling you what todo, but im telling you that you should rethink how a company treats you.

[wildallan]

Because there's only 2 companies in the country. Bell and Rogers. Telus uses primarily Bell's equipment. This is a huge oligopoly and it's well known by our governments that it's a huge oligopoly. They need to do better. Switching carriers doesn't give very many options because you're either using Rogers equipment or Bell equipment. If both carriers have problems, where are you going to really go? There's no competition in the market. I don't necessarily have a problem with Rogers - obviously they made a huge mistake here. They need to own up to it as soon as it happens. Instead of staying quiet, as soon as they knew they screwed up they should have told the media that a mistake was made and that they're working on resolving it. They didn't do that, and it has likely cost them up to 50% of their customer base leaving for Bell.

Regardless of whether Rogers themselves look in these forums, the people operating the forums need to do the responsible thing and not gaslight us into buying a new phone to solve a problem that is obviously the carrier's fault. I've already mentioned this elsewhere, but my phone line suspension was removed and my phone magically works again. Like I said, I don't need to buy a new phone because I wasn't using 3G in the first place. The Rogers dealers made a huge legal and ethical mistake by getting people to buy new phones and change contracts as a way to fix their phone line suspension. I do hope this incident gets investigated and that those who were unethically coerced into signing new contracts and buying new phones that they didn't need end up reimbursed and have their old plans granted back to them, because this whole situation was illegal. The Rogers stores that upsold people on new plans and new phones to resolve their phone line suspensions should be ashamed of their behaviour.