How to Enable Wi-Fi Calling on Your iPhone

Now that AT&T says it can flip the switch and give iPhone owners Wi-Fi calling, we need to turn it on in our phones. That's easy to do, and assuming AT&T has enabled Wi-Fi calling in your area, lets you use broadband Wi-Fi connections whenever you have a weak cell signal. Read on to see how to turn it on.

First you need to have a compatible iPhone. That includes the iPhone 5c, iPhone 5s, iPhone 6 and 6 Plus, and the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus.

To enable Wi-Fi calling on your iPhone, do this:

  • Go to Settings > Phone > Wi-Fi Calling
  • Switch Wi-Fi Calling on This iPhone to On

Set Wi-Fi calling to onSet Wi-Fi calling to on

  • Tap Enable in the information dialog
  • You may also have to confirm your address for emergency services.

Tap Enable to really turn on Wi-Fi CallingTap Enable to really turn on Wi-Fi Calling

Assuming Wi-Fi calling is enabled in your area, you're set. If not, you'll see a warning saying Wi-Fi calling isn't available yet.

Denied? That means AT&T hasn't enabled Wi-Fi calling in your area yet.Denied? That means AT&T hasn't enabled Wi-Fi calling in your area yet.

Your iPhone will automatically use Wi-Fi for your calls when it can. You can tell when you're using Wi-Fi because "AT&T" will be replaced with "AT&T Wi-Fi" in the status bar next to the signal strength dots.

This is what you see when Wi-Fi calling is enabledThis is what you see when Wi-Fi calling is enabled

If you don't want to use Wi-Fi for calls, you can go back into Settings and disable it whenever you like.

For those of us who're still using AT&T's MicroCells for phone calls, this is great because we can finally retire those clunky boxes, open up an extra Ethernet port on our network switches, and free up some shelf space, too.