Why Yota is an inconvenient operator, and what can be done better

QUESTION! Hi all! Can anyone tell me what VoWiFi is? There is such a function on the phone, but I don’t understand what it means.

QUICK RESPONSE! The first two letters “VO” stand for “Voice over”, which translated from English means “Voice call through”. Well, you already know the latter - this is our usual Wi-Fi. That is, it turns out that the technology allows you to make calls not through the operator’s network, but through regular Wi-Fi. Now let’s look at this question in more detail: what is the technology for, how to turn it on and off with operators (MTS, Megafon, Yota, Tele2, Beeline) and on your smartphone.

VoWiFi icon

What is VoLTE

VoLTE Iota technology is a direction that involves voice transmission using 4G or LTE technology. With its help you can make voice calls and communicate in walkie-talkie mode. Previously, 4G technology was used only to connect to the global network, and when making calls, it automatically switched to 2G / 3G. For this reason, there was a delay from the moment the number was dialed to contact the subscriber. With Volte you can eliminate delays, so messages and calls happen instantly.

In the 2G and 3G situation, connecting to the Internet and calling were individual processes that could not be done together. For example, during a call over 2G, the message arrived only after the end of the conversation. In the case of VoLTE, calls and information transfer occur together.

Taking this into account, we can highlight several advantages of VoLTE for ET and other operators:

1. High quality audio, improved audibility, greater clarity in communication.
2. Possibility of connecting to the global network in parallel with a telephone conversation. Previously, when connecting to the Internet during communication, a switch to 3G occurred, which deteriorated the quality of the connection. Now you can download/transfer photos/videos with the same quality.
3. High connection speed. Before the advent of new technology, there was a slight delay of one to two seconds before making a call before switching to another technology. With VoLTE on Yota and other operators the same principle applies.

Among the disadvantages, it is worth highlighting the increased battery consumption due to the heavy load on the power supply and poor LTE coverage. If the signal is lost, it automatically switches to 3G.

How to set up on MTS

Many subscribers are interested in how to set up Wi Fi Calling MTS, how much does it cost?

• There is no need to perform any additional actions - just enable wireless data transfer;
• Activate the ability to communicate via a wireless network according to the instructions below (will appear automatically);
• You will pay for calls at your regular home rate.

Let's discuss how to enable WiFi Calling on phones running different operating systems.

Is it possible to enable VoLTE on Iota

VoWiFi Yota and VoLTE are technologies that were officially tested back in 2013 under the Scartel brand. Even at that time, company representatives stated that they were technically ready to support the function and had everything necessary to work with it. The main advantage already at that time was the high connection speed and the ability to connect with another user in just 2-3 seconds.

Against this background, the question arises of how to enable VoLTE Yota and whether it can be done. Despite previous testing, this option is not yet supported for 2021 (a similar situation with eSIM, by the way). At this stage, company representatives do not see the possibility and prospects of implementing the project. We are currently monitoring the experiments of other operators who are already using Volte in a limited number of regions.

How to use Wi Fi Calling?

First, we will discuss the list of smartphones that support free calls via Wi-Fi - this is general information, you can find out the details in the hardware store when purchasing.

• The first model on the list is iPhones from Apple;
• Samsung;
• Huawei;
• Honor;
• Vivo;
• Sony;
• Alcatel;
• LG.

Now you know which smartphones support Wi-Fi Calling and you can check if your phone is on this list. If you find the device in the list of modern devices, it’s time to discuss the operators that provide the service.

• Currently, one operator has implemented the option - MTS;
• It should be noted that in January 2021, the Megafon operator began testing the function - in the near future the vast majority of subscribers will receive access.

Which operators have VoLTE?

Against this background, the question arises where VoLTE works, besides Yota, in Russia. The main operators include:

• Beeline. The option became operational back in 2015. At the initial stage, it was relevant for Moscow and the region. Today the function is available for St. Petersburg and the Leningrad region, Smolensk and Kaluga regions. As for VoWiFi, the function only works in Moscow and the region.

• Megaphone. Like Beeline, in 2015 Megafon announced the possibility of sending text and voice messages over LTE networks. The main condition for use is that the smartphone supports VoLTE. Today the provider has 78 regions that support Volte and 34 VoWiFi. However, the service is not compatible with “MultiFon Business”, “Personal dial tone”, “VATS”, “MAS”, “Call at a friend’s expense” and others.

• MTS. To make calls and send SMS via the Internet via VoLTE, you must be an MTS subscriber in one of the cities. These include Kazan, Penza, Perm, Pskov, Ryazan, Orenburg, Novosibirsk, Sochi, Tyumen and others. The option itself was launched in March 2021 and today covers almost the entire territory of Russia.
• Tele 2. For this operator, VoLTE is valid only in Moscow and the Moscow region. The launch date is April 2021.
• Motive. Testing started in December 2021. Today, the territory of operation is limited to the Sverdlovsk and Kurgan regions, Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug and Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Okrug.

Additionally, the service is supported by SberMobile, which operates on Tele2 equipment. Moreover, the technology is available in Moscow and St. Petersburg. The option is also relevant for MGTS and Tinkoff Mobile.

In general, mobile operators are trying to optimize equipment for VoLTE, including Yota. The problem is that Yota has not yet managed to fully launch the service. But even those operators who succeeded were able to optimize the process only in large cities. Many questions concern compatibility with current tariff plans, which must be clarified separately.

Now you know whether Yota has VoLTE, what the features of this technology are, and why it is in demand. Write in the comments if there is an option in your city, how useful it is, and how to enable it.

Why Yota is an inconvenient operator, and what can be done better

Very often, when the problems of some operators are discussed, I see that Yota is invariably praised. Basically, all laudatory reviews are limited to approximately one thing - the operator does not have paid subscriptions, and that’s where the advantages end... My post is not a complaint (I know that Habr is not a complaint book), but an analysis of how good ideas can be implemented without too much successful. Please note that here I am considering tariffs for a smartphone, and not for a tablet or modem.

Yota - virtual operator

This means that they use the base stations of the "main" operator, and there is a high probability that the virtual operator's traffic priority (both voice and data) will be lower than that of the main one.
I haven’t heard about any problems with Russian operators, but in the USA very often users of virtual operators complain that the connection is “not very good” compared to the main operator. Solution:

build your networks, for example, in large cities with a large subscriber base.

Choosing a number at Yota is not arranged as usual

When you register for a SIM card, you receive a blank, and you need to activate it and select a number yourself through the application.
That is, you cannot select a number during registration, but this must be done after installing the SIM card and application. By the way, there is another bonus here - after activating the SIM card, Yota gives 2 hours of Internet access to download the application from the market. If you don’t have time, look for Wi-Fi to do it. Solution:

provide the opportunity to choose a number when purchasing a SIM card without the need for any action on the part of the subscriber after that.

Yota does not have a personal account, like all other operators

To manage the number, only the application is used, that is, it will not be possible to perform any operations through the browser (for example, if you want to be able to remotely monitor the balance of a loved one). There is a small set of USSD commands, but I don’t know who will use them now.

Solution:

create a personal account that will be accessible through the Yota website from any browser.

Authorization in the application is only possible with an inserted SIM card

Authorization in the application occurs automatically if a Yota SIM card is installed in the device. On the one hand, this is convenient, but on the other, it brings a bunch of additional problems:

• You cannot log in from another device, only from the one into which the SIM card is inserted;
• if you have several SIM cards in different smartphones or tablets, you cannot log into several accounts at once;
• the app kindly asks you to turn off Wi-Fi if you get logged out (which will happen from time to time), and there's nothing you can do about it. That is, logging in using a password or temporary code from SMS is impossible;
• If you are in international roaming, then to authorize in the application you must enable data roaming. Application traffic is not taken into account, but at this time the smartphone will have time to download something, and Yota will be happy to charge you money. By the way, if you suddenly haven’t paid for the package of minutes and internet, then a megabyte of traffic in roaming will cost from 490 rubles;
• if for some reason your SIM card ended up in someone else’s smartphone, and authorization was carried out in the Yota application, then somehow you cannot log out this login. Some time after removing the SIM card, the application will log out on its own, but before that, on such a device you can do whatever you want with the number, for example, change the tariff or change the number to another.

Solution:
to the current autologin option, add the ability to log in using a password or code from SMS.

Any support from Yota is provided only via chat or SMS to a specific number

There are no other ways (I don’t consider the option of stomping my feet into the operator’s office), therefore, if with other operators you can call on the phone and after a while talk with a live person, then with Yota you will have to communicate only through chat and resolve issues by typing text on keyboard.
I don’t argue that this support option may be more convenient for someone than live communication, but in my opinion it should be an addition to the opportunity to talk, and not the only option. Solution:

make telephone support one of the contact methods.

The price for any Yota tariff is indicated for 30 days, not for a calendar month

This is inconvenient because once every 2 months the payment date moves back.
That is, if you are used to paying for communications every first (or any other) number, then in a year the payment date will move back 6 days. In addition, during the year you will have to pay for 5 extra days compared to the case when the operator charges per month. For the user, paying for these 5 days plays almost no role, but for an operator with a base of many millions of subscribers, this already results in a good increase in the salary of marketers. Solution:

make a tariff with payment per month without shifting the payment date.

There is no way to get call details in the Yota app

In general, there is no way, so if you want to see where the minutes went, you can write to the chat and ask support to send details by email.
However, a surprise awaits you here: technical support does not do this and suggests going to the office to perform this simple operation. Solution:

make details in the application with the ability to view it immediately or send it by email.

Yota tariffs are a perfectionist’s hell

Everyone has long been accustomed to package tariffs: for a certain amount of money you get minutes, gigabytes and SMS. Yota decided to go further, offering the user to choose the content of the tariff himself, and you can specify any number of minutes in increments of 1 minute and traffic in increments of 1 GB. Moreover, in all cases (with very rare exceptions) the subscription fee will be a very “crooked” number, for example 399.57 rubles. in 300 minutes and 20 GB.

I don’t know why this was done, and why it was impossible to take at least 10 steps (or maybe even 50 or 100) in minutes, but it seems to me that this is very inconvenient. I can imagine that a crowd of Yota users is trying to decide whether to buy 326 or 327 minutes in a package.

Solution:

make the selection step for minutes and gigabytes larger than 1, perhaps not even linear, and round up the cost of services to the whole ruble (or better yet, to 10 rubles).

If you insert a SIM card into a tablet, modem or router, the speed will be reduced to 64 kbps

Roughly speaking, there will be no Internet.
I understand (although not completely) when operators put such a restriction on tariffs with unlimited Internet, but with Yota this restriction always applies, including packages with limited traffic. Solution:

If traffic is limited, then the subscriber can decide for himself where to insert the SIM card.

In general, I consider the main disadvantage to be the inability to conveniently use the services without a smartphone and the need to install an application.

Among the advantages, I would like to note that the minutes from the package are spent on all Russian numbers, and not just on numbers in your region, calls within the network are not charged, there is no roaming within the Russian Federation, and a “beautiful” region code 999 is issued.

Are there equally simple alternatives?

No, no one has yet.

After testing the connection for a week, I did not see a single difference between the “legal” Yota and the regular one. Balance control is organized in the same way. The mobile application works in an absolutely identical way (read: convenient). The only difference is payment by invoice (although it is also possible to pay with a corporate bank card), but everything is logical here.

In general, think and try it yourself - the order form is directly on the official website.

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