facetime issues

[RVcrazy]

We have a Verizon account. When we try to use facetime on the iphone, we get a message that says that we need to connect to wifi. We thought we were already using wifi when we use safari, post pix etc. We used to have a hotspot on the phone, but cancelled it some time back. Does anyone know if re-adding the hotspot feature to our Verizon account will enable our facetime to work on the phone?

We checked with Verizon and got "To be honest, I don't know" out of the rep. We have a separate mobile hotspot, but don't want to carry it around just for a facetime possibility. Thanks!

[srt20]

wildtoad wrote:

srt20 wrote:

I'm not sure why you would have to be on wifi to use FaceTime on any ios or provider, but I guess it's possible for some weird reason.

Facetime can chew up a lot of bandwidth and providers restricted Facetime to wifi initially to better manage cell data usage especially on slower 3g ntworks. And I suspect as a way to upsell data plans. With the advent of LTE and cheaper data rates it's now available cell data.

I understand this, but LTE has been out for many years now. And I can't imagine anyone wanting to FaceTime on 3G after trying it once. It would be basically worthless.
I tried Skype over a good 3G signal one time. It was a complete fail.


Either way, it should not be an issue anymore.


Edit: I guess I forgot that vzw didn't get LTE Apple phone until the iPhone 5?

[docj]

MrWizard wrote:


I don't have face time....never said I did

Sorry, I had a senior moment and got confused! :R

[MrWizard]

docj wrote:

MrWizard wrote:
let me preface
i have android NOT iphone

I am puzzled as you how you can have Facetime on an Android phone. I believe it is a proprietary Apple app and only runs on iOS devices. Are you using something similar such as Google Hangouts?

I don't have face time....never said I did

[wildtoad]

srt20 wrote:

I'm not sure why you would have to be on wifi to use FaceTime on any ios or provider, but I guess it's possible for some weird reason.

Facetime can chew up a lot of bandwidth and providers restricted Facetime to wifi initially to better manage cell data usage especially on slower 3g ntworks. And I suspect as a way to upsell data plans. With the advent of LTE and cheaper data rates it's now available cell data.

[docj]

MrWizard wrote:
let me preface
i have android NOT iphone

I am puzzled as you how you can have Facetime on an Android phone. I believe it is a proprietary Apple app and only runs on iOS devices. Are you using something similar such as Google Hangouts?

[srt20]

I FaceTime on verizon without wifi. Over LTE only.
I have iphone 6. It's on 8.1.2 and has worked fine since I got the phone on ios8.

I'm not sure why you would have to be on wifi to use FaceTime on any ios or provider, but I guess it's possible for some weird reason.

[wcjeep]

What service provider is the other party you are trying to contact?

[wildtoad]

From what I've read, Verizon does support FaceTime over cellular, but it depends on what phone, what version of IOS you're running, and perhaps what data plan you have. So more info is needed.

Turning on hotspot on your iPhone only allows other devices to connect to the Internet thru your iPhone. For example, I can use my wifi only IPad to access the Internet by connecting it to my iPhone.

[wa8yxm]

The programs you cite can connect to the internet by assorted means, Cellular (often called Wireless),, Wired (Though your phone likely can not do it that way) and Wi-Fi (which is also "Wireless" but we call it Wi-Fi)

Cellular (wireless) your phone is connected via a tower somewhere, usually distant, and you are using up your data allotment when you use it.

Wi-Fi, you are connected to a router, Likely much closer to you then the tower, this router is then connected via (usually) Telephone lines or cable.

Connection speed is the issue... Though Verizon advertises the largest 4G, as does someone else, only one of them can be true. If you are on a 3G or lower connection speeds may not be good enough for video

Wi-Fi, with a decent connection you can get like half a gig per second speeds, or better.

[SCVJeff]

soos wrote:

MrWizard wrote:
let me preface
i have android NOT iphone
but cellular is NOT wifi
yes its wireless but its not wifi which is wireless fidelity networking

my understanding is that "facetime" is a wifi only app, as it is video "voip", data networking not a regular phone call
this would mean a WiFi connection for the internet

i'm sure someone else will correct me , If im wrong

I believe you are correct. At least with my older iphone, it has to be wi-fi. you can not use the data on your data plan to do facetime. I thought with the newer phones you can, but maybe not.
And as mentioned, using the internet on the phone is not necessarily wi-fi.

it's carrier dependent

[soos]

MrWizard wrote:
let me preface
i have android NOT iphone
but cellular is NOT wifi
yes its wireless but its not wifi which is wireless fidelity networking

my understanding is that "facetime" is a wifi only app, as it is video "voip", data networking not a regular phone call
this would mean a WiFi connection for the internet

i'm sure someone else will correct me , If im wrong

I believe you are correct. At least with my older iphone, it has to be wi-fi. you can not use the data on your data plan to do facetime. I thought with the newer phones you can, but maybe not.
And as mentioned, using the internet on the phone is not necessarily wi-fi.

[SCVJeff]

A hotspot creates a WIFi access point from the phone. What that message is saying is that the phone is not connected to external WiFi, meaning all you have is Verizon data. ATT will do FaceTime on cellular, but maybe not Verizon..

[MrWizard]

let me preface
i have android NOT iphone
but cellular is NOT wifi
yes its wireless but its not wifi which is wireless fidelity networking

my understanding is that "facetime" is a wifi only app, as it is video "voip", data networking not a regular phone call
this would mean a WiFi connection for the internet

i'm sure someone else will correct me , If im wrong

[srt20]

Settings> FaceTime > Iphone cellular calls > on