topic Re: Smartphone switches from LTE to 3G when making phone calls in Mobility

Smartphone switches from LTE to 3G when making phone calls

PJFlynn — Fri, 06 Oct 2023 06:10:09 GMT

With no phone calls are in progress I have a full 4 bars on my iPhone Pro Max. I am 400-500 feet away from the cell tower. When I make a phone call it goes from LTE to 3G. The 3G signal drops down to 3 bars.

Using Iphone 13 Pro Max.
4G/LTE ONLY is selected.
Running the latest ISO 17.0.3
I have turned the phone off and on again.
I have reset the 'Network Settings'
When no phone call is in progress data speed is between 300-350Mbps and showing (LTE every time).
When a phone call is in progress it is showing 3G (every time) and the data speed is so slow it is unusable.

What is happening here. I just ported my number over from Telus and was not experiencing this off of the same shared tower site.

Re: Smartphone switches from LTE to 3G when making phone calls

BellKris — Tue, 10 Oct 2023 16:26:56 GMT

Hi there, @PJFlynn. Welcome to the Bell Community.

What you're most likely experiencing is that you do not have VoLTE enabled. Could you try going into your phone's settings and follow these steps?

Go to Settings.
Select Cellular.
Select Cellular Data Options.
Select Voice & Data.
Select LTE, VoLTE ON.

Additionally, as you just recently switched from Telus, we'd recommend checking out if VoLTE through Bell is supported in your area. Check out our Support article titled How to use Voice and Video over LTE, select Coverage, and scroll down to the coverage maps underneath.

Looking forward to hearing back from you.

Re: Smartphone switches from LTE to 3G when making phone calls

SeanD — Tue, 12 Dec 2023 16:28:06 GMT

What if you do not have this LTE, VolTE ON option on your phone? I have an iPhone 12 Pro Max and ever since ISO 17 update, I am havign cellular issues. Sometimes call come thorugh on the phone, sometimes people calling me just go straight to voice mail and my phone hasn't moved all day (work from home person).

Re: Smartphone switches from LTE to 3G when making phone calls

another-user — Wed, 18 Sep 2024 17:15:31 GMT

Hello! I know this has been a long time but hope this is still relevant, I used to have this problem too and I called but no one could fix it. The way I fixed it for all 3 of the phones on my account (all of them were iPhones running iOS 17), it was fixed by switching the physical SIM into a eSIM via the bell app! It instantly solved the problem, hope it helps

Smartphone switches from LTE to 3G when making phone calls

TechWeb — Wed, 19 Nov 2025 21:01:22 GMT

Since i moved with Bell, i cannot use data when i am a voice call!! I visited bell store and i called many times no one have an answer to that and when i went back to the place from where i got the plan the staff also have the same problem !! It’s a business plan and i choose bell to be an a better coverage and i am all over GTA working every day and i always have the same problem. I saw other on this forum having the same prb, does any one find a solutions

Re: Smartphone switches from LTE to 3G when making phone calls

dks — Thu, 20 Nov 2025 12:10:09 GMT

Thanks for your comment. You are correct. Cell phones and cell networks prioritize voice calls over data when both are on line. That is the way in which the cellular phone system is actually designed. It is called QoS (Quality of Service) standard. There are other factors at play as well, including network congestion and first responder needs. The real issue is system load management, which is handled by each carrier individually, is very transient and computer driven. It is not customer configurable. There is lots of information available on this if you wish to search for it. You can also look at the helpful replies that have a green checkmark for things you can do as a Bell customer such as ensure that VoLTE is set to ON.