Anyone want a Bananaphone? I tried to use it for a while, but AT&T shut down their 3G calling network and it doesn't have the radio for VoLTE, and AT&T isn't doing 4G calling - they jumped straight from 3G to VoLTE. It also doesn't do MMS for group texting. I'm easy enough to find, I can toss the thing in a box. On the plus side, I got a Flip IV out of it. I ran with it for a year or so before the keyboard got so bad I gave up - when you can't dial a phone number without having to correct multi-presses and such, texting is damned near impossible.
Isn't 4G calling and VoLTE the same thing? A 4G phone without VoLTE uses the 3G network when placing/receiving calls, hence why the 3G shutdown is causing pain even though non 4G phones are really rare these days.
I don't believe they're the same thing. I can connect to the 4G data networks with the Banana, but not make calls, and I'm not sure as to the details of why - going deep into cell network reverse engineering wasn't my goal here, I wanted to experiment with the state of non-iOS, non-Android cell phones in post-2020. I got a lot of data, but... well, I'm back to iOS, so I couldn't make it work.
There are KaiOS devices that support VoLTE and work on US carriers, but the Banana doesn't seem to be one of them. In addition to its many other pain points. Those keys suck to hit...
I had similar issues with TMobile. Bought the phone for backcountry use outside of the States, and I sold it on eBay after I got back because it was useless here in the US.
There is no 2G network in the US anymore. Or at least, very little. AT&T shut down theirs in 2017; I thought T-Mobile shut their 2G GSM around then too, but sources say T-Mobile's 2G shutdown is end of year 2022.
Many EU carriers have planned to keep a small amount of 2G for industrial devices, old handsets, etc, but US carriers have not.
