Wi-Fi Calling (Voice over Wi-Fi, or VoWiFi) is a feature on modern Android devices that routes cellular phone calls and SMS text messages over an active Wi-Fi connection instead of a traditional cellular tower. While incredibly useful in areas with poor cellular reception, it can introduce severe issues in corporate network environments. Wi-Fi Calling establishes an IPSec VPN tunnel directly back to the carrier’s Evolved Packet Core (EPC). This encrypted tunnel bypasses corporate firewall inspection, consumes considerable bandwidth if many devices are connected, and can cause unpredictable VoIP quality issues if the enterprise Wi-Fi is heavily congested or explicitly blocks IPSec traffic (UDP ports 500 and 4500).
This guide explains how to completely disable Wi-Fi Calling system-wide on an Android device to ensure all voice traffic remains on the dedicated cellular network.
Disable Wi-Fi Calling
The exact location of this setting can vary slightly depending on the Android manufacturer (Samsung vs. Google Pixel) and the carrier firmware, but it is universally located within the Network or Connections menu.
- Open the main Settings app on your Android smartphone.
- Tap on Network & internet (or “Connections” on Samsung devices).
- Tap on Calls & SMS (or tap directly on “Wi-Fi Calling” if visible). If you are on a Samsung device, simply look for the “Wi-Fi Calling” toggle on the main Connections screen.
- If you tapped Calls & SMS, select your carrier under the “Wi-Fi Calling” section.
- Toggle the master switch for Use Wi-Fi Calling to the Off (grey) position.
Verify the Network State
By toggling this off, you instruct the Android telephony radio layer to immediately tear down any active IPSec tunnels to the carrier’s ePDG (Evolved Packet Data Gateway) and strictly route all voice and SMS traffic through the LTE or 5G modem.
To verify the change is successful, look at the status bar at the top of your screen. The Wi-Fi Calling icon (usually a phone handset with a Wi-Fi symbol emitting from it) will disappear. Furthermore, if you enable Airplane Mode and then turn Wi-Fi back on, attempting to make a phone call will immediately fail with a prompt asking you to connect to a mobile network, proving that the Wi-Fi interface is no longer permitted to handle voice traffic.