Tens of thousands of people woke up to SOS notifications and cellphone outages on Thursday, mainly affecting AT&T and Cricket Wireless customers, according to Downdetector.com.
Reports of the outage began around 3 a.m. Thursday. By 7 a.m., more than 73,000 AT&T customers and 13,000 Cricket Wireless customers had reported the outage.
AT&T responded to the outage and said it was working to resolve the issue and encouraged users to use Wi-Fi calling.
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Affected users may see an SOS or SOS-only notification in the status bar where signal strength is usually displayed. These messages mean that the phone has lost connection to the cellular network.
What can you do until your phone company fixes the problem? Here are some things you can try:
What is Wi-Fi Calling?
Wi-Fi calling allows you to make and receive calls over a Wi-Fi connection. This feature is available on both Apple and Android devices.
How to turn on Wi-Fi calling
Here’s how to turn on Wi-Fi calling On iPhone:
- Tap Settings
- Tap Phone
- Toggle Wi-Fi calling
When Wi-Fi Calling is available, “Wi-Fi” appears in the Control Center status bar.
Here’s how to turn on Wi-Fi calling Android device:
- Open the app on your phone
- Tap More
- Tap Settings
- Tap Call
- Tap Wi-Fi calling
If you don’t see Wi-Fi Calling as an option, it’s because your carrier doesn’t support the feature.
How to Make a Call with Wi-Fi Calling
Once you enable Wi-Fi Calling, any calls you make while connected to Wi-Fi will be made using this feature. You can tell this in Control Center on your iPhone by looking for “Wi-Fi” in the status bar. On your Android device, you’ll see “Internet Calling” or “Wi-Fi Calling” in the notifications screen.
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How to enable Wi-Fi calling from other devices
Here’s how to enable Wi-Fi Calling from other Apple devices, like your MacBook or iPad:
- Make sure your device is updated with the latest software
- On your phone, go to Settings > Phone > Wi-Fi Calling.
- Turn on “Add Wi-Fi Calling to other devices”
- Return to the previous screen and tap Calls on Other Devices
- Turn on “Allow calls on other devices” if it’s not already on. This will display a list of eligible devices under “Allow calls on.”
- Power on each device you want to use
Next, you need to make sure that the other device can accept calls from your mobile phone.
- On iPad: Tap “Settings” > “FaceTime”. Then enable “Calls from iPhone”.
- For MacOpen FaceTime, tap FaceTime > Settings (or Preferences), then turn on Calls from iPhone.
How to remove a device
If you no longer want to use Wi-Fi Calling on a device that has it enabled, you can remove it by following these steps:
- On your phone, go to Settings > Phone > Calls on Other Devices.
- In the list of devices, turn off Wi-Fi Calling for the device you want to remove
What to do if Wi-Fi calling isn’t working
Wi-Fi calling not working? Here’s how to troubleshoot.
If you can’t turn on or use Wi-Fi calling, make sure that the feature is supported by your carrier and that your device has the latest software.
If you can’t turn on Wi-Fi calling, but your device is up to date and your carrier supports it, contact your carrier for technical support.
If you can’t turn on Wi-Fi calling even after contacting your carrier, or if you can’t make Wi-Fi calling, follow these steps. Wait two minutes before moving from one step to the next.
- Go to Settings > Phone > Wi-Fi Calling and make sure the feature is enabled.
- Restart your phone
- On newer devices, press and hold either a volume button and the side button until the power off slider appears.
- On older devices, press and hold the side button until the power off slider appears
- Connect to a different Wi-Fi network. Not all Wi-Fi networks support this feature.
- Turn Wi-Fi calling off and back on (I know this sounds weird but it often works)
- Go to Settings > General > Transfer or Reset iPhone > Reset.
- Tap Reset network settings
