Hello,
The Volla 22 Phone is based on the German made Gigaset GS5. Gigaset is a huge manufacturing company in Germany, that is or was part of Siemens at one point.
Anyway, the Gigaset GS5 phone uses a Mediatek G85 board. I am currently trying to find out what the correct firmware for that board, so that I can make an attempt to flash a new IMEI onto that board. I believe that the mobile network carriers are blocking IMEI numbers from the German made Gigaset GS5 (aka Volla 22) phone. At least, that is my view, based on my experiences. The IMEI number includes a TAC number and that TAC number is probably what is causing the phone to be blocked, based on where you live in the USA.
So, the idea (per the recent Rob Braxman video), is to clone a known IMEI number onto the Volla 22 (Gigaset GS5) phone, so that the carrier will see the IMEI (and TAC) number they like and handshake with the Volla 22 phone. One user, out in Colorado, was able to get the Volla 22 phone to work with a specific SIM card from SpeedTalk. So, I ordered a $5 dollar pre-paid SIM card from this company and no luck.
Another user out in Salt Lake City, Utah is having the same issue as myself.
Another part of the issue may be the frequencies/bands here in the USA that are used. For example, 1700 is used here but not in Europe and that band is not part of the frequencies on the Volla 22 Phone.
So, it could be an IMEI issue, as well as a frequency issue. I am also willing to use my phone with a new IMEI (test purposes) to see if the phone is being blocked on Verizon and T-Mobile carriers (and resellers on those networks) because of the coding (i.e. TAC) in the IMEI number itself.
I think it is a dice roll (hit or miss) on using the Volla 22 Phone in the USA. I have had my Volla Phone 22 for over a month and am still not able to make phone calls. What is interesting is that I can use the Verizon SIM card from my Samsung Galaxy Note 20 (Ultra 5G) in the Volla 22 Phone to send and receive text messages - but no phone calls. As for T-Mobile and SpeedTalk (reseller of T-Mobile), I have had no luck at all.
Volla really needs to find a solution for consumers in the USA, that have purchased the Volla 22 phone - that still cannot make phone calls with it on any US mobile carrier.
Regards,
James