Activate LTE watch with one iPhone, then pair with a different iPhone

[japanime]

My cellular provider doesn’t have an LTE Apple Watch plan, but my wife’s provider does.

Would it be possible for me to activate an LTE Apple Watch on my wife’s plan, then unpair the watch from her phone, pair it to mine, and still be able to use LTE on the watch?

 

[bruinsrme]

Hmmm I believe the watch number is linked to the phone number, not the phone itself.

 

[japanime]

Yeah, I realize the phone number on the watch would be the same as on my wife's phone. But that wouldn't bother either of us, because I wouldn't be using LTE to place or answer calls. I mainly want it for Apple Music streaming when out and about.

 

[dave006]

My cellular provider doesn’t have an LTE Apple Watch plan, but my wife’s provider does.

Would it be possible for me to activate an LTE Apple Watch on my wife’s plan, then unpair the watch from her phone, pair it to mine, and still be able to use LTE on the watch?

The key rule is that the host iPhone and the paired LTE watch must be on the same carrier. By default using the automated syncing process when you try to pair your watch to your iPhone it will automatically want and try to connect to your Carrier to enable the synchronization of the phone numbers between the host iPhone and the LTE watch. If this can't complete then no LTE.

Please share the Cellular Carrier's involved as there may be an option to get this to work but it is very dependent on the Carrier's involved in the discussion.

Dave

 

[japanime]

The key rule is that the host iPhone and the paired LTE watch must be on the same carrier. By default using the automated syncing process when you try to pair your watch to your iPhone it will automatically want and try to connect to your Carrier to enable the synchronization of the phone numbers between the host iPhone and the LTE watch. If this can't complete then no LTE.

Please share the Cellular Carrier's involved as there may be an option to get this to work but it is very dependent on the Carrier's involved in the discussion.

Dave

Thanks for the info, Dave. The carriers involved are Japanese — Softbank (which provides Apple Watch LTE service) and B-Mobile (which does not). I realize now that it's probably not going to be possible.

 

[dave006]

OK Softbank should work. It should work for your Apple Music streaming and all other LTE enhanced features with the limitations on the incoming and outgoing cellular calls.

First a disclaimer is required, while I have not actually tested this process it should work for you using Softbank. Before each Phase below, please power off both the iPhone and the Watch when swapping your wife's nano-SIM between iPhones.

Phase 1: As you guessed you should pair the Watch with your wife's (Phone Number) nano-SIM but it must installed in your physical iPhone. Once the pairing is complete and you have tested the LTE functions then you can move on to Phase 2.

Note: Do not un-pair the watch unless your wife's nano-SIM is installed in your iPhone.

Phase 2: Put your nano-SIM back in your iPhone. As a reminder: your Watch will still be paired to your wife's iPhone / Carrier and carrier phone numbers (iPhone & Watch). Your Watch's LTE coverage is not your Carrier's coverage so just keep that in mind there may be LTE coverage differences between your iPhone and the Watch.

Note: In addition to streaming Apple Music. You will also be able to make cellular calls, they will just appear to come from your wife's phone number. You can also answer calls for your wife's phone number or even be annoyed by those incoming calls since there is no way keep the watch from accepting incoming calls.

Dave

 

[japanime]

OK Softbank should work. It should work for your Apple Music streaming and all other LTE enhanced features with the limitations on the incoming and outgoing cellular calls.

First a disclaimer is required, while I have not actually tested this process it should work for you using Softbank. Before each Phase below, please power off both the iPhone and the Watch when swapping your wife's nano-SIM between iPhones.

Phase 1: As you guessed you should pair the Watch with your wife's (Phone Number) nano-SIM but it must installed in your physical iPhone. Once the pairing is complete and you have tested the LTE functions then you can move on to Phase 2.

Note: Do not un-pair the watch unless your wife's nano-SIM is installed in your iPhone.

Phase 2: Put your nano-SIM back in your iPhone. As a reminder: your Watch will still be paired to your wife's iPhone / Carrier and carrier phone numbers (iPhone & Watch). Your Watch's LTE coverage is not your Carrier's coverage so just keep that in mind there may be LTE coverage differences between your iPhone and the Watch.

Note: In addition to streaming Apple Music. You will also be able to make cellular calls, they will just appear to come from your wife's phone number. You can also answer calls for your wife's phone number or even be annoyed by those incoming calls since there is no way keep the watch from accepting incoming calls.

Dave

Thanks, Dave! I appreciate your very clear instructions. And your disclaimer is well-taken.

I don't have an LTE watch yet, simply because I didn't want to make the leap before investigating a bit. If I do get one (might be soon, might be later), I'll post here to let everyone know if the experiment works.

 

[warrenal]

How about activating LTE on 1 AT&T account but then pairing it to another AT&T iPhone account?

 

[dave006]

Hey @warrenal, that will not work unless both iPhones are on the same post-paid billing account.

The reason is because of the need to add a line of service for the watch on the account. If both your iPhones are on the same account then you could pair the LTE watch to 1 iPhone and then un-pair and pair to another iPhone on the same account and "reuse" the LTE line since it is available on the account.

If you try to pair a LTE watch to a different account even with the same Carrier, it will prompt you to add a new line of service for the watch. So you would not be sharing a single LTE line but would have 2 and the watch can only connect to 1 at a time.

Note: When activating LTE service for the watch, a "phone" line is added to the account or reused if a Wearable line is already added to the account along with a phone number. This line / phone number is then synced with the paired iPhone to make it appear that the iPhone and watch are using the iPhone's phone number to make / receive calls, and to send and receive SMS/MMS Txt messages.

Dave