Apple Watch 3 has NO roaming, not even in Europe

[dave006]

It seems to me that there is still a misconception here.
In the US there is no roaming. I went on vacation in a different state where my provider doesn’t have cell signal in the area.

What is your carrier? AT&T supports roaming across the USA for phones but not for the new Watch. The only place in the USA where I have not be able to use my AT&T service was at the bottom of the Grand Canyon.

To stay on topic, it does not appear to be an issue with LTE or UMTS(where supported), but with the Number Sync function that is being used and what would need to be added to support cross-carrier roaming.

Dave

 

[bradbomb]

It seems to me that there is still a misconception here.
In the US there is no roaming. I went on vacation in a different state where my provider doesn’t have cell signal in the area.
That just meant for the 10 days I had no cell phone connection until at night at the hotel with WiFi calling.
So no phone and no watch.
In Europe you have at least phone with roaming in someone else’s network.
By the way I can do the same in Mexico or Canada as you do in Europe, but no Watch connection.

It’s a limitation by the providers and not Apple.

As the EU had the remove the barriers I would like to see same in the US as we travel across the states for phone and watch as well in Europe for the watch.

There isn't a misconception. There is actually roaming in the US, its just very rare. For instance, T-Mobile has a whole support page for Domestic Data Roaming and Verizon on Domestic Roaming as well

https://support.t-mobile.com/docs/DOC-3299

https://www.verizonwireless.com/support/domestic-roaming-faqs/

Also, look at these news articles about AT&T frustrated with T-Mobile's reliance of roaming their devices on AT&T network

http://www.fiercewireless.com/wirel...ying-roaming-instead-building-its-own-network

 

[OBirder]

What is your carrier? AT&T supports roaming across the USA for phones but not for the new Watch. The only place in the USA where I have not be able to use my AT&T service was at the bottom of the Grand Canyon.

To stay on topic, it does not appear to be an issue with LTE or UMTS(where supported), but with the Number Sync function that is being used and what would need to be added to support cross-carrier roaming.

Dave

I have AT&T and I had been places where there had been friends with Verizon and cell phone reception and I with AT&T didn’t and vice versa.
Roaming would be if I could log on to the Verizon signal as it is in Europe or for me in Mexico and Canada.
Yes, I spent time in nature in country side areas and AT&T is not the best in all of them. Parts of OH, FL Panhandle, Everglades, TX, AZ, Eastern CA have AT&T gaps.

 

[bradbomb]

I have AT&T and I had been places where there had been friends with Verizon and cell phone reception and I with AT&T didn’t and vice versa.
Roaming would be if I could log on to the Verizon signal as it is in Europe or for me in Mexico and Canada.
Yes, I spent time in nature in country side areas and AT&T is not the best in all of them. Parts of OH, FL Panhandle, Everglades, TX, AZ, Eastern CA have AT&T gaps.

AT&T and Verizon can't roam because of CDMA vs GSM/UMTA. They are incompatible technologies. Even though your phone can technically handle all those networks and all networks use LTE too, there is still a lot I believe that is communicated on the non-LTE side of things still.

 

[OBirder]

AT&T and Verizon can't roam because of CDMA vs GSM/UMTA. They are incompatible technologies. Even though your phone can technically handle all those networks and all networks use LTE too, there is still a lot I believe that is communicated on the non-LTE side of things still.

Correct. However on LTE the technology is there to be able to roam. In Europe even if they are on different LTE bands they can roam into the other network.
As AT&T customer you can't roam into the T-Mobile network either even so it's the same technology. However it we pay the daily international plan we can in Europe. As well people from Europe can roam into AT&T or T-Mobile when they are in the US.

To be back on topic. In all those cases once you go into someone else's network the Watch will not connect. So Roaming is not supported in Europe nor the US.
The US just happens to have single providers which covers a larger area and is less impacted then Europe. But again that is a provider topic and not an Apple topic.

I wonder how T-Mobile is in Europe. If you cross borders on T-Mobile will the LTE watch work or not?

 

[valdikor]

Good points everyone. Yes, even though international roaming surcharges have been all but abolished within the EU, when you travel between countries, you still technically and inevitably roam. So it's true that as far as most people are concerned, it works like in the US, but technically it's not quite like that.

I wonder how T-Mobile is in Europe. If you cross borders on T-Mobile will the LTE watch work or not?

No, and this shows that the situation is different from the US which is truly a single market. Even carriers that do business in multiple countries (T-Mobile, Vodafone, Telefonica/O2, Orange, etc.) still operate completely separate networks in each country and you roam between them.

 

[hansmueller]

What about Emergency calls in France (foreign country) with a German apple watch? Also not possible?

 

[Trixs]

Actually, I know exactly how Europe works. I’m British (yeah, don’t go there..). Crossing a state border is absolutely nothing like crossing from one country to another in Europe.

I know border security has been an issue in Europe, but I do believe there’s more than just a sign saying, “Now Entering Germany. Enjoy Your Stay.” on a billboard to the side of the motorway. That’s America (and hey, I live in America now!).

I get what you’re saying, but these two situations really are nothing alike.

No opnion on the rest of the discussion but that is exactly what it is in Europe. A welcome to [insert country] sign, nothing else. On small roads ther may not even be a sign at all.

 

[WilliamG]

No opnion on the rest of the discussion but that is exactly what it is in Europe. A welcome to [insert country] sign, nothing else. On small roads ther may not even be a sign at all.

There’s some misunderstanding here. A different country is not the same as a different state within said country. That’s all I’m saying.