Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Apple Watch On Wifi

For the love of god read the thread people! Once again calling over WiFi without BlueTooth works for some and not others as reported. I can tell you without a doubt I have made calls without Bluetooth. Read my posts for more details. The manual doesn't mention calls over WiFi without Bluetooth (not to be confused with WiFi calling that some wireless carriers provide) but does mention other functions work. Since we do know that calling over WiFi without Bluetooth does indeed work for some it most likely means Apple needs to fix some bugs which should hopefully happen soon. I mentioned some reasons the calling may not be working for all but you really shouldn't have issues with other features using WiFi.

From the manual which has been posted before:

“Apple*Watch uses Bluetooth® wireless technology to connect to its paired iPhone and uses the iPhone for many wireless functions. Apple*Watch can’t configure new Wi-Fi networks on its own, but it can connect to Wi-Fi networks you’ve set up on the paired iPhone.

If your Apple*Watch and iPhone are on the same network but aren’t connected by Bluetooth, you can also do the following on Apple*Watch without iPhone:

Send and receive messages using iMessage

Send and receive Digital Touch messages

Use Siri”

----------

Also see this thread which has already been posted earlier in this one. You can't expect people to keep answering the same questions that have already been answered on the same post because you don't want to read through the posts.

https://forums.macrumors.com/posts/21111243/

Edit: looks like that link is to only one post from the other thread . Here is to the entire thread from the beginning. https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1872942/
 
macgeek01 said:
For the love of god read the thread people! ...

If your Apple*Watch and iPhone are on the same network but aren’t connected by Bluetooth, you can also do the following on Apple*Watch without iPhone:

Send and receive messages using iMessage

Send and receive Digital Touch messages

Use Siri”
Click to expand...

Well, I have read the thread. And there have been others on this thread who had other ideas, so some of us (me) were confused about some points.

That said, I have proved to my satisfaction at least that the watch does indeed connect independently to known wifi networks for (limited) internet connectivity....as you have stated above.

And I'll bet this won't be the last thread on this as more and more people receive their watch. Unless we get a sticky FAQ
 
Last edited:
macgeek01 said:
For the love of god read the thread people! Once again calling over WiFi without BlueTooth works for some and not others as reported. I can tell you without a doubt I have made calls without Bluetooth. Read my posts for more details. The manual doesn't mention calls over WiFi without Bluetooth (not to be confused with WiFi calling that some wireless carriers provide) but does mention other functions work. Since we do know that calling over WiFi without Bluetooth does indeed work for some it most likely means Apple needs to fix some bugs which should hopefully happen soon. I mentioned some reasons the calling may not be working for all but you really shouldn't have issues with other features using WiFi.

From the manual which has been posted before:

“Apple*Watch uses Bluetooth® wireless technology to connect to its paired iPhone and uses the iPhone for many wireless functions. Apple*Watch can’t configure new Wi-Fi networks on its own, but it can connect to Wi-Fi networks you’ve set up on the paired iPhone.

If your Apple*Watch and iPhone are on the same network but aren’t connected by Bluetooth, you can also do the following on Apple*Watch without iPhone:

Send and receive messages using iMessage

Send and receive Digital Touch messages

Use Siri”

----------

Also see this thread which has already been posted earlier in this one. You can't expect people to keep answering the same questions that have already been answered on the same post because you don't want to read through the posts.

https://forums.macrumors.com/posts/21111243/
Click to expand...
:eek:
 

Attachments

  • image.jpg
    image.jpg
    41.5 KB · Views: 659
I hope this was not mentioned already, but the watch can only connect to wifi that is on the 2.4ghz range, and not 5ghz. Hope this clears up some confusion.
 
Apple Watch On Wifi

I change my previous statement, my watch now connects fine to all the apps with Bluetooth fully off my iPhone 6
 
Jsmil009 said:
Is this a software issue, hardware issue, or are people just not setting the watch up correctly? What should we check to ensure it works if it is not?
Click to expand...

In these 2 days, I realise that the apple watch's wifi connectivity is weaker than the iphone (which is expected). So, it's 100% possible that your phone can catch the signal but the watch cannot (I successfully reproduce this situation in my own place). Since there is no indication about wifi status on the watch, you have to check the client list in the access point to confirm the watch that actually logged in to the network. As long as the watch is logged in, everything should work properly.

To solve this problem. I simply pull out my old airport express and set it up as a wifi extender to reinforce the signal strength in my place, then the watch work flawlessly.

Also, there is another user report that the watch cannot log in to a network that with very strong password (from memory, 64 character in his case). By reducing the password length, he's watch work well via wi-fi.
 
Uccle said:
Well, I have read the thread. And there have been others on this thread who had other ideas, so some of us (me) were confused about some points.

That said, I have proved to my satisfaction at least that the watch does indeed connect independently to known wifi networks for (limited) internet connectivity....as you have stated above.
Click to expand...

Glad to hear you actually read it. I understand some points mentioned are a little technical and could be confusing. Sorry if I was harsh. I just felt like some people weren't even trying to read and understand and just were asking the questions already addressed.

Basically some functions over WiFi work for most and all features for some. Different factors have been discussed as to why this may be and don't all have to do with bugs with the watch that may be effecting some users. Sorry for for the broken record but don't know what else to say except there is no clear answer at this point because only a couple of days after launch. Hopefully Apple will provide better documentation of the technical details of how everything is supposed to work soon to fill some gaps along with some stabability updates.

----------
Jsmil009 said:
:eek:
Click to expand...

Love it! LOL
 
Last edited:
macgeek01 said:
Glad to hear you actually read it. I understand some points mentioned are a little for technical and would be confusing. Sorry if I seems harsh. I just felt like some people weren't even trying to read and understand and just were asking the questions already addressed.

Basically some functions over WiFi work for most and all features for some. Different factors have been discussed as to why this may be and don't all have to do with bugs with the watch that may be effecting some users. Sorry for for the broken record but don't know what else to say except there is no clear answer at this point because only a couple of days after launch. Hopefully Apple will provide better documentation of the technical details of how everything is supposed to work soon to fill some gaps along with some stabability updates.
Click to expand...

Actually, your posts have been very helpful. (OK I *might* have reacted to the last post a bit :rolleyes:.) But with these last several posts from you, gmann and h9826790 something finally clicked and I now have enough info to understand why the watch connectivity may not work in all situations, how it works and how to do a little troubleshooting.

So thanks to everyone...seriously!
 
The purpose of the wifi is for fast transfers between the iphone and apple watch. Things like transferring music and photos. if it was bluetooth only it would take forever to transfer 2gb of music over BTLE. So the wifi is to supplement where the bluetooth fails. You need to be within bluetooth range because it uses bluetooth to communicate between devices. If you're out of range the device can't find you. wi-fi is only for transferring data not communication.

It's been explained out there on the interwebs somewhere. I don't remember the article.

darkarw said:
Well I didn't think it could actually do anything if the phone wasn't present like stated in that article, I just thought that as long as I was at home and both my phone and watch were on wifi, that I didn't have to be within bluetooth range to make or receive calls.

I could be wrong but I thought Kevin (I think that is his name) stated this in the last launch Keynote for the apple watch.

----------

can you send me a link to that guide?
Click to expand...
 
Uccle said:
Actually, your posts have been very helpful. (OK I *might* have reacted to the last post a bit :rolleyes:.) But with these last several posts from you, gmann and h9826790 something finally clicked and I now have enough info to understand why the watch connectivity may not work in all situations, how it works and how to do a little troubleshooting.

So thanks to everyone...seriously!
Click to expand...

Glad it proved to be helpful although convoluted. The simple answer is it does work for some. Unfortunately there is no answer as to why it doesn't work for all at this time just speculation.

----------
pragmatous said:
The purpose of the wifi is for fast transfers between the iphone and apple watch. Things like transferring music and photos. if it was bluetooth only it would take forever to transfer 2gb of music over BTLE. So the wifi is to supplement where the bluetooth fails. You need to be within bluetooth range because it uses bluetooth to communicate between devices. If you're out of range the device can't find you. wi-fi is only for transferring data not communication.

It's been explained out there on the interwebs somewhere. I don't remember the article.
Click to expand...

Banging my head against the wall now. This is what I'm talking about. People making statements without reading the thread. I want to try to be helpful and provide insight but this is just getting silly with people having to keep correcting others and repeating the same info over and over that was just posted yet once again right before their post. It's getting comical at this point but I'm losing my amusement, ha!

PS: thanks for all the likes of my posts in this thread for taking the time to break this down multiple times. Me bitter and overacting? Never! Sacacstic? That sounds more like it, ha!
 
Last edited:
Just add another old airport express (the gen 1 AE) as a Wi-Fi extender into the network. More drama this time, it cost me an hour to sort out how to make every work.

And finally, again, same as the other user's report, the password setting!

There are 2 Time Capsule and 2 Airport Express in the network. All of them are using the same Wi-Fi ident, same password... Both TC are the access points on 2 different floor, and each of them now has a AE as and Wi-Fi extender. This form a single Wi-Fi network system to cover my whole place.

I don't know the technical reason behind, but by adding an extra AE into the network makes the watch sometimes works, sometimes don't. After an hour of trying for different settings / firmware. The result at this moment shows that firmware makes no difference, simply use the most up to date one is fine. However, I realise 1TC and 1 AE have WPA/WPA2 in the Wi-Fi setting, and the other 2 are WPA2 only. By changing the whole network use WPA2 only will greatly increase the stability. And now, everything just work.
 
Apple Watch WiFi connectivity to the iPhone does work. I got it working after initial troubles.

Test setup: both watch and phone within reach of the same AP, Bluetooth turned off on the phone.

Two things I've tested just then that work as expected and prove WiFi connectivity between the two:
a) Making phone calls from the watch. They go via the phone (green bar at the top of the phone screen) and can be picked up and continued on the phone.
b) Camera remote. Works the same as with Bluetooth on.

Is there anything else you want to know or want me to test?

Other notes:

The phone has to be turned on and connected to the same WiFi network as the watch. The watch can't do stuff without the phone (except for showing cached content in some cases).

The watch doesn't like being connected to WiFi. It disconnects from the AP when Bluetooth connectivity to the phone becomes available, and reconnects only after losing Bluetooth. Reconnection can take a moment.

The iPhone watch app requires Bluetooth to work, it doesn't work with WiFi.

I had trouble initially getting the watch to connect to my WiFi network (Airport Extreme, current model, extended by Airport Extreme, last flat case model). I got that working by shortening my WPA2 passphrase to 32 characters. However, I did a lot of messing around with other things, and although I put them all back the way they were I'm only 95% convinced my long passphrase was the culprit in the first place.

I seem to remember reading somewhere that only WPA2 is supported by the Apple Watch.
 
Yptcn said:
Is there anything else you want to know or want me to test?

Actually there is ;-) How do you connect the watch to WiFi ?

I'm asking because at home I have my Orange modem and an airport set up .

Will it connect to the WiFi the phone is on or is there a set up where ?

I don't have my watch yet ...
Click to expand...

No setup require, and in fact, there is no way to setup Wi-Fi in the watch.

It's seems when you pair up the watch to the phone. It will copy the iPhones Wi-Fi preference, and connect to the Wi-Fi network automatically when required. That's it. No need to set up anything (on the watch), and nothing you can do (on the watch) actually.

At this point, certain points are discovered.

1) The watch must be pair up with the phone via BT initially, and then it can works outside the BT range, or via Wi-Fi (network) only. You may even turn off your iPhone's BT.

2) Use WPA2 only will cause much less trouble, and don't use super long password.

3) The watch's Wi-Fi antenna is not that strong. If the signal is just OK for the phone, most likely the watch won't receive anything. Since there is no indication about the Wi-Fi status on the watch, the user most likely will assume the watch is not working (because other device still has the Wi-Fi signal), but actually, just because the signal is too weak for the watch, and Wi-Fi extender (or stronger antenna option for some router) may easily fix the problem.
 
Last edited:
My watch would not connect to my wifi, too.
I then removed my home network from my iPhone and added it again. Since then everything works fine.
 
h9826790 said:
No setup require, and in fact, there is no way to setup Wi-Fi in the watch.

It's seems when you pair up the watch to the phone. It will copy the iPhones Wi-Fi preference, and connect to the Wi-Fi network automatically when required. That's it. No need to set up anything (on the watch), and nothing you can do (on the watch) actually.

At this point, certain points are discovered.

1) The watch must be pair up with the phone via BT initially, and then it can works outside the BT range, or via Wi-Fi (network) only. You may even turn off your iPhone's BT.

2) Use WPA2 only will cause much less trouble, and don't use super long password.

3) The watch's Wi-Fi antenna is not that strong. If the signal is just OK for the phone, most likely the watch won't receive anything. Since there is no indication about the Wi-Fi status on the watch, the user most likely will assume the watch is not working (because other device still has the Wi-Fi signal), but actually, just because the signal is too weak for the watch, and Wi-Fi extender (or stronger antenna option for some router) may easily fix the problem.
Click to expand...

Thank you very much ! My wifi password is 27 digits , is the considered as super long ?
 
Daku93 said:
My watch would not connect to my wifi, too.
I then removed my home network from my iPhone and added it again. Since then everything works fine.
Click to expand...

When my wife's watch arrived I paired it at first with my iPhone, as of course I had to test it first. :cool:

I noticed the watch wouldn't connect to the WiFi network, but at that point I wasn't worried. My Wifi devices will only get DHCP if their MAC address is in a list of allowed devices. Unfortunately after finding the MAC in the watches settings page it still wouldn't show up as connected. I assumed it's probably related to my 26 character long WPA2 passphrase and I wasn't about to change that.

A day later the watch is paired to my wife's iPhone and suddenly the watch is showing up in the network. This means the watch not being able to log on to the WiFi must indeed have something to do with some configuration on the iPhone. Removing and adding again seems to be a good idea to fix things in this case.
 
Daku93 said:
My watch would not connect to my wifi, too.
I then removed my home network from my iPhone and added it again. Since then everything works fine.
Click to expand...

Yay! That worked for me. I found I have to be quite near the router for the Watch to use Wifi.....most probably need a range extender...but I was able to make a call with BT turned off on my phone. Thanks so much!:)
 
With regards to the thread TL;DR

This is from the manual

Apple Watch uses Bluetooth® wireless technology to connect to its paired iPhone and uses the iPhone for many wireless functions. Apple Watch can’t configure new Wi-Fi networks on its own, but it can connect to Wi-Fi networks you’ve set up on the paired iPhone.
If your Apple Watch and iPhone are on the same network but aren’t connected by Bluetooth, you can also do the following on Apple Watch without iPhone:
• Send and receive messages using iMessage
• Send and receive Digital Touch messages
• Use Siri
Click to expand...
 
My Watch now shows up on my list of devices connected to my Wifi network

Devices currently connected to your BT Home Hub:

Wireless network: HP01FFCA A0:2B:B8:01:FF:CA
iMac C8:BC:C8:C5:2C:27
iPad-Air 78:7E:61:C5:02:17
IrenesApleWatch C0:CE:CD:D1:6E:8D
Johns-iPad 7C:6D:62:D3:77:9D
janns-airport-time-capsule 00:1E:C2:F6:0D:3F
JannettesiPhone 80:BE:05:78:C1:25
Macbook-2 00:25:00:4E:D8:1D
 
Before the Apple Watch, I used a Pebble, so I'm pretty familiar with the BT range in my house for both the watch and a at earpieces.

With the Apple Watch, at home, I'm able to go WAY out of BT range and still receive notifications, check weather, check news headlines and a few other things I tried. Haven't yet tried calls.

At work, connected to our corporate wifi, I cannot do the same things out of BT range. This makes sense since my workplace's wifi blocks all but the most basic ports. They even block POP and IMAP (but not Exchange).
 
To add the the mix (and as it was reported by a reviewer before the launch) some watch features even works when the iphone is completely off providing they have been on the same 2.4g wifi connection before. imessage, siri and digital touch are the apps that work.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back