Apple Watch Still Connecting to Wi-Fi Even Though It’s Connected iPhone via Bluetooth?

[BigBlur]

I was reviewing the devices connected to my router and noticed it said my Apple Watch (S7) was connected or online. My understanding was that it would use Bluetooth when my iPhone was nearby, and Wi-Fi when it couldn't connect to my iPhone. My iPhone is always nearby and Bluetooth is always on. When I check Control Center on the watch, it shows that it is connected via Bluetooth.

Has something changed with how this works, or do the newer models work differently? Does the watch now ping your Wi-Fi every so often for some reason even though it is connected via Bluetooth? All I could find is this Reddit post with someone thinking it changed with watchOS 5. I don't recall seeing this happen with my Series 2 watch (which would have had watchOS 6), but I really haven't been paying that close attention either. Anyone else seeing this?

 

[NoBoMac]

Router "feature"? My router has the habit of showing "connected" devices that have not connected in days/weeks and are miles away.

If that, and if the phone was > 30-ish feet away at some point or maybe rebooting, watch loses signal, pings the wifi?

But yeah, your understanding of how it should be working is how it works on any watch, iirc. Have not seen anything to the contrary. And still documented as such:

About Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and cellular on your Apple Watch - Apple Support

Learn about Bluetooth and Wi-Fi for your Apple Watch and how your watch uses both. And learn how cellular on GPS + Cellular models fits in.

support.apple.com

 

[casperes1996]

It uses both. A connection to the iPhone will allow them to cooperate in various ways that wifi alone doesn’t like phone calls. But it doesn’t make sense to go through an extra indirection if you for example try to check your email on the watch. Why go through Bluetooth to ask the phone to go through wifi instead of just going straight through wifi from the watch saving power for both the watch and phone in the process. It would only go through such an indirection if there was no wifi and it had a phone connection so it could access the internet through cellular