AW does not connect to WiFi

[nongsung]

I have my Apple Sports Watch since August last year with all available OS’es (currently
the latest beta) and it works fine apart from one thing. When out of BT range it does not
connect to my Wi-Fi. Did all the things you should do like forgetting WiFi networks, restarting,
resetting, it will only connect to WiFi when I disable BT and only the first couple of hours.
The next day it will not connect anymore to WiFi when out or BT range.
I have separate 2.4 and 5 GHz networks, my Wi-Fi coverage is done with 1 Airport Extreme
and 3 Airport Expresses and my iPhone 6Plus never loses WiFi connection (2.4) but the Watch does.
What am I doing wrong?
Please help me out.

 

[RadioGaGa1984]

AFAIK the watch only connects to wifi when needed or when it loses connection to bluetooth.

 

[madflava54]

How do you set up wifi for the watch? I had no idea this feature was present (just got my watch a few days ago).

 

[Mik3F]

The watch gets the wifi settings from your iPhone. You don't need to set it up on the watch

 

[testcard]

This might help:
https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT204562

 

[gwhizkids]

When the AW connects via wifi is it just a peer to peer connection to the phone or does it connect to the Internet directly?

 

[Rok73]

The Watch connects directly to the modem/router.

 

[exxxviii]

When the AW connects via wifi is it just a peer to peer connection to the phone or does it connect to the Internet directly?

It is both. If it can see the iPhone on the network, it will do peer-to-peer. If it cannot see the iPhone, it will do Internet for limited functionality (iMessage, wifi calling, etc.).

 

[gwhizkids]

The Watch connects directly to the modem/router.

Yeah, I probably phrased that badly. My point was whether the watch can get info directly from the internet without need for the phone to intermediate.

It is both. If it can see the iPhone on the network, it will do peer-to-peer. If it cannot see the iPhone, it will do Internet for limited functionality (iMessage, wifi calling, etc.).

Thanks! That's what I was getting at.

 

[srshaw]

Should this just work? Does the watch just get the settings automatically from the iPhone? I've never seen my watch connect via wifi even when my phone is switched off.

 

[exxxviii]

Should this just work? Does the watch just get the settings automatically from the iPhone? I've never seen my watch connect via wifi even when my phone is switched off.

Yes. If you are on your home WiFi network, and you switch your phone off, you should see the little green cloud icon when you go to the watch's settings glance.

 

[jasie02]

Only following function work when iPhone is turn off with local wifi connected to AW:

• Use Siri
• Send and receive Digital Touch messages
• Send and receive messages using iMessage
  
• Make and receive phone calls
  
  (if you have Wi-Fi calling enabled and you’re within range of a Wi-Fi network that your iPhone has connected to before).

This is in additional to following will work without BT or Wifi:

• Play music from a synced playlist on Apple Watch
• Use the watch
  
  , alarms
  
  , timers
  
  , and the stopwatch
  
• Track your activity with the Activity app
  
• Track workouts using the Workout app
  
• Display photos from synced photo albums in the Photos app
  

From: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT205547

Everything should work if no BT but able to connect to iPhone through wifi with iPhone on, you could test this by turn off BT on iPhone but leave wifi on iPhone connected, instead of turn off iPhone.

 

[nongsung]

Yes. If you are on your home WiFi network, and you switch your phone off, you should see the little green cloud icon when you go to the watch's settings glance.

Yes, initially I see that little green cloud icon when out of BT range (or iPhone switched off). But, strangely, the next
day it does not work anymore. I get the dreaded red little box with no connection.
Then I do a 'Forget Network', switch off the watch, turn off BT, configure the WiFi again (static IP), turn on BT,
turn on Apple Watch and all is well for a couple of hours...
It's like this for 7 months now and I'm probably doing something wrong that I'm not aware of...

 

[exxxviii]

...configure the WiFi again (static IP)...

Wait... why do you have a static IP assignment for your phone? Can you try it without a static IP and see what happens. That would be a highly unusual setup, and it may be why the watch is having difficulty.

 

[nongsung]

Wait... why do you have a static IP assignment for your phone? Can you try it without a static IP and see what happens. That would be a highly unusual setup, and it may be why the watch is having difficulty.

Many reasons for static IP, but I'm trying without now. Switches over to Wi-Fi when out of BT range now, let's see
if that (IP) is the solution. Keep you posted. Thanks!

 

[exxxviii]

If you must do static IP, can you do a virtual static through a DHCP MAC assignment from the router? Networking is one of Apple's biggest weaknesses across all of its products, so my vote it is highly unlikely that the phone and watch can work smoothly in a non-DHCP environment.

 

[OverSpun]

I did not find this work very well with my home network. I would leave my phone in my bedroom and the watch would rarely connect to wifi while I was out of BT range. It may have been my home network but I already sold my watch to wait for Watch 2.

 

[exxxviii]

Many reasons for static IP, but I'm trying without now. Switches over to Wi-Fi when out of BT range now, let's see if that (IP) is the solution. Keep you posted. Thanks!

Curiosity is burning... has changing to DHCP helped the watch stay connected?

And to go along with that, why do you have a static IP for your phone. I have been pondering this, and I cannot think of any reason to use a static IP for a phone in any environment. I have some static IP addresses for infrastructure in my home, but I do that through DHCP and MAC address assignments. And, I have a static IP for my phone when connected to an AirPlay receiver in my car, but that is pretty esoteric.

 

[nongsung]

Just to inform you all; without a static IP everything works fine now, the watch connects to Wi-Fi once out of BT range and does that for a couple of days now. I started to use static IP's when my wife started to complain she couldn't connect to wi-fi with her Macbook Air. For some strange reason her MBA (after woken up from sleep) tried to connect to the same IP address as before going to sleep but, that IP address was now occupied by another Apple device. Anyway, it works now and thanks for all the suggestions & help.