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Cannot set up cellular on Series 3: Says AT&T not supported

N

NJRonbo

macrumors 68040
Original poster
Jan 10, 2007
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Very strange.

Set up my Series 3 watch with a backup from Series 2.

No prompt at the finish of install to sign up for cellular.

Went to the CELLULAR option in the watch app and I get a message saying AT&T does not support Apple Watch.

I know all of this is wrong. Anyone have any ideas here?
 
I am having the same problem. I contacted AT&T and they said I need to have a new number created for the watch before it will work and I am almost certain that is not true.

I contacted AppleCare and they said that there are connectivity issues with the watch and the engineers are working very hard to get it fixed.

Basically, this is a nightmare scenario for Apple and we're left without the #1 reason we made this purchase.
 
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No, that is not true, according to Apple. In the keynote they said it works with the same phone number.

Looks like some kind of snafu for AT&T customers. Hope they get this fixed ASAP!
 
Okay, I will wait to hear from someone that has had to go through AT&T to get their watch successfully set up.
 
NJRonbo said:
No, that is not true, according to Apple. In the keynote they said it works with the same phone number.

Looks like some kind of snafu for AT&T customers. Hope they get this fixed ASAP!
Click to expand...
Yes it is true. Each Apple Watch LTE is assigned an individual phone number. AT&T uses NumberSyc for Apple Watch (Cellular) to give the appearance that the watch is using the same number as the paired iPhone.

Dave
 
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I set mine up with Verizon. I got the same message that my plan didn't support the watch but I called Verizon and everything was set up. I still can't make calls but was told their servers are busy and to wait a bit. My phone number is still the same for the phone and the watch.
 
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bevsb2 said:
I set mine up with Verizon. I got the same message that my plan didn't support the watch but I called Verizon and everything was set up. I still can't make calls but was told their servers are busy and to wait a bit. My phone number is still the same for the phone and the watch.
Click to expand...
I am betting that you did not use a Backup from a S2 to when you did your watch setup. Can you confirm how you setup your S3?

Dave
 
I just got off the phone with AT&T

They have no idea what is going on. The agent, while very nice, was forced to read off her screen as far as setup procedures were concerned and everything they have points to set up for cellular completely being done on the customer end.

This sounds like a complete snafu on Apple's software and it will probably be fixed in the next day or so.

However, calling AT&T will not fix the issue.
 
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Well that's how it is supposed to work. All done via the Watch and the iPhone. Do you still have your S2 paired, you might consider trying to setup the S3 as a "New" watch vs using the backup.

You should have been offered an Option to configure Cellular service during your initial Watch setup.

Dave
 
zhenya said:
Even though you will use one number for your phone and watch I believe AT&T needs to assign you a new number in their system for the watch's sim card. They do the same thing for cellular iPads.

Sorry they don't have things working a bit better on day 1 for you!
Click to expand...

Just like with the iPad, it has its own number but when you make a call on the iPad, its thru your iPhone, its just a thing on Att's side, don't worry about that number assignment for the Apple Watch....
 
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dave006 said:
Well that's how it is supposed to work. All done via the Watch and the iPhone. Do you still have your S2 paired, you might consider trying to setup the S3 as a "New" watch vs using the backup.

You should have been offered an Option to configure Cellular service during your initial Watch setup.

Dave
Click to expand...
My S2 is still paired and I will probably continue to use it on occasion. I was offered the option to configure Cellular during setup but then got the message that it wouldn't work with my phone plan. I called Verizon and they set it up. I still can't make calls but think Verizon is having some issues right now so will wait awhile before worrying about it. Thank you for your input.

Sorry for confusing message. I now see you were responding to someone else.
 
That's different than what the OP reported on their setup. All the Carriers are being slammed right now, in addition all the new LTE Watches, we have new iPhone 8/8+ trying to activate.

Have you restarted your watch since Verizon setup your add-on line correctly, sometimes that kicks the process along faster.

Dave
 
I was just told they won’t activate it because I’m on a grandfathered unlimited data plan....

Sounds like I’ll be returning if this is true
 
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Just did a fresh install as a new phone instead of a back up and there still is no cellular option during set up
 
jst1nt said:
I was just told they won’t activate it because I’m on a grandfathered unlimited data plan....

Sounds like I’ll be returning if this is true
Click to expand...

Another thread on this earlier this week said you have go to into a store and have them set it up on the grandfathered plan.
 
Mine doesn’t work either with ATT.

AW3 cellular
Setup watch as new

Tech support doesn’t know what’s going on.
 
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