Can't do Wifi calling. AT&T. Apple Watch 3 LTE

[Floaaaaargh]

Got an update on this whole confusing issue. So the programmers where able to look at the report and it turns out everything we have experienced here is expected behavior. The WiFi Calling option disappearing when a Cell plan is loaded onto the watch, Expected behavior. WiFi calling not working when Cellular Toggle is off, Expected Behavior. So it would appear that there is some error, or just the way the a carriers are handling the DIGITS, numbersync stuff, that causes it to log a WiFi call from the watch, as a cellular call.

Case Closed.

Hi, I am resurrecting this thread, because the issue still exists and there are too many helpful informations in this thread to open an new one.
I bought the LTE watch although my carrier dsoesn't support the eSIM (yet). I just wanted to use it like a WiFi one, until my carrier offers the LTE-option. So there was never installed a data plan or profile on the watch. But there is no WiFi Call toggle in the Watch App on my phone.
I had two calls with tier1-support, doing the usual stuff to make the toggle appear. No success. As it looks so far, i can't use WiFi Calling with the LTE Watch without a plan? But with the WiFi Watch it would work?!? So in my case the LTE Watch is no "WiFi with potential benefits" but just worse?
(Sorry for my english, I am not a native speaker)

Flo

 

[dave006]

Hello @Floaaaaargh and welcome to the forum. Does your current carrier support carrier based 'WiFi Calling' and Wi-Fi Calling on supported iCloud-connected devices?

Check this Apple link: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204040

Cellular carrier WiFi Calling requires your iPhone to have an active valid SIM to actually use this feature. The same requirement also needs to be met by your watch. In your case, that means that you need an active eSIM registered with your cellular carrier.

Next, if your carrier supports Wi-Fi Calling on iCloud-connected devices, you can also make and receive Wi-Fi calls on other devices like a watch without LTE. You can use Wi-Fi Calling on these devices, even if your iPhone isn't on the same Wi-Fi Network or turned on. You will need to have all devices use the same iCloud account.

Check this Apple link: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT203032

Without carrier support your options are very limited. You can use Apple Continuity to allow your watch or other supported Apple devices that are on the same local WiFi network access your iPhone to actually make cellular phone calls.

Check this Apple link: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204681#phone

Dave
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204040

 

[Floaaaaargh]

Hi Dave,
my carrier o2 (Telefonica) in Germany supports WiFi-Calling. At home in my WiFi my indicated carrier by my iPhone is "WLAN" (Germans don't use the word "WiFi".) In- and outgoing calls on the iPhone work fine.
Talked to the Tier2 Apple-support today. Wiped the iPhone with no success. He wanted to do some research and promised to call back later.
I will report.

Flo

 

[dave006]

There is nothing wrong with your iPhone. What version of iOS do you have on your iPhone and what watchOS version is on your watch?

Let's start with verifying that you have all the settings correct on your iPhone. The first place is to go to the Settings App, Tap Cellular and make sure that you have Calls on Other Devices set to "On". Next back up to the main Settings app page and scroll down and Tap Phone and make sure that Wi-Fi Calling is set to "On" and Calls on Other Devices is set to "On".

Now lets take a look at the Watch App. Scroll down and Tap Cellular to open the Cellular tab, the only thing that should be listed here is a button to Setup Cellular. Tap the "< My Watch" link to return to the main menu. Scroll down and Tap Phone then turn on Wi-Fi Calls. If you don’t see the setting, make sure you enabled Wi-Fi calling in the iPhone Settings App.

Next you need to verify that your Apple Watch can connect to your Wi-Fi network:

• If your iPhone, while connected to your watch with Bluetooth, has connected to the network before.
  
• If the Wi-Fi network is 802.11b/g/n 2.4GHz.

For example, your Apple Watch won't connect to 5GHz Wi-Fi or public networks that require logins, subscriptions, or profiles. When your Apple Watch connects to a compatible Wi-Fi network instead of your iPhone connection, the Wi-Fi icon will replace the Green outline that indicates a Bluetooth connection in the Control Center.

Dave

 

[Floaaaaargh]

Hi Dave, thanks for your replies.
I will try to answer question by question and doublecheck them in the process of answering:

The iPhone runs 11.2.5
On the watch works 4.2.2.

Calls on other devices is activated
WiFi Calling in the Cellular tab is on (and works well on the phone)
In the Phone tab WiFi Calling ist activated; Calls on other device is active and says "in der Nähe" roughly translated as "devices nearby". The watch is not listed in the list below.

In the Watch App at the Cellular Tab is just the setup option, as you predicted.
In the tab "Phone" there is no toggle for WiFi Calling. All steps above are checked.

My Watch properly connects to my 2,4 WiFi (I deactivated the 5GHz for testing). When I turn off the Phone, the watch connects to my WiFi after a little while, indicated by a blue WiFi Icon and the name of the network. Native watch Apps as Weather or others work well.

The Tier2 support at apple gave me his number. He wanted to do some research. On monday I will call him back.

Any ideas from your side anymore?
Flo

There is nothing wrong with your iPhone. What version of iOS do you have on your iPhone and what watchOS version is on your watch?

Let's start with verifying that you have all the settings correct on your iPhone. The first place is to go to the Settings App, Tap Cellular and make sure that you have Calls on Other Devices set to "On". Next back up to the main Settings app page and scroll down and Tap Phone and make sure that Wi-Fi Calling is set to "On" and Calls on Other Devices is set to "On".

Now lets take a look at the Watch App. Scroll down and Tap Cellular to open the Cellular tab, the only thing that should be listed here is a button to Setup Cellular. Tap the "< My Watch" link to return to the main menu. Scroll down and Tap Phone then turn on Wi-Fi Calls. If you don’t see the setting, make sure you enabled Wi-Fi calling in the iPhone Settings App.

Next you need to verify that your Apple Watch can connect to your Wi-Fi network:

• If your iPhone, while connected to your watch with Bluetooth, has connected to the network before.
  
• If the Wi-Fi network is 802.11b/g/n 2.4GHz.

For example, your Apple Watch won't connect to 5GHz Wi-Fi or public networks that require logins, subscriptions, or profiles. When your Apple Watch connects to a compatible Wi-Fi network instead of your iPhone connection, the Wi-Fi icon will replace the Green outline that indicates a Bluetooth connection in the Control Center.

Dave

 

[dave006]

In the Phone tab WiFi Calling ist activated; Calls on other device is active and says "in der Nähe" roughly translated as "devices nearby". The watch is not listed in the list below.

This is correct for your watch. Just having Calls on Other Device is all that is needed. Your watch is not expected to be listed. The only devices on the list on are things like an iPad, iPod Touch, or your Mac. When you set up any of these devices, a 6 digit number is shown on the device and you enter this 6 digit number on your iPhone.

The Watch does not require this step and it is why it will not normally show in the device list. A watch would appear here if you had 2 or more watches set up. The inactive watch will appear on the Calls on Other Devices list.

In the Watch App at the Cellular Tab is just the setup option, as you predicted.
In the tab "Phone" there is no toggle for WiFi Calling. All steps above are checked.

Very odd indeed. I tested using my Series 3 (GPS + Celluar), I removed my phone plan in the Watch app and now it has the same basic message that you should have: Set Up Cellular on the Watch app Cellular page.

Also on the Watch app Phone page, I have a section titled CALLS and under this I have the Wi-Fi Calling slider (the default is always set to "enabled" (green). As you already know this what is missing on your Watch app.

I went to the Settings app, scrolled down and Tap Phone and then tap Calls on Other Devices. If I turn off Calls on Other Devices and then close and re-open the Watch app, the Calls section is removed along with the the Wi-Fi Calling slider. Note: you have to close the Watch app and re-open it for the change to appear.

Have you tried turning off Calls on Other Devices and then turning it back on? You will need to close the Watch app and re-open it for it to be updated and hopefully show the missing Wi-Fi Calling feature.

The last thing that I can think of suggesting at this point is to verify that you are using the same Apple ID (iCloud) on your iPhone and your Watch. In the Settings app, tap your name at the top of the list. On the next screen you will see the current Apple ID listed right under your name. In the Watch app, scroll down and tap General. and on the General screen scroll down to the Apple ID entry, tap Apple ID and the next screen will

Dave

 

[Floaaaaargh]

Very odd indeed. I tested using my Series 3 (GPS + Celluar), I removed my phone plan in the Watch app and now it has the same basic message that you should have: Set Up Cellular on the Watch app Cellular page.

Also on the Watch app Phone page, I have a section titled CALLS and under this I have the Wi-Fi Calling slider (the default is always set to "enabled" (green). As you already know this what is missing on your Watch app.

I went to the Settings app, scrolled down and Tap Phone and then tap Calls on Other Devices. If I turn off Calls on Other Devices and then close and re-open the Watch app, the Calls section is removed along with the the Wi-Fi Calling slider. Note: you have to close the Watch app and re-open it for the change to appear.

Have you tried turning off Calls on Other Devices and then turning it back on? You will need to close the Watch app and re-open it for it to be updated and hopefully show the missing Wi-Fi Calling feature.

The last thing that I can think of suggesting at this point is to verify that you are using the same Apple ID (iCloud) on your iPhone and your Watch. In the Settings app, tap your name at the top of the list. On the next screen you will see the current Apple ID listed right under your name. In the Watch app, scroll down and tap General. and on the General screen scroll down to the Apple ID entry, tap Apple ID and the next screen will

Dave

I tried turning calls on other devices on my phone off and back on again several times before, but without restarting the watch app. Unfortunately this time it had the same result: The slider is still missing.

I checked the AppleID before (by myself and with numerous AppleSupport tecs) and again now: Watch and Phone show the same two IDs for iCloud (Main ID) and itunes.

I am running out of ideas here.

 

[Floaaaaargh]

Hi,
as it looks by now, my carrier does support WiFi Calling, but not Wi-Fi Calling on iCloud-connected devices. I talked to the technical support at o2 today and he told me, they are planning VoLTE and VoWiFi for all devices by the end of march.
That should work for the watch then, i guess. So I will wait till then and try again to configure.

btw: your were on the right track on your very first reply, dave. Sorry.

 

[Bmf6cJD]

I just want to thank everyone here--especially Dave. Apple support has acted like I was crazy. I straight up asked if I was the only person that had this issue multiple and they said they'd never heard of it! ARRGHHH! I don't get why they can't/couldn't admit that's it a known issue. Anyway, I know where I'm turning first for advice about Apple products now.