I was so excited to upgrade from the second generation watch to the 3. I couldn’t wait to try it while out kayaking. Sorry to say, I completely lost service while out on the lake. My husband had his iPhone with him and never lost a signal. So apparently the smaller antenna in the watch affects reception in some areas even though the phone has no problems. So disappointed with the LTE.
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Disappointed with LTE performance
- Thread starter spiritedcharm
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The basic laws of physics and how wave lengths work applies to everything, even the Apple Watch.
I’m not surprised you lost reception, as You stated the watch is using a much smaller antenna. Also you were on/in a large body of water, which is known to absorb said wave lengths. Sorry you had a bad experience.
I have had the same thing happen - the losing or not connecting to lte where my phone has service. It is disappointing. I have had to turn lte on and off to get it to connect more than once in places I know the watch does get lte. I don't think it is really ready yet to serve as a reliable device in that way.
If you are looking to make phone calls that never drop from a lake or mountain you need a SAT phone not a watch or a cell phone.
The body of water doesn't absorb radio frequency energy, unless the OP was under the water and not in a kayak floating on the surface. In fact, the ultra high frequency signals used in cell phones travel in a direct path (line-of-sight), so being on a lake could actually help since there aren't buildings to block the signal. It's possible that water vapor evaporating from the lake on a hot day could reduce the strength of the signal by partially reflecting it.
Lower frequencies in the short wave spectrum actually propagate over long distances by bouncing off the ionosphere and the ocean, so water helps to transmit the signal.
The problem the OP experienced was probably due to the smaller antenna in the watch. It's also possible that the receiver in the watch isn't as sensitive to weak signals.
If that’s the case, software updates will probably improve LTE connections.
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This reminds me a lot of early iPhone complaints, especially in San Francisco.
It could be because the Watch supports fewer LTE bands than the iPhone. Only the more common older bands are supported.
Given the size of the watch compared to the my iphone 7 plus my 7 plus wins in LTE, GPS, batterylife etc. Simple physics. It a watch
I keep thinking I should cancel my order and just get the regular gps nike watch smh
Don’t base your decision off the crazy things you read here. Apple gives you up to 14 days to try it out and of you don’t like it, it’s easy to return it.
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I’m not. That’s been on my mind. I really got for just in case I want to add the lte on my plan and just use it for whatever. But I figured I’ll literally never actually use it because always have my phone with me.
[doublepost=1507074307][/doublepost]Got it for just in case purposes**
We are all guinea pigs for the Apple Watch series 4 LTE.
Excuse me, but there was nothing crazy about my post. I was simply stating a fact. The watch antenna is clearly not as powerful as the phone, so it doesn’t serve as a reliable replacement for when I don’t want to bring my phone along. My primary justification for buying a watch with cellular was to leave my phone in the car when kayaking. The performance issue was disappointing to me. The lake I was on was by no means in a remote location, so it’s not unreasonable to expect it to work where cellular service is available - especially considering the paddle boarding example used for the Apple event.
I still enjoy the watch and feel it’s an improvement over the series 2 and I do agree with you that there’s no harm in trying it to see if it works for you. Just don’t call me crazy for stating my experience, please and thank you.
For sure. I started buying Apple products Just after Jobs came back. One thing has always been the case, the software updates come frequently and generally increase the life of older products. I expect in 4-6 months a few versions of watch OS will fix many of these connection issues. LTE is the only thing really pushing me to upgrade my S0. Just installed High Sierra on a 7 year old MacBook Pro and works great.
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May not be the case on every lake.
FACTS LOL
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I don’t think he was singling you out. He was probably generalizing peoples opinions in these forums.
So what carrier or carriers are your watch and husbands iPhone on?
My Series 3 connection has been flawless. Even in the middle of large steel buildings.
Also, did you swipe up into control center and verify that your LTE was switched on and hunting for a signal? When I first got my watch for whatever reason it was switched to off a couple times.
I am on verizon and yes - mine is switched on and hunting for a signal.
I also take exception that reporting these experiences means the reporters are crazy
I also take exception that reporting these experiences means the reporters are crazy
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What he said is true though. The majority of posts here in MR are complaints and complaints. If I have never used Apple products in my life I'd think they rarely work. If you're here long you'll know what I mean.
On topic, I wonder if it's the case that OP's husband phone fell back to 3G to work in that lake. OP should have screen grabbed LTE signal on the watch and on her husband phone to compare.