how does adding a cellular plan work? mnvo plan vs separate plan?

[DeftwillP]

Never had an apple watch on a cellular plan until recently. My two teenage boys have apple watches that are on AT&T plans along with all of the family cell phones. FWIW, we're not married to the AT&T as the service is somewhat spotty here in SA, especially in the two school areas where they attend. Given that the cell phone reception is weaker there, the watches struggle especially so with battery life and also because the buildings are almost like faraday cages keeping cellphone signals out.

Anyway i bought an annual plan on US mobile for $80 for a watch and I'm in the process of getting one of their watches ported over to test the cell reception and see how well it works. I'm not even sure what network they use because it sure seems like they're advertising that they use all of them....whatever that means. If it indeed works better, i might consider getting a data line on my watch. Do I have to have my watch and my cellphone on the same provider to have the same number? I'm guessing so....Or alternatively, I can just have another number that I don't give out associated with just the watch but only use my apple ID as the texting through it right? Is there a way to make that work seamlessly or am I looking for trouble.

 

[Howard2k]

Whether you need to have them on the same plan depends on the providers. You need to question those providers directly and see what their capabilities are as it varies widely.

 

[Bigwaff]

Anyway i bought an annual plan on US mobile for $80 for a watch and I'm in the process of getting one of their watches ported over to test the cell reception and see how well it works. I'm not even sure what network they use because it sure seems like they're advertising that they use all of them....whatever that means.

US Mobile only supports Apple Watch cellular Companion (shares iPhone number) and Standalone (watch only; separate phone number) on their WARP (Verizon) service. You have only these two options.

 

[Bichon]

I'm not a US Mobile customer, but your questions are answered on their website in the section that describes their smartwatch plans. They only support the Apple Watch on Verizon, which they call their "Warp" network. If you want your watch to have the same number as your iPhone, the phone needs to be on Verizon/Warp also. If you don't want your iPhone to be on Verizon they also have a standalone watch plan that uses the family sharing feature of iCloud to activate the watch with its own number. They market the standalone plan as a way to give your child or senior relative their own device, but could also be used a way to have your phone and watch on different networks, if you don't mind the two devices having different phone numbers.

 

[weather34]

i think you’re complicating the process, logic would say yes to receive calls via same number on two devices there required to be on same provider i cant see any provider permitting use of a cellular plan across to another service provider without additional costs.
go the simple route and assign the watch to your plan onto your existing iphone cellular plan.

fwiw it’s worth doing as i found myself during a recent earthquake i had no time to locate my iPhone which was upstairs before evacuating our home but luckily my awu2 was on my wrist it is setup with a cellular plan which costs me around $5 a month on top of existing cellular plan. costs vary from provider to provider. but can verify its worth setting up for any unfortunate scenario that may arise.

keep it simple it will be easier to setup and maintain

 

[DeftwillP]

It's not "around $5 a month with ATT. I think it ends up being closer to $15-$20 after fees.

And I had no idea that us mobile is verizon on their watch plan nor am I sure how you can tell. I'm scrolling around on their apple watch plan page and can't find that info. Of course, any data I get on verizon coverage in San Antonio is pretty much word of mouth so I'll have to take it for what its worth and try it out I guess.

 

[Tdude96]

It's not "around $5 a month with ATT. I think it ends up being closer to $15-$20 after fees.

And I had no idea that us mobile is verizon on their watch plan nor am I sure how you can tell. I'm scrolling around on their apple watch plan page and can't find that info. Of course, any data I get on verizon coverage in San Antonio is pretty much word of mouth so I'll have to take it for what its worth and try it out I guess.

As-of this month's bill, Verizon's price is $15/mo with a 50% discount so I only pay $7.50 per month for it. Oh. Plus fees, taxes and surcharges which they always fail to mention when they advertise a price. All-told with their unspoken extra charges that's an additional $5.50, bringing it up to $13 per month in real costs. YMMV based on exact plan, location & whatever they roll the dice and make up that month to charge for extra fees & surcharges.

 

[weather34]

It's not "around $5 a month with ATT. I think it ends up being closer to $15-$20 after fees.

And I had no idea that us mobile is verizon on their watch plan nor am I sure how you can tell. I'm scrolling around on their apple watch plan page and can't find that info. Of course, any data I get on verizon coverage in San Antonio is pretty much word of mouth so I'll have to take it for what its worth and try it out I guess.

i apologize i should’ve mentioned i was calculating my local currency to dollars 💵. im in istanbul turkiye it’s actually less than 5$ its like 1.79$ no hidden fees/taxes etc just a flat fee per month 1.79$ based on exchange rate. anyway its irrelevant to you but i do recommend going the simple route if its available on your existing iphone cellular plan. have a nice evening

 

[DeftwillP]

That tracks on both answers, thanks. Yeah, it's always the fees and extra taxes that add up. Truth be told, I do have a 25% discount on all lines with at&t but that still makes it more as a subtotal by a pretty good deal over the course of a year than just paying $78 once and being done.

 

[Bigwaff]

And I had no idea that us mobile is verizon on their watch plan nor am I sure how you can tell. I'm scrolling around on their apple watch plan page and can't find that info.

 

[DeftwillP]

Great, terrific. I was on the page specifically for apple watch plans and even then it doesn't mention anything about warp until you get down to the bottom of the page where the expandable Q&A section is and that was much more easily found by just doing a search for "warp" on that page.

Call me pedantic but if I have to scroll through their website for more than 3 or 4 minutes to understand what warp is or where the word is even located, then they're purposefully obfuscating things. I see that it's their "MVP network for a reason" but I'm guessing you to find the fine print somewhere or expand some radial button to see what network that actually is.

 

[Bigwaff]

I see that it's their "MVP network for a reason" but I'm guessing you to find the fine print somewhere or expand some radial button to see what network that actually is.

US Mobile marketing materials will never say which network Warp (Verizon), Darkstar (AT&T), or Lightspeed (T-Mobile) really are. The big three would never allow it to be explicitly advertised.