Series 3 questions - $10 month Unlimited ATT plan ok?

[Delkerz]

No, it is real and can be done by any rep that knows how to provision a specific type of line. Please don't be rude if the rep does not know how to help you. Just keep trying it really can be done even though it is outside of the normal Workflow.

This process will allow you to add a $10 Apple Watch LTE plan to a personal billing account that has the Grandfathered iPhone data plan or several other types of accounts. Note: You can't do this just by using the watch and your iPhone from home. It can be done over the phone or at an AT&T Corporate retail location. Here is the basic information that the rep needs.

1. EID of your watch
2. IMEI of your watch
3. Note there is no ICCID to provide since your Watch is using the eSIM.

You can get the above information from the watch box.

If you call, please use 800-331-0500. The rep needs to be able to manually provision a new line under your Billing Account using the EID and IMEI numbers, this combination should lead to the AT&T Unlimited Wearable plan for $10 a month. This is a single line and is not part of a Mobile Share Group. This charge should appear on your bill as Access for Wearable 4G LTE or something similar.

Once you get the email confirming the new phone number is activated, you can then use the following steps to complete everything from your iPhone.

Complete the set up of Cellular for you LTE Watch:

On your iPhone, open the Apple Watch app.

1. Tap the My Watch tab, then tap Cellular.
2. Tap Set Up Cellular. (Note: you may need to power cycle your watch to make this active)
3. Follow the instructions to complete the NumberSync for Apple Watch (Cellular).

Dave

I just got off the phone.. and the lady said they are UNABLE To activate the watch separately and i told her about this situation and she responded that it's a system glitch and that the user will be kicked off the watch when they upgrade next month..because they will have a to upgrade to the newer plan. (this was the tech department) supposedly. i'v been on the phone for like 2 hours with these people already and.. they aren't budging. She said the ONLY way i could do the Unlimited mobile plan is if i HAVE the NEWER data plan to go with it. So i go... i don't understand.. i can use my IPAD LTE number just fine without having to be associated with a separate PHONE plan.. so why does that not apply HERE!?..she just gave me the run around.. i'm going to possibly have to try and go into a store and see if i can get this worked out.. otherwise.. i'm screwed.. especially if they're just not WILLING to do it. any options out there you guys??

James

 

[dave006]

What plan do you have currently?

As you might have guessed it is not because they are "UNABLE" to but because they have been instructed to not activate the Watch on "Select" older plans. Not clear what the comment was about next month unless is was about activating the new iPhone X model.

You might consider going to an AT&T Corporate Retail location, and not just any store that as the AT&T logo like a Mall Kiosk. Don't mention you heard about this on the "Internet". Just ask the rep to add a new stand-alone line to your billing account and you want the $10 Unlimited Wearable plan for your Watch. Again as a reminder, you are not asking the rep to change or even touch your existing plan.

Dave

 

[MJ22]

As an aside, I had an old grandfathered AT&T unlimited everything plan. I recently changed plans to a newer plan, because they still have an unlimited data and text plan (not sure about phone minutes but i don’t talk on the phone all that much) and it actually came out to be $70 cheaper per month than my old plan. I have not noticed any difference in speed or reception and have everything I need! It’s defonitely worth looking into.
[doublepost=1507158456][/doublepost]My new plan is the Unlimited Choice (I wanted to look it up for you). It basically turned out to just be basically changing the name of my plan to something newer because there’s been no difference in service or benefits. Worth looking into if you really want the watch!

 

[dave006]

Glad you found a new plan that works for you. Just so you know your AT&T Unlimited Choice plan is capped at 3 Mbps max speed.

Dave

 

[MJ22]

Glad you found a new plan that works for you. Just so you know your AT&T Unlimited Choice plan is capped at 3 Mbps max speed.

Dave

I’m not a real big techie and I mostly just use my phone (7 plus) for Internet, all kinds of social media, and some games and I haven’t noticed any difference in performance. ‍♀️

 

[MonkeyBusiness33]

I have a grandfathered AT&T unlimited plan and I just got my LTE watch today. I went to an AT&T retail location, and I can confirm this still works (as far as I can tell; I haven't seen my bill). I definitely got my watch connected to LTE, NumberSync works, and the rep said he didn't touch my phone plan at all. I was expecting a nightmare of waiting that would end in sending the watch back but I got a really great rep and the process was incredibly smooth. I think I was out of there in 10 minutes.

Thanks dave006 for letting us know this was possible.

 

[dave006]

Glad you had success and Welcome to the forums!

Dave

 

[ChewbaccaJ]

I just got off the phone.. and the lady said they are UNABLE To activate the watch separately and i told her about this situation and she responded that it's a system glitch and that the user will be kicked off the watch when they upgrade next month..because they will have a to upgrade to the newer plan. (this was the tech department) supposedly. i'v been on the phone for like 2 hours with these people already and.. they aren't budging. She said the ONLY way i could do the Unlimited mobile plan is if i HAVE the NEWER data plan to go with it. So i go... i don't understand.. i can use my IPAD LTE number just fine without having to be associated with a separate PHONE plan.. so why does that not apply HERE!?..she just gave me the run around.. i'm going to possibly have to try and go into a store and see if i can get this worked out.. otherwise.. i'm screwed.. especially if they're just not WILLING to do it. any options out there you guys??

James

Here’s what I posted from Saturday with my husband and my’s experience:
YAY, DAVE! You are a Rock Star ⭐️! FINALLY, got our two AppleWatch Series 3’s hooked up today!! We did go back into an AT&T Corporate Retail store since it appeared they were shutting that down for Grandfathered Unlimited Data Plans online (ours is the Family Talk Nation 1400 w/Rollover Plan with a 28% Company discount we didn’t want to lose). I had been told “No” numerous times. If it hadn’t been for your very detailed instructions and this site, we would have just given up and returned them ⌚️or used them without cellular. I felt like I was the store rep and he was the customer, but I didn’t make him feel bad - I “guided” him. Did have to create a separate User ID for me in order to sync so my husband and I had different ones. And lastly, they synced but didn’t ring, but I remembered while we were at the store something in the other thread about turning on WiFi. Here’s what I did and it worked:

On each one of our iPhones I went to Settings>Cellular >and (under the AT&T section) Wi-Fi Calling I turned this On. Everything appears to be working beautifully!

Don’t give up! Go to a Corporate Retail store, don’t waste your time online. I cut and pasted Dave’s instructions and I think the rep. assumed it was sent to me from AT&T tech support. My hubby & I were super nice to him and didn’t make him feel like he knew less than us. You can try another rep. at a different Corporate store if one can’t help.

So glad I found you and joined this great MacRumors.

 

[wche]

With the addition and about $6-10/month in taxes and fees depending on your state, do you all still think its worth it? Total would be $16-20 a month.

 

[sumiregusa]

What plan do you have currently?

As you might have guessed it is not because they are "UNABLE" to but because they have been instructed to not activate the Watch on "Select" older plans. Not clear what the comment was about next month unless is was about activating the new iPhone X model.

You might consider going to an AT&T Corporate Retail location, and not just any store that as the AT&T logo like a Mall Kiosk. Don't mention you heard about this on the "Internet". Just ask the rep to add a new stand-alone line to your billing account and you want the $10 Unlimited Wearable plan for your Watch. Again as a reminder, you are not asking the rep to change or even touch your existing plan.

Dave

Just wanted to let you all know that this process ABSOLUTELY works! I also have a grandfathered unlimited data plan and I was able to complete the process over the phone with an insanely helpful and knowledgable AT&T rep, after about 4 unsuccessful attempts.

My exact words were just what Dave said: "Hello I am looking to add a new stand-alone line to my plan and I want the $10 unlimited wearable plan for my Apple watch." Angelo said no problem, asked for the IMEI and EID, and said he would go forward with the process. After a few minutes he came back and said I could not complete the process with my current plan. I told him I am absolutely not changing my plan, I know the process works and I am adding the line today. He immediately went back to work on doing what I asked.

The whole process took about an hour total but Angelo was able to complete everything without a hitch. I successfully set up NumberSync over the phone with him and he even called me back to make sure it worked. I can see Cellular is confirmed as activated through my watch and the Apple Watch app on the phone.

Thank you so much, Dave! You have no idea how much you've helped the community with your knowledge and expertise.

 

[zaxdude]

Just wanted to let you all know that this process ABSOLUTELY works! I also have a grandfathered unlimited data plan and I was able to complete the process over the phone with an insanely helpful and knowledgable AT&T rep, after about 4 unsuccessful attempts.

My exact words were just what Dave said: "Hello I am looking to add a new stand-alone line to my plan and I want the $10 unlimited wearable plan for my Apple watch." Angelo said no problem, asked for the IMEI and EID, and said he would go forward with the process. After a few minutes he came back and said I could not complete the process with my current plan. I told him I am absolutely not changing my plan, I know the process works and I am adding the line today. He immediately went back to work on doing what I asked.

The whole process took about an hour total but Angelo was able to complete everything without a hitch. I successfully set up NumberSync over the phone with him and he even called me back to make sure it worked. I can see Cellular is confirmed as activated through my watch and the Apple Watch app on the phone.

Thank you so much, Dave! You have no idea how much you've helped the community with your knowledge and expertise.

Local store said they couldn't do it. Their reasoning? "You don't have a business account". geez.

I took your lead and called. On the phone now. Things were going smoothly with adding a new line of service with the IMEI and EID. Now they are telling me they are getting some sort of error...something about "already reserved".

I can't win. They are now telling me I have to go into the store.

 

[dave006]

The "already reserved" indicates that somewhere in you trials a line was created and your EID and IMEI are currently "Parked" assigned to this new line that is a reserved state. It has been allocated but not activated. The rep should check for any pending activations on your account and delete them.

Log into your myAT&T account and see if you have a new phone number that you don't recognize.

Also make sure that you are going to an AT&T Corporate Retail location and not just a store with AT&T on the front. There are also Authorized Agents with AT&T on their sign. A good example is the local Kiosk at the Mall.

If the rep just can't understand what to do ask them to simply add a new Group and Select individual plan vs mobile share plan and they will see the stand-alone Unlimited Wearable plan for $10. Again, they will need the EID and IMEI from bottom of the watch's box.


Dave

 

[ftlum]

Major thanks to Dave006! With the information he posted, I was able to activate my watch on my very old grandfathered unlimited plan. I was also lucky that the person helping me generally knew how this could work and was willing to try the process. Plus, I got the activation fee waived! I was preparing for huge problems, but the process went smoothly, even though I was probably the first person at the AT&T store to activate the Watch this way. I couldn’t be happier!!

 

[zaxdude]

The "already reserved" indicates that somewhere in you trials a line was created and your EID and IMEI are currently "Parked" assigned to this new line that is a reserved state. It has been allocated but not activated. The rep should check for any pending activations on your account and delete them.

Log into your myAT&T account and see if you have a new phone number that you don't recognize.

Also make sure that you are going to an AT&T Corporate Retail location and not just a store with AT&T on the front. There are also Authorized Agents with AT&T on their sign. A good example is the local Kiosk at the Mall.

If the rep just can't understand what to do ask them to simply add a new Group and Select individual plan vs mobile share plan and they will see the stand-alone Unlimited Wearable plan for $10. Again, they will need the EID and IMEI from bottom of the watch's box.


Dave

While "waiting" for the Manager of the store AT&T customer service sent me to (he was "at lunch" and couldn't talk with me...and the rep in the store was towing the "we can't add the watch to your grandfathered plan" boat), I decided to call in again. I got a rep again who finally understood what I wanted to do, but she tried and failed. She did however see that the first rep attempted 3 times to get my watch on a new line, and each time failed. But all three were there and couldn't be deleted by her, nor could any be "activated" because my watch IMEI was already associated. Circular loop it was.

She connected me with a Tech Support person who again went down the path "you have a grandfathered account" and we can't add the watch to your plan. Uggghhh.... Nice guy he was and thankfully he was willing to discuss it with me, and he finally understood what I wanted: a new line of service that's stand-alone and wholly separate from my existing grandfathered plan. On this separate line of service I only want the wearable with the $10 unlimited wearable plan. At first he didn't think it was available for selection and tried to convince me to switch my plan. But then he saw the wearable plan as I described was available for selection on the new line and he went ahead with assigning it for the service.

I activated it and went thru the number sync process. It all appears to finally be working. Whew what a journey....two unhelpful AT&T stores and 3 phone reps. In the end it was done but I do have to say from what I learned through this process there is NO technical reason why AT&T is making this so freaking difficult -- they just want to use this as another way to get us off the grandfathered plan.

THANK YOU dave006...THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU

 

[dave006]

Hey @zaxdude, thanks for the report of your success! Again it should not be this hard to just add a Watch but unfortunately it is for now.

Dave

 

[HeadphoneAddict]

They tried to get me to change my Promo for 30GB Mobile Share Value Plan that dates back to around 2015, where I'm paying for 15GB but we get 30GB, and we have been saving over $100/mo I think. I was persistent and eventually won out, and the watch has been up and running for about 12 days now.

The funny thing is that I've only gone out once without my phone, but it's nice to have LTE for those "just in case" moments.

 

[mark081990]

AT&T Grandfathered Unlimited data... got LTE to work!

I was ready to return my Apple Watch Series 3 LTE because I’m on a grandfathered in family plan with unilimited data that we’ve had since ‘99. I was bummed to find out over the phone that they could not activate LTE on my plan.

I had no interest to change plans. I was just about all set to return the watch and thought... maybe they could help me in the store. I saw users post about it but wasn’t sure there seemed to be confusion.

In less than 1 hour — myself and 2 AT&T reps got the LTE working. I never told them that unlimited plan was ineligible and they weren’t aware lol. I know nothing about the process. Only one rep knew about doing the number sync with the android watch. He was the most helpful.

You’ll need the AT&T app to set up number sync. I was totally shocked and was expecting a “sorry your plan isn’t eligible, can we interest you in our new unlimited data plan that’s better and cost less blah blah blah... “

Thanks to the users here for giving me the idea

 

[nohoverboarding]

No, it is real and can be done by any rep that knows how to provision a specific type of line. Please don't be rude if the rep does not know how to help you. Just keep trying it really can be done even though it is outside of the normal Workflow.

This process will allow you to add a $10 Apple Watch LTE plan to a personal billing account that has the Grandfathered iPhone data plan or several other types of accounts. Note: You can't do this just by using the watch and your iPhone from home. It can be done over the phone or at an AT&T Corporate retail location. Here is the basic information that the rep needs.

1. EID of your watch
2. IMEI of your watch
3. Note there is no ICCID to provide since your Watch is using the eSIM.

You can get the above information from the watch box.

If you call, please use 800-331-0500. The rep needs to be able to manually provision a new line under your Billing Account using the EID and IMEI numbers, this combination should lead to the AT&T Unlimited Wearable plan for $10 a month. This is a single line and is not part of a Mobile Share Group. This charge should appear on your bill as Access for Wearable 4G LTE or something similar.

Once you get the email confirming the new phone number is activated, you can then use the following steps to complete everything from your iPhone.

Complete the set up of Cellular for you LTE Watch:

On your iPhone, open the Apple Watch app.

1. Tap the My Watch tab, then tap Cellular.
2. Tap Set Up Cellular. (Note: you may need to power cycle your watch to make this active)
3. Follow the instructions to complete the NumberSync for Apple Watch (Cellular).

Dave

FYI, I was able to cut and paste Dave's instructions over ATT chat and they were able to add to my watch to my account and I keep my grandfathered plan. Took about 10 minutes but worked! Thanks Dave!

 

[probablecause]

Just wanted to let you all know that this process ABSOLUTELY works! I also have a grandfathered unlimited data plan and I was able to complete the process over the phone with an insanely helpful and knowledgable AT&T rep, after about 4 unsuccessful attempts.

My exact words were just what Dave said: "Hello I am looking to add a new stand-alone line to my plan and I want the $10 unlimited wearable plan for my Apple watch." Angelo said no problem, asked for the IMEI and EID, and said he would go forward with the process. After a few minutes he came back and said I could not complete the process with my current plan. I told him I am absolutely not changing my plan, I know the process works and I am adding the line today. He immediately went back to work on doing what I asked.

The whole process took about an hour total but Angelo was able to complete everything without a hitch. I successfully set up NumberSync over the phone with him and he even called me back to make sure it worked. I can see Cellular is confirmed as activated through my watch and the Apple Watch app on the phone.

Thank you so much, Dave! You have no idea how much you've helped the community with your knowledge and expertise.

Worked for me!

Thank you dave006 and sumiregusa! I walked into a corporate AT&T store yesterday and said the same thing to the representative. I never mentioned that I had the grandfathered UDP. I got the feeling this guy had no idea what he was doing but he was able to follow those simple steps I outlined. Within 10 minutes I signed the store receipt then rebooted my devices and looked for an email from AT&T. I never got that email but went forward with completing the setup on my phone anyway. I opened the Apple watch app on my iPhone, went to the cellular tab, then followed the steps to setup NumberSync. I restarted the devices again for good measure. I was then able to tell via the phone app and the settings page on the watch that the setup was complete. To be sure, I powered down the phone and noticed the LTE conectivity dots light up on the watch. I made a couple test calls and left the store a happy clam!

Thanks again for the help!

 

[Ssunbrn]

FYI, I was able to cut and paste Dave's instructions over ATT chat and they were able to add to my watch to my account and I keep my grandfathered plan. Took about 10 minutes but worked! Thanks Dave!

I tried this and the rep couldn’t help me. Said that it wasn’t possible. I was polite and said thanks for trying.

 

[INSwimmer]

No, it is real and can be done by any rep that knows how to provision a specific type of line. Please don't be rude if the rep does not know how to help you. Just keep trying it really can be done even though it is outside of the normal Workflow.

This process will allow you to add a $10 Apple Watch LTE plan to a personal billing account that has the Grandfathered iPhone data plan or several other types of accounts. Note: You can't do this just by using the watch and your iPhone from home. It can be done over the phone or at an AT&T Corporate retail location. Here is the basic information that the rep needs.

1. EID of your watch
2. IMEI of your watch
3. Note there is no ICCID to provide since your Watch is using the eSIM.

You can get the above information from the watch box.

If you call, please use 800-331-0500. The rep needs to be able to manually provision a new line under your Billing Account using the EID and IMEI numbers, this combination should lead to the AT&T Unlimited Wearable plan for $10 a month. This is a single line and is not part of a Mobile Share Group. This charge should appear on your bill as Access for Wearable 4G LTE or something similar.

Once you get the email confirming the new phone number is activated, you can then use the following steps to complete everything from your iPhone.

Complete the set up of Cellular for you LTE Watch:

On your iPhone, open the Apple Watch app.

1. Tap the My Watch tab, then tap Cellular.
2. Tap Set Up Cellular. (Note: you may need to power cycle your watch to make this active)
3. Follow the instructions to complete the NumberSync for Apple Watch (Cellular).

Dave

Thanks so much Dave!!! You deserve many rounds of applause!! I printed out your instructions and took them into a stand alone, corporate AT&T store in a strip mall. The saleswoman was impressed that I came prepared and she setup my Nike+ Series 3 Apple Watch with my grandfathered unlimited plan. Everything went flawlessly!

Thanks again Dave! You are the best!

 

[Random64]

Went to the store...they told me that cannot happen. So went back home & called 800-331-0500. Problem solved and she got me up n' running! I did not have to change my unlimited data plan whatsoever.

When I called, the only thing I said was exactly this: "I am looking to add a new stand-alone line to my plan and I want the $10 unlimited wearable plan for my Apple watch". Neither the rep or me mentioned anything about an grandfathered unlimited data plan. The rep clearly knew what to do and made it very simple!

Thanks to Dave and everyone else for posting all this great info.

 

[dave006]

Hey @Random64 Thanks for posting your success!

Just a follow-up, are you sure that you went to a Corporate Retail location? The response you got in the store sure sounds like it was an Authorized Agent store type response.

The reason I say that is because a $10 device add is not worth their time and effort for most Agent store reps on commission. This not not to make a general sweeping statement, I have met some great reps at Agent stores.

Dave

 

[Random64]

Hey @Random64 Thanks for posting your success!

Just a follow-up, are you sure that you went to a Corporate Retail location? The response you got in the store sure sounds like it was an Authorized Agent store type response.

The reason I say that is because a $10 device add is not worth their time and effort for most Agent store reps on commission. This not not to make a general sweeping statement, I have met some great reps at Agent stores.

Dave

100% sure it is a corporate owned store. The guy said "We don't have a way for us to do it." I said: "Many people have had success using this method, will you please try it?" after handing him a printed sheet of your instructions. He then clearly affirmed that grandfathered unlimited data plans are not permitted to do this and wasn't going to try. Frustrated, I left, went back home to try myself via the 800 number and the phone rep was much, MUCH more helpful. She got me added fast like she had done this before.

At my particular nearby corporate store, there was a time, about 10 years ago, where employee turnaround was rare and I always had a local person I could call with my all of my needs...I even dated her for a little while before she moved. But these days, I never see the same person working there and it's usually someone who takes forever or doesn't want to try. But I digress...

My suggestion is try calling if you have no luck in store.

 

[TurkEclipse]

100% sure it is a corporate owned store. The guy said "We don't have a way for us to do it." I said: "Many people have had success using this method, will you please try it?" after handing him a printed sheet of your instructions. He then clearly affirmed that grandfathered unlimited data plans are not permitted to do this and wasn't going to try. Frustrated, I left, went back home to try myself via the 800 number and the phone rep was much, MUCH more helpful. She got me added fast like she had done this before.

At my particular nearby corporate store, there was a time, about 10 years ago, where employee turnaround was rare and I always had a local person I could call with my all of my needs...I even dated her for a little while before she moved. But these days, I never see the same person working there and it's usually someone who takes forever or doesn't want to try. But I digress...

My suggestion is try calling if you have no luck in store.

[doublepost=1513226080][/doublepost]Does anyone know if this still works? Also I dont understand "The thing that confuses most customers and reps is that this wearable plan has a unique phone number so it must be a new line of service that needs a separate data plan or a Mobile Share plan that would include your iPhone." Does this mean I will need to add another data plan and it will cost more than $10 a month?