UK EE plan regarding upgrading watches

[Apple Mac Daz]

How does the EE plan work
I had a XS and series 3 cellular watch

Gave my lad my XS and he is also having the watch now.

So far I factory reset the watch but plan is still active.

My series 6 will be here 28th Sept but until the 12 is released currently no iPhone.

What are my options

does the EE watch plan stay with the watch or is it tied to my phone number

can my lad pair it to his iPhone still or will I need to remove the current plan and take it can’t be transferred to my new watch without a current iPhone

 

[danmart]

The plan is on your account, and linked to your primary phone number.

If you will be having a new Watch then you should try to migrate your existing plan to your new Watch*. Your son should get a Watch plan of his own, linked to his primary phone number. So you need to remove the plan from the old Watch.

I do this in reverse, as my dad gets my old phones and Watches. 😄

* I can’t quite decide if EE are incompetent or trying to trick people into buying new data plans which invariably are more expensive, but the migration process almost always fails and you need to call 150 and get them to sort it out. Do not allow them to delete your existing data plan as a ‘solution’. They need to update either the IMEI or EID of your new Watch on their system.

 

[Apple Mac Daz]

The plan is on your account, and linked to your primary phone number.

If you will be having a new Watch then you should try to migrate your existing plan to your new Watch*. Your son should get a Watch plan of his own, linked to his primary phone number. So you need to remove the plan from the old Watch.

I do this in reverse, as my dad gets my old phones and Watches. 😄

* I can’t quite decide if EE are incompetent or trying to trick people into buying new data plans which invariably are more expensive, but the migration process almost always fails and you need to call 150 and get them to sort it out. Do not allow them to delete your existing data plan as a ‘solution’. They need to update either the IMEI or EID of your new Watch on their system.

so me removing the plan doesn’t cancel the plan with EE, from me reading your reply it doesn’t which I wasn’t sure about so left it active on factory resetting the watch and phone

 

[danmart]

That’s right - you can remove it from one Watch and then add it to your next one.

 

[Bazooka-joe]

Set up your new watch first and using the back up from your old watch and transfer the data plan. You will need to call EE so they can set up the new EID with your new watch when you are doing that . Once the plan is transferred and working then set up your old watch from new without a data plan

 

[MadAngelUK]

Brilliant! Thanks for starting this thread and nice to see danmart and Bazooka-joe back on this issue (although I may not be recognised, as I'm generally a lurker!)

EE thoroughly confuse me and that has partially put me off the pre-order on the watch (as well as moving house!), I can't decide if its easier or harder this year with the watch being released separately from the phone!

I am currently with Series 5 Cellular (EE) and have an 11 Pro Max. If I get a series 6 before the iPhone 12 comes out how much faff will it be...? Unpair Series 5 and keep plan then pair new Series 6 Cellular. Phone EE to get the EID sorted.... then when the new phone comes out what happens? Unpair series 6 (keep plan) restore Pro Max backup to new iPhone... ...will I have to call EE again?

apologies for being unclear.... so so confused LOL

 

[Bazooka-joe]

Brilliant! Thanks for starting this thread and nice to see danmart and Bazooka-joe back on this issue (although I may not be recognised, as I'm generally a lurker!)

EE thoroughly confuse me and that has partially put me off the pre-order on the watch (as well as moving house!), I can't decide if its easier or harder this year with the watch being released separately from the phone!

I am currently with Series 5 Cellular (EE) and have an 11 Pro Max. If I get a series 6 before the iPhone 12 comes out how much faff will it be...? Unpair Series 5 and keep plan then pair new Series 6 Cellular. Phone EE to get the EID sorted.... then when the new phone comes out what happens? Unpair series 6 (keep plan) restore Pro Max backup to new iPhone... ...will I have to call EE again?

apologies for being unclear.... so so confused LOL

Yes thats right. Sort your new watch out first as you described so that you have your data plan on your new watch and still connected to your 11 Pro Max.
Then back up your 11 Pro Max once you get your new iPhone 12. Then unpair your series 6 watch making sure that you keep the data plan. Then restore your Pro Max back up to your Iphone 12 and then re-pair your watch and reconnect the data plan when you are re-paring the watch. It should just connect the data plan with no issues and you shouldn't have to call EE again.

 

[Apple Mac Daz]

I don’t even have a iPhone now currently using a S8+ so the watch will have to sit until the 12 is released 😥

I take it in my case it’s a matter of restoring my XS Max backup made before it was sold. Restoring it to the 12.

The watch backup is part of the iOS backup to my Mac isn’t it.

Restore watch backup to the series 6 after pairing to the 12.

call EE to register the EID

Is that right ?

 

[jmitchel]

call EE to register the EID

Is that right ?

Not 100% sure about the backup sorry but once your new iPhone is set up, you should be able to activate the EE Watch cellular plan using the Watch app on your iPhone (make sure your disable WiFi as during setup it will ask you to log into your online EE account so they can link the watch plan to your iPhone plan).

EE charge £7.00 a month for a rolling 30 day Watch plan which comes with 10Gb data:



The Watch will use the same mobile number as your iPhone.

 

[Apple Mac Daz]

Not 100% sure about the backup sorry but once your new iPhone is set up, you should be able to activate the EE Watch cellular plan using the Watch app on your iPhone (make sure your disable WiFi as during setup it will ask you to log into your online EE account so they can link the watch plan to your iPhone plan).

EE charge £7.00 a month for a rolling 30 day Watch plan which comes with 10Gb data:

View attachment 956301

The Watch will use the same mobile number as your iPhone.

Main reason I don’t wanna screw up I am only paying £5 for 10GB plan still

 

[cambookpro]

Had a look on the EE website to see how much it would cost to get a new watch, not sure if I’m being dense but I can’t make head nor tail of their plans. I have a SIM only contract with them - the watches are listed at ~£30 a month, but absolutely no mention anywhere of plan length. 12 months? 24 months? Tied to whatever my SIM only contract is?

I assume it’s 24 months due to the cost, but can’t find confirmation anywhere, or if there’s any option to upgrade to a new watch after a year.

 

[jmitchel]

I assume it’s 24 months due to the cost, but can’t find confirmation anywhere, or if there’s any option to upgrade to a new watch after a year.

Yes, When buying a watch+plan from EE those are all independent 24 month plans as per this page towards the bottom regardless of your iPhone handset plan length.


All these plans last 24 months Apple Watch Series 6 40mm Gold Aluminium Case with Pink Sand Sport Band

O2 and Vodafone Watch SIM only plans are (or at least were) both £5.00 a month.

The free trial Watch plan promos have all been dropped now by all the networks!

 

[cambookpro]

Yes, When buying a watch+plan from EE those are all independent 24 month plans as per this page towards the bottom regardless of your iPhone handset plan length.


All these plans last 24 months Apple Watch Series 6 40mm Gold Aluminium Case with Pink Sand Sport Band

Ah, thanks, I completely missed that. Still not sure why they don’t say the length in the basket. Think I’ll give it a miss and save up for a Series 7 in a nicer finish than aluminium next year!

 

[Apple Mac Daz]

I don’t even know what plan that is

 

[jmitchel]

EE are the only UK network that offer the family plan set-up that Apple announced so if you buy a Watch for someone else you now have to buy the ‘unpaired’ £28 24 month family member plan but if the Watch is just for you then you need to pick the ‘paired‘ £28 24 month individual plan:

 

[danmart]

If I get a series 6 before the iPhone 12 comes out how much faff will it be...?

I think this should be fine, because your phone contract is linked to your SIM card. When you put your old SIM in your new phone that part should just work?

 

[danmart]

Got my Watch yesterday and, as expected, got error 003 whilst trying to move the plan across. Phoned 150 and they were more switched on this time. Quickly asked me for my EID, updated it their side, then got me to reboot both devices. It was working again in minutes.

The support person told me the process worked better if you do it whilst using your phone’s 4G rather than Wi-Fi. This is plausible as there are certain things that the network gets more info on when you are directly on their network. So maybe people could try that when changing and report back if it helps?

 

[Broken Hope]

The data plan page in the watch app doesn’t even load over WiFi.

I switched my data plan from my 4 to my 6 yesterday, still at £5.

 

[danmart]

I don’t even know what plan that is

It is literally what it says: EE Smartwatch 30d £5.

I’m on the same plan.

 

[Bazooka-joe]

The data plan page in the watch app doesn’t even load over WiFi.

I switched my data plan from my 4 to my 6 yesterday, still at £5.

Did you unpair your series 4 first before pairing your 6 or did you pair the 6, get EE to link your plan to the 6 and then unpaired the 4 selecting removing data plan?

 

[Bazooka-joe]

Got my Watch yesterday and, as expected, got error 003 whilst trying to move the plan across. Phoned 150 and they were more switched on this time. Quickly asked me for my EID, updated it their side, then got me to reboot both devices. It was working again in minutes.

The support person told me the process worked better if you do it whilst using your phone’s 4G rather than Wi-Fi. This is plausible as there are certain things that the network gets more info on when you are directly on their network. So maybe people could try that when changing and report back if it helps?

Some people have better experiences than others. Did you select remove data plan when unpairing your old watch? When i went from a 4 to a 5 I unpaired my old watch and kept the data plan. I then paired my new watch and EE linked the new EID number to the new watch using my existing plan. That was fine. But selling my series 4 was a pain as it still thought it was linked to a data plan

 

[Broken Hope]

Did you unpair your series 4 first before pairing your 6 or did you pair the 6, get EE to link your plan to the 6 and then unpaired the 4 selecting removing data plan?

Unpaired my 4, selected keep plan, paired my 6, the add data plan option on my 6 noticed my existing plan and offered to replace it, this errors with error 003, I phoned EE and they swapped the EID on my account and the plan just appeared and activated within a few minutes.

 

[Bazooka-joe]

Unpaired my 4, selected keep plan, paired my 6, the add data plan option on my 6 noticed my existing plan and offered to replace it, this errors with error 003, I phoned EE and they swapped the EID on my account and the plan just appeared and activated within a few minutes.

Yep thats been my experience in the past. But the issue was with my series 4 afterwards as it thought it was still paired to a data plan so it was a bit of a pain trying to sort it out for a new owner

 

[danmart]

Did you select remove data plan when unpairing your old watch?

I used the ‘keep’ option.

my series 4 afterwards as it thought it was still paired to a data plan so it was a bit of a pain

I tried to sell my S3 to CEX and they wouldn’t give me full value for it because it was an LTE Watch. That said loads of people had trouble adding a data plan to second hand watches.

I was planning to sell mine back to Apple, but I’ve now decided to keep my S4 and use it in bed for sleep tracking (I pass on my Watches to my dad, so he is currently using my S4 but will shortly get my S5...)

 

[Broken Hope]

You’d think that if the EID was replaced on the data plan that the watch would no longer be attached to that plan.

I’m planning on trading mine in to CEX today so I’ll see what happens.