My watch will not connect to my iPhone over wifi at work. I have tried forgetting the network and reconnecting. What is the technical explanation for why this is apparently being blocked on my office network. Is there any way around this?? Do you think anything is changing with the WatchConnectivity on WatchOS 2.0 that will change this?
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WiFi Doesn't Work in Office - Looking for technical explanation why
- Thread starter grmax5
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fischersd
macrumors 603
You likely should talk to your IT department. I know some places I've worked, if you didn't have permission to "light up" a personal device on the corporate network and you did so, it was grounds for dismissal.
The watch only supports 802.11 b/g/n at 2.4GHz. If your work is using exclusively 5GHz radios, you're sunk. If they're using 802.11AC, you're sunk. If they're using mac address filtering ("white listing to allow access") and only corporate devices are allowed, you're sunk (unless work actually bought the watch) 🙂
There could also be some enterprise security standards that aren't supported on Watch, but I haven't heard of them yet.
Start with your IT department - usually you can find someone helpful at their helpdesk. 🙂
The watch only supports 802.11 b/g/n at 2.4GHz. If your work is using exclusively 5GHz radios, you're sunk. If they're using 802.11AC, you're sunk. If they're using mac address filtering ("white listing to allow access") and only corporate devices are allowed, you're sunk (unless work actually bought the watch) 🙂
There could also be some enterprise security standards that aren't supported on Watch, but I haven't heard of them yet.
Start with your IT department - usually you can find someone helpful at their helpdesk. 🙂
We are not supposed to have personal devices connected on the wifi network but everyone does it so I know it is not "white listed" as you mentioned above but I obviously cannot ask them why it is not working. lol
fischersd
macrumors 603
Well, you're not going to be able to do much troubleshooting without having a better idea of how they have things configured. If you look for available networks on the phone is there more than one available SSID available? (they may have the 2.4 vs 5 named differently) You could try forgetting the one your phone is able to connect to currently and try connecting to another one (that may be 2.4GHz).
h9826790
macrumors P6
The common problem is:
1) The device is not on the white list (which seems not in your case)
2) Only 2.4GHz network supported (even though your office have 5HGz network, I guess the 2.4GHz signal still avail)
3) Any password format other than WPA2 may cause issue (This might be the problem)
1) The device is not on the white list (which seems not in your case)
2) Only 2.4GHz network supported (even though your office have 5HGz network, I guess the 2.4GHz signal still avail)
3) Any password format other than WPA2 may cause issue (This might be the problem)
I just want be clear here.. how do you tell for sure that your AW is connected to a Wifi? you must need to go into the router and see if it's listed there?
Night Spring
macrumors P6
If your office/home is large enough, you can move outside Bluetooth range but still stay in wifi range. So you do that and see if your watch stays connected to your phone. Or you could turn off your phone and see if your watch still receives iMessages.
h9826790
macrumors P6
AFAIK, 2 options:
1) The watch is working but the BT on the phone is off. Therefore, the only possibility is that the watch now is working via Wi-Fi.
2) As you said, check the connected devices list in the router settings.
RiddlaBronc
macrumors 6502a
Thanks. I have tried to turn off BT on my phone and still able to receive iMessage.
the network must allow connected devices to see each other. Common practice in security concious networks is to disallow device to device communications. I expect as more and more devices get out there IT security recommendations will adapt and adjust to the realities and desires of people to connect. You are at the whims of the network security decisions made by your IT department.
MJedi
macrumors 6502a
In our environment, the user needs to login with their AD credentials to connect to the corporate Wi-Fi. A security profile is then installed on the iPhone. So, if your Watch can't connect, it's most likely due to the fact that AD credentials aren't passed to the Watch (for authentication). Even if it did, I don't think a security profile can be installed on the Watch.