How to set up a free line on your Apple Watch

Keyw711ks wrote:

I spoke with Q. LINK wireless today 10/ 19/23 and they said that it is not possible to connect your watch to your Q. LINK wireless plan. They stated that they only do cell phones and cannot support the Apple Watch. I then asked about them being part of T-Mobile and they said that they are supported by T-Mobile. However, it doesn’t change the fact that they do not support the Apple Watch.

Q.Link is an MVNO (mobile virtual network operator) and the sign a contract with a major carrier, in this case T-Mobile. Their contract spells out what they can and cannot do with the T-Mobile service.

Providing Apple Watch support would make their contract more expensive. Most MVNO’s depend on low cost to attract customers. Paying for a more expensive T-Mobile contract would defeat that goal.

There are some MVNO’s that do pay for Apple Watch support, such as Xfinity and Spectrum cable companies, that also sell mobile support.

That is essentially correct. See:

Set up cellular on Apple Watch - Apple Support

"Your iPhone and Apple Watch must use the same carrier, and you must be within your carrier's network when you set up cellular on your watch." After the setup, you can make calls, reply to messages, receive notifications, and more — even while you’re away from your iPhone.

and

"If you have an enterprise or corporate cellular service plan, check with your company or carrier to see if they support this feature. Pre-paid accounts and some older accounts aren’t currently supported. To make sure that your account is eligible, contact your carrier."

I spoke with Q. LINK wireless today 10/ 19/23 and they said that it is not possible to connect your watch to your Q. LINK wireless plan. They stated that they only do cell phones and cannot support the Apple Watch. I then asked about them being part of T-Mobile and they said that they are supported by T-Mobile. However, it doesn’t change the fact that they do not support the Apple Watch.

The cellular functions of Apple Watch are designed to share the phone number of the paired iPhone. In other words, the watch acts like a second extension handset on the same phone line. This means you need to set up the Apple Watch on the government's iPhone line - which probably means you would need permissions and access rights for changes to the iPhone plan which is almost certainly going to be paid by the government. Unless you are Very High Grade, or your department's iPhone administrator, I think your chances to get this approved are somewhere the wrong side of zero.

Free Apple Watch