apple watch not connecting to wifi

Hi

Whenever your Apple Watch cannot connect to the paired iPhone via Bluetooth, it will attempt, as a fallback, to connect to a compatible Wi-Fi network.

A compatible Wi-Fi network is a 2.4GHz Wi-Fi network that your iPhone has connected to before whilst your Apple Watch was connected to the iPhone via Bluetooth. Apple Watch cannot connect to 5GHz Wi-Fi networks or to public networks that require logins, subscriptions or profiles.

To check whether your Apple Watch can connect to Wi-Fi:

• Enable Airplane Mode on your iPhone:

  Travel with iPhone

• On your Apple Watch, open Control Centre (when viewing the time, swipe up on the screen) and check for the Wi-Fi symbol at the upper-left of the display:

  About Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and cellular on your Apple Watch - Apple Support

If your Apple Watch does not connect to Wi-Fi as expected (after allowing a few moments), then follow these steps:

Firstly, ensure that your Apple Watch and iPhone are connected via Bluetooth and also that your iPhone is connected to your Wi-Fi network:

• About Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and cellular on your Apple Watch - Apple Support

On your iPhone, go to: Settings > Wi-Fi:

• Tap on the "i" / info icon to the right of your Wi-Fi network name > tap on Forget This Network.
• With your Apple Watch still connected via Bluetooth, reconnect your iPhone to your Wi-Fi network, being sure to check that you are connecting to a 2.4 GHz network.
• Pause for a few moments to allow the Wi-Fi information to be shared to your Apple Watch.

On your iPhone, enable Airplane Mode:

• Travel with iPhone

Check whether your Apple Watch has successfully connected to the Wi-Fi network by checking for the Wi-Fi icon at the upper-left of Control Centre (allow a short while for it to connect after losing the connection with your iPhone):

• Open Control Center

When finished, turn off Airplane Mode on your iPhone.

If you have not yet done so and if the feature is supported on your plan, you may also wish to enable Wi-Fi Calling on your devices:

• On your iPhone, go to: Settings > Phone > Wi-Fi Calling.
• On your iPhone, in the Watch app, go to: My Watch > Phone.
• Make a call with Wi-Fi Calling - Apple Support

If the issue persists, then I suggest that you contact Apple Support (remote diagnostics and/or mail-in service may be available, if required), make a Genius Bar reservation or visit an Apple Authorised Service Provider for assistance:

• US: Apple Watch Service Answer Center - Apple Support
• Elsewhere: Apple - Support

I have the same problem, i have a Iphone 7 and series 3 apple watch and it won't connect to Wifi when out of range of the iphone. I've done all the test (unpair, pair, forget network, reboot, update SW) and nothing worked. Then i tried with my daughters Iphone7 and it paired and connect to Wifi not problem when phone was out of range (blue tooth range)....interesting you said apple support said there will be an update, i have been working with apple for over a week pulling logs and they have not gotten anywhere at this point.

Thanks for this info. I have been battling this same issue on Apple Watch 2 and now Apple Watch 3. I had the problem when I synced my watch with my 6s Plus and now my 8 Plus. I tried all of the standard Apple troubleshooting steps and spent hours with a genius in a store to no avail.

When I followed your initial steps of wiping my phone and not doing a restore rather a new phone install, my watch worked perfectly. So it definitely is not a hardware issue. There must be a select group of us that have a certain app combination installed on our phones that is resulting in this error.

However, when I restored my phone from the backup the problem returned. Can you explain exactly how you did the restoration of your watch and phone setup to keep WiFi working?

Also, are you now able to setup new 2.4ghz network on your iPhone and it be recognized by your watch when your phone is not in range?

Thanks!

In my case

cause by install lookout app

Lookout: Security and Identity Theft Protection on the App Store

after install lookout app on apple watch

cannot connect wifi forever

solve this problem only way to iphone reset and setup the new iphone

if you restore from backup

maybe with break wifi restore...

Hi - I have the same issue, and have responded to a similar thread at https://discussions.apple.com/thread/8171970. For both me and a colleague, Apple Store has replaced our Series 3 LTE watches, and replacements will not connect to compatible wifi either.

I've had an open ticket (Genius Bar Work Authorisation) since October, which Apple say is "with engineering". Have chased a few times, but no information coming back as yet.

I got the same problem, I think it’s watchos 4.1 that this problem begin for me...

Serie 3 GPS only on watchos 4.1 and iPhone 8 iOS 11.1.1 the bug was already there with iOS 11.1

I have contact Apple support and they had me unlink my watch and reset my wifi and still no wifi.

I know Apple wanted to correct the problem of public wifi for the LTE watch but now how can I connect to my home wifi with my watch ???

My serie 2 on 4.1 connect to wifi with no problem !

Yes that’s what I believe, it’s a bug in watchOS 4.1.

I got a serie 2 that is also pair to my iPhone 8 iOS 11.1.1 and when my serie 3 is the one use by my iPhone,

when I turn on my serie 2 with 4.1 it’s connected to wifi automatically. But has soon as I swap my serie 3 to my serie 2 to use it with the iPhone it no longer connect to the wifi after that...

even if I swap back the serie 3 the serie 2 no longer connect to my wifi...

I also have the original first Apple Watch on 4.1 and when I turn it on it automatically connect to the wifi...

So let us hope that Apple correct it soon !

MY PROBLEM: iPhone connected to WiFi but Apple Watch showed disconnected when I turned off blue tooth on iPhone.

WHAT I TRIED WITH MY IPHONE: forget network on iPhone then rejoin, unpair and paired, reset watch to defaults, nothing worked.

WHAT I DID NEXT: unpair from my iPhone paired to daughters I phone and WIFI WORKED when I turned off Bluetooth on her iPhone!

Unpaired from daughter Iphone paired to my iphone WiFi would not work.

SOLUTION FOR ME: Backed up my iPhone, Reset my IPhone to factory defaults installed as new. Confirmed I joined home network, Paired watch, forgot home network, joined home network and watch WiFi worked when I turned Bluetooth off on my iPhone. Restored backup and WiFi and watch connected to WiFi when I turned off Bluetooth on my iPhone.

Yes I did loose some of my stored passwords but all apps are there and working once I logged back in. Maybe the next version for the watch will resolve the issue, but I was not willing to wait for it.

Well watchos 4.2 arrived and installed but sadly the bug is still there...

😢😮👿

-iPhone 8 iOS 11.2

-Apple Watch serie 3 GPS only watchOS 4.2

Does all of us who have this problem have the same iPhone and serie 3 watch ???

Yup. Same issue. I have had this exact issue since about June when I had an Apple Watch 2 and a iPhone 6s. I have since upgraded to a 8 plus and the Apple Watch 3. Same issue. I did the create new phone and the Apple Watch and WiFi worked perfectly until I started to download the apps I use regularly. After hours of getting my phone back to the way I want it. Guess what. WiFi doesn’t work AGAIN. I have been to the Apple store twice and they once sent my watch away to “fix it” which did nothing. It seems to be some type of software issue related to certain combination of apps that are installed on the phone. I cannot tell which ones are doing it as it would take hours of time I am not willing to invest into this problem.

Apple needs to get this fixed!! If I get one more person telling me the same steps that need to be done to fix the issue I might chuck this thing out be window while driving on the freeway. The current repair strategies for this problem will not fix the issue we are having.

Good Morning,

I had this issue on two Apple Watch 3s in my household and after the 4.2 update. One started working!!! I did a little trial and error and determined in my situation it appeared to be a security software I had installed on my iPhone that was preventing the WiFi info being shared or setup on my watch. I basically deleted all of the apps I had for 3rd party texting, vpn software, and security software (mine was one offer free to T-Mobile’s customers). After that I forgot my network. Turned off Bluetooth on my setting (not from the control center) and then rebooted the watch and iPhone. Turned on the iPhone and watch. Connected the WiFi to the phone then turned on Bluetooth to allow the watch to get the WiFi info. Waited a minute and turned off the Bluetooth and it worked for me. This may not work for everyone because there are countless apps. But it did the trick for me once I installed 4.2 which fixed some of the issues already. Hope this helps.

Wow OhioApple74 maybe you solved this problem !

I did not delete any apps but I did this and it work !

1-I forgot the 2.4 and 5Ghz wifi

2-Turn off way watch and iPhone

3-Turn on my iPhone and watch

4-Login to my 2.4Ghz wifi

5-Put my iPhone on airplane

And the warch connected to my wifi !!!

Repost this post to correct some typo...

Because I don’t know to edit my post...

Wow OhioApple74 maybe you solved this problem !

I did not delete any apps but I did this and it worked !

1-I forgot the 2.4 and 5Ghz wifi on my iPhone

2-Turn off my watch and iPhone and wait a few secondes...

3-Turn on my iPhone and watch again

4-Login to only 2.4Ghz wifi on my iPhone

5-Put my iPhone on airplane

And the watch connected to my wifi !!!

Good God Chaoswith !

I remember deleting this app "Lookout" a few day before I did my little procedure...

But since it did not bring back my wifi on the watch after that I didn’t think it was the cause...

but thanks chaoswith it may be the missing thing...

So anyone with this problem delete Lookout app if you have it and do the little procedure up there.

Good Luck !