How to Activate Samsung watch LTE

Download the Samsung galaxy watch app via iOS or Android. Set up and it will work only with Bluetooth, currently the watch does not support T-Mobile service.

Thank you so much for filling me in!  No offense taken, I can certainly understand how frustrating it is to be knowledgeable in this area but unable to get assistance from those you count on to help.

**I apologize that it's taken me so long to get back to you, but I had a lot of research to do about DIGITS and specifically how this watch activation is supposed to work**

To answer your question, (and I was unaware of this until today, so I genuinely apologize to anyone to whom I gave incorrect information), but the Data with Paired DIGITS line is NOT standalone in the sense that the 10 digit number assigned to the mobile data line is essentially a dummy number and you won't be able to be reached if someone calls or texts it. 

Data with Paired DIGITS "copies" your existing number onto another device and allows you to call and text utilizing your primary phone number, whichever number you have paired to that specific device/DIGITS.  And for the purposes of this exercise, "pair" and "pairing" only refers to linking the Data with Paired DIGITS line to a primary line for service through the portal, nothing to do with Bluetooth.

I'm really sorry about the misinformation, but for this particular DIGITS plan, the DIGITS app is not required and you can make your changes by utilizing the portal.  I understand you went through a bit of a headache with this, but you can just uninstall it.

Obtener una ID de T-Mobile to make managing DIGITS easier, make sure that you have a PAH (primary account holder) indicator on one of the lines on the account or else DIGITS won't work properly.

Habilitar servicios para múltiples dispositivos for the primary line (not the DIGITS line) in My T-Mobile or the T-Mobile app.

Pair the DIGITS line with the primary line in the portal myDIGITS. This tells the device which number it's a copy of and can be changed at any time.

1. Ingresa al portal MyDIGITS y haz clic en la línea deseada de Datos con DIGITS vinculado.
2. En Paired DIGITS, choose the desired primary line from the drop-down box and click Guardar.

Changes made to your DIGITS lines may take up to 2 hours to provision, be sure to reboot all devices after setting up the pairings.

WHEW!  Again, so sorry for the late reply. I'll be the first to admit that DIGITS isn't my forte and I wanted to make 100% sure I had the steps correct.  Now, if I'm forgetting something, I pray someone here will chime in and help out, but I think I've gotten all of the steps.  Provided the eSIM in the watch has really been activated, everything should be good to go.  Fingers crossed!

On digits, or standalone.. the watch is not going to work until a software update is rolled out.

@dfplaya , hey there!  Do you mind letting me know where you found this?  I've been digging all day and I've not seen anything to indicate that there is a future update needed. 😊

Are you employed by tmobile? If so I could see why you lack the knowledge on this issue. After being told my watch was defective,then told it can't work with digits, then told it doesn't work on a standalone plan, having my promotional grandfathered plan changed, spending numerous hours on the phone with multiple untrained representatives.. I found this issue on my own. All T-Mobile customers should be given compensation for a watch that does not work on any T-Mobile plans... charged my $20 and change for owning it for 2 days. Such a joke.

Ack!  That's crazy!  Is this a screen from your Samsung Galaxy Watch app?  @kronikole o @magenta2848034 , have you seen anything similar?  Please forgive my ignorance, but there is literally nothing whatsoever regarding a needed software update to function with LTE anywhere on the internet. 

My thought were if this were a nationwide problem, there would be articles, blogs, ... more publicity from such a huge flaw in a device release that has been advertised far and wide as being LTE compatible out of the box. 

I reached out to Samsung support and she was pretty confused as well, but said it might be a regional issue.  (Really wasn't sure)

All I know is that my good friend and co-worker loves her watch and has had no issues with it at all since purchase on release day.  I've also spoken to a couple of reps from T-Mobile and they've not had any calls regarding the issue either.  I'm pretty stumped in your case.

That's wonderful!!!  😀

I'm so glad you found someone who was able to solve the mystery!  Plus, I hope this helps others who may be having similar issues.

This is the solo correct answer. The rest are valuable information, but the do NOT answer this question.

I have now spent a total of 8 hours on this issue, and it is resolved.  It took one T Mobile tech at the store, an online internal T Mobile tech, as part of an escalation, and finally an online technician at Samsung. 

So with a total of 24 person-hours, the conclusion is that neither T Mobile nor Samsung was prepared to release this watch.  Both companies need to apologize to their customers, AND prepare NEW documentation!  This watch is NOT the same as every other Galaxy watch.

I work in IBM Level 3 support, so I have a great deal of experience.  Here is the actual issue:

During the watch setup - which is done mostly on a phone (this is bad design), the network section of the setup is where the failure comes: the order of the steps, inside the software is backwards:

1) Find network

2) Download eSIM profile

The eSIM profile is the issue!  Without the eSIM profile, the internal eSIM cannot be activated - not by ANY T Mobile tech, nor Samsung. The mistake in the software is tying the eSIM prompt with the network discovery: if the network is not found ON THE PHONE, then the eSIM download is SKIPPED!  Unbelievable! No matter what your cell provider, the watch will NEVER work on a cell network without enabling the eSIM.  Ridiculous.

So, the "solution" is, you have to BUY a T Mobile phone!  Or, as elsewhere in this thread, find someone a T Mobile that will allow you to do the complete installation on THEIR phone - only so you can get past the (cell) network discovery, and thus download the eSIM profile.  Then, after the watch is completely set up on the "wrong" phone, you can pair is with any phone, and it work amazing!  You will automatically get texts, calls, messages from your phone, when in paired mode, and then from the cell provider (T Mobile) when in standalone.  Seamless and no configuration.

Here are additional problems that tech support doesn't know

1) The entire initial setup requires connection to the internet (wi fi).  You can't set up the watch without connecting your phone to wi fi, even if you have a T Mobile phone connected to mobile data.

2) There is NO WAY to unpair the "wrong" phone after the "false" setup!  There is no unpair menu option!  Wow! Instead, you need to go to the watch menu, and select "Connect to other phone".  This is nerve wracking, since it then says "Resetting" - you worry that the reset will delete the eSIM activation.  After this, the other phone's data is erased (I guess?!?!?)

3) On the watch, prior to eSIM profile download, the watch gives the message "Please insert SIM card."  This is TERRIBLE programming!  There is no physical way to insert ANYTHING into this watch - the SIM is built in!  So, no matter what, that message should NEVER appear on this device. Instead - imagine this! - a message that says "Would you like to download the eSIM profile?" 

4) In paired mode, when you make a call from the watch, it actually makes the call from the phone's number, not the watch's.  Just fyi

As for the DIGITS account, T Mobile never had any problem with this: my DIGITS accounts was easily activated, I got a phone number for the watch, and could send calls to voicemail.

im having the same issue.

my phone is an HTC U11 (factory unlocked) and all i got is the "cant be set up from this phone" message.

funny, i bought my watch on a brick and mortar store and they just told me that activation issues are common, that i just have to wait a few hours for watch to get service. but its been a long week and my watch still have no service. i contacted CS and they did their best to help me, but nothing. i believe the problem is on Samsung side... software? who knows. if i cant get my watch working as intended i just return the watch and get the Bluetooth-only model directly from Samsung.

i just printed the whole tread. im returning tomorrow to my local store. hopefully they get to figure it out.

Hi there!  I'm so sorry you've been having so many issues.  If the above is correct, you will need to have access to a Samsung phone to complete the setup, hopefully someone in the store will be able to spare his/her phone for a moment to complete the setup properly.  Let us know how it goes!