Forum Discussion
Activating standalone apple watch on t-mobile, while paired to iPhone using different carrier?
Hi, looking for expert advice/help:
I got an Apple watch SE for my child, and purchased a standalone plan from T-mobile. She does not have a phone. The adults have Verizon phones. The watch was an outright purchase from apple, and no one at customer service at T-mobile indicated that this would be an issue when purchasing the plan over the phone. (Reason for choosing T-mobile was that the verizon standalone watch plan costs 3x more)
I initially paired the watch to my own phone under "set up for a family member", but T-mobile was unable activate the watch over the phone (2 different calls/attempts). When I select "set up cellular" on the watch, only a Verizon login page loads. I went to a physical T-mobile store, and the employee told me you can't set up a standalone plan on a watch using a phone that has a different carrier.
Google seems to yield conflicting results. I did find a Verizon page stating "The Apple Watch doesn't need to be connected to the same carrier as your Apple® iPhone when set up using Standalone mode (Set Up for a Family Member)" …. so I would assume the same would be true for other carriers (such as T-mobile) offering a standalone watch plan??
Has anyone successfully set up a T-mobile standalone apple watch under these circumstances and can offer help? Thanks very much ..
Has anyone who has tried this method as a family member had an issue with the watch wifi/bluetooth not connecting properly?
I tried this and switched back to GPS because when I did it as family the cellular plan was there but Bluetooth and Wireless were dropping. I would try to customize my watch and it would connect til I connected it at time. At times it would connect.
I copied the OP’s post to ChatGPT and the answer is:
- Create a separate Apple ID for the watch and connect it to the main Apple ID on the phone.
- Pair the watch as a family member and not as yourself.
- Connect the watch to Wi-Fi and set up the cellular plan with T-Mobile.
Simple fix . If you haven’t already first remove watch from your account when watch is on pairing mode on your iPhone add watch for a family member then create an Apple ID for your kid after this the T-Mobile plan will appear as cellular plan and all you have to do is add it .
There does seem to be conflicting information out there. It seems more logical that the Watch needs to be associated with the same carrier as the parent's phone, but I am not an expert.
For your peace of mind as a parent, wouldn't you rather have your child's Watch associated with your Verizon plan? You could consider eventually moving everything over to T-Mobile - you would probably save a significant amount on your phone plan.
good luck!
