I need to activate a Samsung watch LTE
Best answer by magenta2848034
View original
Page 1 / 2
Just got the problem resolved. The message had been that the network
couldn't be set up from this device... So I took it to a T-Mobile store and
had a great manager who figured it out. We needed a device to activate the
cell network. We popped out the sim from my phone, put it in his Samsung
phone, went through the process, got the network activated, put the sim
back in my phone. Just re-paired it and it's all good. It's crappy that
it wouldn't set up. These should come already set for the network so that
they just need to pair it and customize it. But it's working now. Jay at
my local T-Mobile store was awesome and determined to solve this puzzle!
Seems to be doing exactly what we'd expected!
It took 5 visits to a T Mobile the store to activate LTE on my Samsung Galaxy Watch. Before changing carrier and purchasing 2 new iPhone 11, I researched the issues I thought would occur changing carrier and transferring from an Android Samsung phone linked to the Galaxy Watch.
During the second visit, agent 2 set up the Galaxy Watch and a call was made. Some days later I discovered the Galaxy Watch was still connected LTE to the previous carrier so I deleted it from the watch. However, the issue was the eSIM in the Galaxy Watch was locked to my previous network.
During visit 3 it proved impossible to change this online but agent 3 at T Mobile was persistent and my previous carrier finally agreed to unlock the eSIM which took about 4 days. Because of other commitments, I did not manage visit 4 with T Mobile until a week later.
I explained the problem to agent 4 in the store who was adamant it was not possible to have LTE on a Samsung Galaxy Watch connected to an iPhone and the only available connection was Bluetooth. A manager also confirmed this. Their assertions did not match what I had previously been led to believe from my research concerning issues changing from Android to an iOS phone.
At home, I printed out from the T Mobile Support Web pages “How to Activate Samsung Watch LTE” on the T Mobile Network and went to the store for the 5th time with the printout. Sadly agent 5 was of a similar mind to the manager and agent from the previous visit. He refused to read what I had printed from the T Mobile Support pages, look it up for himself on the T Mobile Support pages or call the Support line saying “that was not his job”. I asked if he was refusing to set up the LTE on my Galaxy Watch to which his response was “what do you want me to do?” I said we would follow the procedure set out in the T Mobile Support pages I had printed. I instructed him how to do this while he also attended to another customer. The eSIM was activated on the Galaxy Watch and the T Mobile network was available. The agent had walked away attending to another customer and showed no further interest which was a sad comparison to my previous carrier where the agents were courteous and after completing any transaction would walk you to the door with “thank you for your visit”.
At home, I completed the LTE setup on the Galaxy Watch by selecting the T Mobile network and restarting the watch. I turned off the iPhone 11 Pro Max and called my T Mobile number from a landline. It works just fine.
I appreciate that the attitude of its staff reflects on the company itself and the employees will vary in both attitude and skills. For me, what was most concerning was the adamant attitude “that can’t be done” rather than accepting their knowledge was incomplete and refusing to go beyond their existing knowledge. The next customer with a similar issue at this particular store will not be given the correct information so please use the information on the T Mobile support pages if you want to connect LTE on an excellent Samsung Galaxy Watch to an Apple iPhone.
This is the only 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.
There is no LTE call and tex for galaxy watch on any carrier yet. chat with samsung support they said no one claim this issue please take action and claim this issue to Samsung , because T- mobile and any carrier did not take action at all and they sell this watch without care about customers.
this is the link Smartwatches | Official Samsung Support right click on the link then open new tab
- Member Since: Nov 6, 2018
There is no LTE call and tex for galaxy watch on any carrier yet. chat with samsung support they said no one claim this issue please take action and claim this issue to Samsung , because T- mobile and any carrier did not take action at all and they sell this watch without care about customers.
this is the link Smartwatches | Official Samsung Support right click on the link then open new tab
- Member Since: Nov 6, 2018
There is no LTE call and tex for galaxy watch on any carrier yet. chat with samsung support they said no one claim this issue please take action and claim this issue to Samsung , because T- mobile and any carrier did not take action at all and they sell this watch without care about customers.
this is the link Smartwatches | Official Samsung Support right click on the link then open new tab
⁵4G LTE standalone connectivity only available on Samsung Galaxy Watch LTE version. Standalone voice calling on LTE version requires initial pairing with eligible Samsung Galaxy device and separate qualifying wireless plan. Your carrier may not support standalone voice calling, or support may be available only in certain areas. Please check with your carrier for more information. Standalone functionality limited if paired phone is not powered on or connected to a wireless network.
Silver Samsung Galaxy Watch - 46mm LTE | Samsung US
So you would need a galaxy phone in order to make standalone.
I love reading these stories and realizing it’s not just me. The way the forum is set up also leaves a lot to be desired. T-mo, you could do better than this. We are all relying on your good will as we ferret our way through this system of lack of proper signage, documentation, and software. This thread is over 3 years old, but I hate to say it , still relevant.
Today is Oct.1, 2021. I thank God I did not have to go through what most of you had to do. But it is still very far from seamless and intuitive. You do not need the ‘Digits’ app. You need the Samsung Wearables app and then another Samsung app piece of software for the SS watch 4, which is comparable to the latest Apple watch coming out later this month or so.
The t-mo documentation at this point is better. But I do not think every step is totally spelled out. I am assuming the SSwatch 4 device should be able to communicate with any/every other device of any brand as long as they are all connected to the internet in some way. The watch functions as kind of an access point to one of your phones and uses it as a base. The watch is not a standalone device which is not made clear by anyone. Its number is never used, but is like a number assigned to a hotspot device, used as an indentifier in their system, as far as I can tell.
You do most everything from your mobile phone with/thru the Samsung Wearables App. Your phone must ‘find’ and ‘recognize’ the watch first, and then you can jig with the settings, AND it is much easier to do that on your phone, not on the tiny format of the watch. I may be crazy, but I keep two phones going, and having or being able to leave one at home (as a backup and a spare) and just use the watch would seem to offer some utility, but I wish someone along the way had properly explained how this all worked. I am going to play with this thing for a couple of more days before I decide to return it. thanks for the use of the hall.
Update May 2022
I had learned about this problem after I already bought the watch and didn’t want to take it back and get an Apple Watch so I tried contacting T-Mobile about setting it up and they were still unaware of the problem. Samsung also claimed to not know why the watch couldn’t activate the service. I finally decided to go this way and when I called a local T-Mobile store to see if they would be willing to help me, they flat out said no. They said, incorrectly I add, that Samsung watches can only be used with Samsung devices and that they wouldn’t be able to help. I tried explaining the process to the woman I spoke to and she straight up cut me off and said they weren’t willing to help and that it wasn’t possible. My only route was to Find a friend with a Samsung phone or to buy one just for the purpose of getting the LTE set up and then returning it. I tried finding friends with them but none were close enough to help. I ended up just buying one on Amazon and sure enough I was able to get everything working from that phone. After I finished setting everything up, I wiped the phone and will be returning it to Amazon. It’s a lot of hoops to jump through just to get the service activated on your watch and it’s bogus. Shame on Samsung for being so petty as to make a watch that is “compatible” with other non-Samsung phones but not compatible at the same time. People should not have to jump through hoops to get their devices to work as they’re supposed to. Without a Samsung phone to activate the LTE, all you have is a Bluetooth connection. The non LTE watches are cheaper and do the same thing so they’re really ripping people off by saying that their watch is compatible with any phone. Shame on T-Mobile as well because they perpetuate the problem by not being up to date on how it all works and their incompetence is only to get you to buy another device that is compatible. I can’t tell you how many times someone said, “well maybe I can interest you in an Apple Watch.” If I wanted an Apple Watch, I would’ve bought an Apple Watch to begin with, thanks. Sorry for the rant. In short, this method is still valid and working but do not count on your local T-Mobile store being as helpful as the OG poster. I know mine wasn’t.
I am mortified…I just bought a Samsung Active 2 LTE watch for $400 and have yet to find any clear information on how to set this up on my Tmobile account. I’ve dug through all of my account settings. I’ve searched these threads, the internet, youtube. There is not one person anywhere that gives a clear answer. I was under the impression before purchasing this expensive device that I could simply add an LTE line for $10 a month for this watch. In fact, before purchasing I asked support on twitter if I could purchase this watch and add it to my existing account and they said yes.
Here’s their answer: “Hi, thanks for reaching out to your #MagentaTeam today! My name is Deb, I value your time as I want to make sure you have no worries with setting up devices on your account!”
“Now with your AutoPay feature, adding a Data paired with Digits line is only $10.00 a month, which you can add to your account at any time, and use a watch from where ever you want to purchase it from! You can add the line now, or wait till you actually have your watch! What ever works best for you okay?”
Ok, I give...please tell me where the secret data paired with digits for $10 a month is located.
Why have these threads been going for over two years without any real step by step resolution? I’ve been a Tmobile customer for years with 4 lines going and I would assume they’d want me to stay aboard and add yet another device to their network.
Thanks.
I love reading these stories and realizing it’s not just me. The way the forum is set up also leaves a lot to be desired. T-mo, you could do better than this. We are all relying on your good will as we ferret our way through this system of lack of proper signage, documentation, and software. This thread is over 3 years old, but I hate to say it , still relevant.
Today is Oct.1, 2021. I thank God I did not have to go through what most of you had to do. But it is still very far from seamless and intuitive. You do not need the ‘Digits’ app. You need the Samsung Wearables app and then another Samsung app piece of software for the SS watch 4, which is comparable to the latest Apple watch coming out later this month or so.
The t-mo documentation at this point is better. But I do not think every step is totally spelled out. I am assuming the SSwatch 4 device should be able to communicate with any/every other device of any brand as long as they are all connected to the internet in some way. The watch functions as kind of an access point to one of your phones and uses it as a base. The watch is not a standalone device which is not made clear by anyone. Its number is never used, but is like a number assigned to a hotspot device, used as an indentifier in their system, as far as I can tell.
You do most everything from your mobile phone with/thru the Samsung Wearables App. Your phone must ‘find’ and ‘recognize’ the watch first, and then you can jig with the settings, AND it is much easier to do that on your phone, not on the tiny format of the watch. I may be crazy, but I keep two phones going, and having or being able to leave one at home (as a backup and a spare) and just use the watch would seem to offer some utility, but I wish someone along the way had properly explained how this all worked. I am going to play with this thing for a couple of more days before I decide to return it. thanks for the use of the hall.
I hope the person who wrote this knows she isn't alone. I found this 3 year old thread because there have been 3 software updates to the Galaxy watch 4 that apparently T-Mobile hasn't LTE hasn't gotten - so I have a feeling as long as there's a t mobile and smart watches this will remain relevant. Also glad I'm not the only one who is baffled by the 'digits' as well. The guy at my store was trying to explain what he finally conceded makes no sense. They have the app or service called digits but also refer to (in guides and troubleshooting) the phone number assigned to the watch in order to link to the phone as 'digits' but the digits for the LTE watch apparently don't have or don't need the actual digits app and if you attempt to do things through the digits app you will likely end up being billed for something. So there's the digits app, the digits service and the word digits - "any of the numerals from 0 to 9, especially when forming part of a number." Which are all related... Sort of. If they were all people the far enough apart that they could legally get married but they may not wanna have kids.
Come on T-Mobile! At least pretend you don't want to be the inbred child of the phone services world!
Userlevel 4
+10
Hey there, so sorry to hear about your troubles. As proven by
You both are right about the lack of updated information about the watch; with T-Mobile and on the internet in general. T-Mobile finally released an overview page for the Galaxy Watch with some basic information, but nothing about getting it connected to the LTE network, unfortunately. I know this hasn't been the best experience, but I'd like to try to help turn it around if I can.
So you have 2 watches, this means that you should have 2 new mobile internet lines of service on your account. Are they both set to Data with Paired DIGITS and are the lines paired with your phone number? So sorry that you've had to go through so much and I'm sure you're tired of answering questions but I really feel like I can point you in the right direction if given the chance.
Userlevel 4
+10
Hi there! This is a community forum and while there are T-Mobile moderators present, no one here has access to your account so calling out isn't an option. I know it's not ideal, but there are lots of people here who would love to help you guys out if we have all of the information.
Okay, so... Without being bluetooth'd to my phone, it's just a really big
watch. When we went round and round last night, they only asked for the
eSIM number and kept saying it was activated. My understanding is that the
watch has a different phone number to allow it to stand alone, but but that
the new sim was to be able to get everything from my phone's number to my
watch. We were told we needed the DIGIT app on my phone. We installed
that, but didn't get any further. It asked for the device phone number,
not saying Wich device, phone or watch. Either way, it wanted a pin number
that it never sent, so we could not finish setting up the app. My husband
is a professional techno-geek (no offense intended), but he got no where.
If it were just me... I'd send it back because... meh. Anyone have any
clue? My husband really wants them and paid a lot of money to get them.
Thank you.
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.
Userlevel 4
+10
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.
Get a T-Mobile ID 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.
Enable Multiple Device Services 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 myDIGITS portal. This tells the device which number it's a copy of and can be changed at any time.
- Log into the MyDIGITS portal and click on the desired Data with paired DIGITS line.
- Under Paired DIGITS, choose the desired primary line from the drop-down box and click Save.
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.
Userlevel 4
+10
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.
Userlevel 4
+10
Ack! That's crazy! Is this a screen from your Samsung Galaxy Watch app?
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.
digits is like the song, “I’m my own grandpa”
Userlevel 4
+10
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 only 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.
Userlevel 4
+10
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!
Page 1 / 2
Reply
New badge winners
Enter your username or e-mail address. We'll send you an e-mail with instructions to reset your password.