A cellular-enabled Apple Watch can function independently and perform multiple functions of your iPhone. Answering or sending text messages, listening to music, or even making and receiving phone calls are some examples of what it can do. However, in order for all of this to function, you need to be connected to a cellular network.
But if your cellular connection keeps dropping out or not working, here are 10 steps to help you fix the problem.
1. Check your Apple Watch’s cellular connection.
First, cellular communication in all countries of the world. This is because Apple has optimized the Apple Watch to work on the LTE and UMTS bands around the world. Two separate cell models of the same watch are also sold, depending on the region of purchase. So, first of all, make sure your Apple Watch is compatible with the service.
Then check to see if you’ve turned on cellular for your Apple Watch. If you haven’t already, follow this step-by-step guide to learn how to set up and use cellular on your Apple Watch. Be sure to set up cellular service on your Apple Watch if you have a good cellular network on your iPhone.
2. Make sure cellular is turned on on your Apple Watch.
Sometimes we tend to ignore the simplest solutions. This may be the case when you haven’t turned on cellular on your Apple Watch, so you can’t connect to the network. Here’s how to connect your Apple Watch to a cellular network.
- Turn off Wi-Fi and Bluetooth to disconnect Apple Watch from iPhone.
- Swipe up on Apple Watch to open Control Center.
- Check if cellular is turned on.
- Click on the cell phone icon.
- Turn on Cellular on the next page.
Note:
The Cellular button turns green when your Apple Watch is connected to a cellular network. As you may have guessed, the green dots represent signal strength.
Remember that the Cellular button turns white when your Apple Watch is connected to a paired iPhone via Wi-Fi or Bluetooth.
3. Turn off and on Airplane mode on your Apple Watch.
When we experience network issues on our iPhones, we turn on Airplane Mode and turn it off after a couple of minutes. This is a way to reboot/restart the network without restarting the device, which helps save time. And that’s what I recommend you do, and here’s how to do it.
- Swipe up on Apple Watch to open Control Center.
- Navigate to the airplane icon and tap it. The icon will turn orange.
- Wait 20-30 seconds and press to turn off airplane mode.
4. Restart your Apple Watch.
If turning Airplane Mode on and off doesn’t work, you can try restarting your Apple Watch. Rebooting devices often helps resolve some errors and crashes; we expect the same here. For the uninitiated, here is a step-by-step guide to help you reset your Apple Watch.
5. Update watchOS
Some software updates are not as perfect as others. Your Apple Watch may be running a buggy version of watchOS. Well, Apple regularly provides updates and bug fixes with OTA updates. Therefore, updating to the latest software may solve your problem.
Here’s a guide to help you update watchOS right from your Apple Watch or your iPhone.
6. Check for carrier settings updates.
Carrier settings help improve your iPhone’s connection to the cellular network. Your carrier is updating their carrier settings because they have improved or purchased new features for their service. And to take full advantage of these features, you’ll need to update to the latest carrier settings on your iPhone.
Here’s a guide to help you update your iPhone’s carrier settings, which will automatically reflect on your Apple Watch.
7. Remove and re-add a cellular plan
Another option is to restore the cellular network connected to your Apple Watch. Perhaps the last time you did the cellular activation process on your Apple Watch, it caused some errors. A quick fix will fix this. Here’s how to do it
- Open the Watch app on your iPhone.
- Tap Cellular.
- Now click the info button (i) next to your carrier name.
- Select the “Delete CarrierName plan”option.
- Confirm your choice by clicking Remove CarrierName Plan.
Once you have removed the cellular network connection from your iPhone, you will need to set it up again. As mentioned earlier, we have a guide to help you set up and use cellular on your Apple Watch.
8. Check specific applications
Not receiving notifications from certain apps doesn’t mean your Apple Watch’s cellular network isn’t working. Most likely, the application itself is not working or has some kind of bugs that prevent it from working optimally. The only way to resolve issues related to specific applications is to either update them to the latest versions available or reinstall them.
These steps are quite simple and can be completed without much effort. Follow this guide to manually update apps on your Apple Watch. Here is another guide to help you uninstall the problematic application by following this guide. After that, you can go to the App Store and reinstall the app.
9. Reset network settings on iPhone
Reset is usually our last resort when troubleshooting devices. Thankfully, you don’t need to reset your Apple Watch, only your iPhone’s network settings, and everything else will happen automatically. This is one of the reliable methods that can help fix this issue.
Note. Along with cellular settings, your device will forget all saved Wi-Fi networks and passwords, VPN and APN settings when you reset your network settings. So keep your passwords and other data handy.
Here is how to reset network settings on your iPhone,
- Open “Settings”on your iPhone.
- Tap General.
- Navigate to the Transfer or Reset option.
- On the next page, click Reset.
- Select the Reset Network Settings option. Enter your password and you’re done.
10. Contact Apple Support
After following all the steps mentioned above, it’s unlikely that you haven’t come to a decision yet. Especially if the problem was related to software bugs. However, the next and most reliable solution is to contact Apple Support.
If it’s a hardware issue, AppleCare watches are covered under warranty. And if not, then at least you will find a solution to this problem, albeit for a fee. Follow the steps in this guide to contact Apple Support.
I hope this guide helped you solve your problem. By the way, do you use an Apple Watch with GPS or an Apple Watch with cellular? Let me know in the comments below.