Smartwatches with wireless support, including the Apple Watch series are also not free from internet connectivity issues. This denotes that your Apple Watch can give into the same Internet problems experienced by smartphone owners. One of the common Wi-Fi internet problems that manifest on the Apple Watch series, particularly the Watch 4, is on random Wi-Fi disconnects as well as failure to connect to a Wi-Fi network. To give you some input, I’ve lined up a few recommended solutions to Wi-Fi connection errors on the Apple Watch 4. Feel free to refer to these walkthrough, whenever you’d bump into an issue in which your Apple Watch 4 won’t connect to Wi-Fi or keeps disconnecting from the Wi-Fi network.
Before moving on, if you have issues with your smartwatch and are trying to find a solution for it, visit our Apple Watch 4 troubleshooting page for we have already addressed some of the most common issues with this device. Find issues that are similar to yours and feel free to use our solutions. If you need more help, fill up our questionnaire so we can help you.
Troubleshooting an Apple Watch 4 that won’t connect to Wi-Fi
The following solutions will help eliminate software-related factors that might have caused your wireless connection errors on your Apple Watch. Try each of the methods to fix your Apple Watch 4 that won’t connect to Wi-Fi even if it’s within range or close to its paired iPhone and network equipment.
First solution: Reboot your Apple Watch and iPhone.
Wi-Fi errors can occur randomly and being unable to connect to the Wi-Fi network is just one of the many transpiring symptoms. More often than not, random errors are inflicted by minor system glitches that are usually rectifiable by a system reboot. Thus consider restarting your Apple Watch 4 as the first possible solution to try. Here’s how it’s done:
- Hold down the Side button for a few seconds and then slide to Power Off the watch.
- After a few seconds, press the Side button to turn the Apple watch back on.
After your watch reboots, try connecting to Wi-Fi and see if it successfully connects. If your Apple Watch 4 still won’t connect to Wi-Fi, or keeps disconnecting from the Wi-Fi network, proceed to the next workaround.
Second solution: Power cycle the wireless router/modem.
If your other devices are experiencing unstable Internet connection and that they’re all connected to the same Wi-Fi network that your trying to connect to for your Apple Watch, then there must be some minor issues with the modem or wireless router in use. This is usually the case if the network equipment (modem or router) is experiencing minor firmware crashes. To fix these glitches, follow these steps to power cycle the wireless router or modem that you’re using:
- Press the Power button to turn the modem/router off completely.
- While it’s powered off, unplug its AC adapter from the power source.
- After 30 seconds, press the Power button to turn the device back on again.
- Wait for the signal indicator to become stable.
Once your device has established Wi-Fi signal, try to connect to Wi-Fi again and see if it’s working now.
Third solution: Toggle Wi-Fi off and on.
Turning your watch’s Wi-Fi feature off and on can also help eliminate minor errors affecting the Wi-Fi system and relevant services. It somehow gives a quick breather and refreshes your watch’s wireless functions. Here’s how it’s done:
- Open the Settings app on your Apple Watch 4.
- Tap Wi-Fi.
- Toggle the switch next to Wi-Fi to turn it off.
- After a few seconds, tap the switch again to turn Wi-Fi back on.
After enabling Wi-Fi, select the Wi-Fi network that you wish to join or connect to and see if your Apple Watch 4 is already able to connect.
ALSO READ: How to connect Apple Watch 4 to WiFi
Fourth solution: Utilize Airplane Mode trick to fix your Apple Watch 4 that won’t connect to Wi-Fi.
The Airplane Mode trick has long been used among other simple yet very effective solutions to minor software errors and glitches including those causing trouble to Wi-Fi networks and services. It wouldn’t hurt if you’d try it this time and see how it does. Just follow these steps:
- Open the Settings app on your watch.
- Tap Airplane Mode.
- Toggle the Airplane Mode switch to turn the feature ON. The orange Airplane mode icon will then show up on the top-rightmost side of the watch display before the time.
- While Airplane Mode is turned on, restart your Watch 4.
- Then open the Settings app again to get back to Airplane mode.
- Toggle the Airplane Mode switch again to turn the feature off.
- Press the Digital Crown to go back to the main screen.
To reconnect to Wi-Fi, go back to Settings then toggle the Wi-Fi switch to turn it back on and view the list of available Wi-Fi networks. Select the network that you want to connect to and then see if your Apple Watch is already able to connect to Wi-Fi.
Fifth solution: Forget Wi-Fi network then add it back.
Another possible reason as to why your Apple Watch is still not able to connect to Wi-Fi is that the Wi-Fi network is corrupted. If that’s the case, then you have to delete the corrupted network and then add it back. Here’s how:
- To get started, open the Settings app on your Apple Watch 4.
- Then tap Wi-Fi.
- Tap to select the name of the Wi-Fi network (SSID) you’re connected to.
- Then, tap Forget This Network to delete the selected Wi-Fi network.
After deleting the network, reboot your Apple Watch and proceed to these steps to join or connect to the Wi-Fi network again:
- On your Apple Watch, open the Settings app.
- Tap Wi-Fi.
- If Wi-Fi is turned on, toggle the switch to turn it off and back on again.
- Allow your device to search for available networks in range.
- Tap to select the name of the network that you want to join or connect to. Note that the Apple Watch can only connect to 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi networks.
- Enter the network password if prompted. You can use Scribble to enter text to fill in the password field with the correct information.
- Then tap Join.
Wait and see if your Apple Watch is already able to connect to Wi-Fi. If it still failed or unable to connect, proceed to the next applicable solutions.
ALSO READ: How to fix Apple Watch 4 that won’t connect to iPhone, no iPhone connection error
Sixth solution: Update to the latest watchOS version available.
Software updates that are periodically released by Apple usually embed some fix patches that are programmed to eliminate stubborn bugs and malwares that caused persistent issues and symptoms. Thus, installing the latest watchOS update for your Apple Watch may also be the key to resolving the issue connecting to Wi-Fi. Before you update your watch though, be sure to keep it connected to its charger. Then follow these steps to check for and install new update for your Apple Watch 4 through its paired iPhone:
- Open the Watch app on your iPhone.
- Then tap the My Watch tab.
- Tap General.
- Tap Software Update.
- Download the update, if available.
- Enter your iPhone passcode or Apple Watch passcode if prompted to continue.
After updating, reboot your Watch to apply the recent system changes and to refresh its memory. Then try and see if that solves the problem.
ALSO READ: How to fix an Apple Watch 4 that won’t update, Apple WatchOS update error
Last resort: Reset your Apple Watch 4 to its factory defaults.
If your Apple Watch 4 still won’t connect to Wi-Fi after exhausting all prior methods, it probably needs more advanced solutions. At this point, you may already consider resorting to a full system reset to eliminate complex system errors that caused Wi-Fi connection error on your watch. Simply follow these steps if you wish to proceed:
- Tap Settings on your Apple Watch.
- Select General.
- Scroll down and tap Reset.
- Select the option to Erase All Content and Settings.
- If prompted, you can choose to remove or keep your cellular plan. Choose the latter if you want to pair your Apple Watch and iPhone again.
- Confirm by tapping on Erase All.
Wait for your Apple Watch to finish erasing data and then restore its factory default settings.
When the reset is finished, restart your watch then set it up as new. Don’t forget to pair your watch and your iPhone too.
You can also erase your Apple Watch 4 through its paired iPhone.
- To do so, simply tap on My Watch tab then go to Settings-> General-> Reset menu. Then select the option to Erase Apple Watch Content and Settings.
The reset process will then instigate. After the reset, your Apple watch should restart automatically. As soon as its finished rebooting, you can proceed and start pairing your watch with your iPhone again.
Once the setup process is complete, try connecting to Wi-Fi on your Apple Watch 4 and see if it’s already working.
Is Wi-Fi still disconnecting on your Apple Watch 4 and won’t connect to Wi-Fi?
If your Apple Watch 4 still does not connect to Wi-Fi after exhausting all prior methods, chances are that the problem isn’t on your end. At this point, you can escalate the problem to your Internet service provider. There might be some temporary outages or unexpected technical difficulties on your service provider’s end that are affecting Wi-Fi networks and internet services at the moment. If that’s the case, then there’s not much can be done on your end but to wait until the outage is over and the network services resume.
To rule out hardware-related issues on your Apple Watch that might have prevented it from connecting to Wi-Fi, you can take it to the nearest Apple Genius bar for quick yet thorough assessment. Also consider bringing the iPhone that’s paired to your watch with so that it can also be examined by the technician.
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