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Apple Watch Series 5 Migration

garethr
12: Established
12: Established

So just wanted to actually compliment Vodafone for once!

 

Received my new Apple Watch Series 5 along with my 11 Pro yesterday and I must confess I was dreading trying to get the data plan working with the new phone and watch. Last year with the Series 4 it took a good three months and the involvement of the executive office team to get it working correctly. Not a process I wanted to repeat. 

The process I followed was straightforward:

 

1. Setup the new phone (restored from an iCloud backup). I did not include pairing the existing Apple Watch at this point. 
2. Unpaired the existing watch from the old phone - it is critical to select the 'keep data plan' option though. 
3. Paired the existing Apple Watch with the new phone - it detected the data plan immediately and restored from the backup which gets taken when unpairing. I confirmed the data plan was still active and working. 
4. Then unpaired the watch from the new phone again - and again be sure to select 'keep data plan'. 
5. Begin the pairing process with the new watch. On trying to configure the data plan I got a message about already having a secondary number in this one number plan.
6. A quick call to Vodafone CS pointed me in the direction of my account online where I could perform a selve service eSim swap. I entered the new Watch's EID and confirmed the swap.
7. Within around 10 minutes the swap happened and the data plan activated. No reboots required. All very painless.

 

Steps 3 and 4 probably weren't really necessary but I wanted to be sure the data plan would activate with the new phone and price plan.  

A few general observations though - the advisor knew exactly the correct process, appeared knowledgeable and even correctly called the Watch an 'Apple Watch' rather than the totally incorrect and cheesy 'iWatch'.
Seems things have evolved considerably after the pain of last year and the whole One Number and eSim setup seems much more mature.

So, for once, well done Vodafone!

10 REPLIES 10

BandOfBrothers
17: Community Champion
17: Community Champion

Fantastic to hear the agent looked after you @garethr 

 

And thank you for taking the time to write a tutorial that worked for you. 

 

I'm sure this will help others seeking for this type of support.

 

How are you finding the iPhone 11 Pro and watch may I ask  ?

Current Phone  >

Samsung Galaxy s²³ Ultra 512gb Phantom Black.

 

 

Loving the always on with the watch. It's one of those things you never knew you needed until you have it!

 

The phone is great too. I've actually downsized from an XS Max to an 11 Pro. I loved the screen size on the Max but in anything less than controlled environments the Max was just too unwieldy.  The new ultra wide lens on the 11 is just brilliant. 

Loz
Moderator (Retired)
Moderator (Retired)

Great news @garethr! I'm pleased you've had this great experience with us and it's great to hear you're enjoying your Apple Watch now it's all up and running for you! We apprecaite you taking the time to provide this information on our Forum and to tell us about your journey! We're always here if you need anything else at all 😊

LeeBfc
4: Newbie

What’s the first time procedure like? This will be my first Apple Watch with Vodafone. My new series 5 arrived yesterday although I had to return it due to being faulty 😡 new one arriving next week 

garethr
12: Established
12: Established

First time procedure should be straightforward and can be done through the watch setup - you'll get directed to a Vodafone webview where you log into your online account and sign up for the additional One Number secondary number on the account. I'd like to think given the swap process was straightforward that they've ironed out the kinks in this process.

Last year it took interventions from the EO team, and a dedicated technical team to get it resolved. On the upside I was reasonably well compensated for the hassle though.

 Good. Before I realised the fault I had already got to stage to add mobile data then said needed to call 191 which I did advisor told me this should be active by Monday. Obviously not now with waiting for replacement but does that sound normal procedure? 

garethr
12: Established
12: Established

If it all works normally then you shouldn't ever need to contact CS at all. 

In your account do you see a secondary number setup and has your plan changed to mention One Number?

If so then when you get the new watch, set it up (including data which will fail), then log into your account and perform an eSim swap using the EID of the new device. 

When you unpaired the faulty watch did you choose the 'keep plan' or 'remove plan' option?

I just unpaired on my iPhone took it to my local store then they logged it as a cancellation /fault and ordered me a new one so will get given a new additional number for the watch before activating one number 

jdashberry
2: Seeker
2: Seeker

If you don't mind me asking, how long did you wait for your watch and phone to be delivered? 

 

I got a Vodafone sim only a week and a bit ago purely because 3 (who I was with) don't offer Apple Watch plans. So far, the Vodafone network has been far from impressive even compared to 3 - much slower and drops out a lot more. I only get 14 days to cancel this if I'm unhappy, and if the watch arrives after that 14 days if the combined Vodafone sim and watch plan isn't good enough, then I'm up a certain creek without a paddle.