AT&T Gear s3 remote connection issues

[dlyonsl]

Apparently a number of people are having remote connection issues with their Gear s3. I was having issues where my Gear s3 would go to stand alone when turned on. I was also seeing it go from connected remotely to stand alone for no apparent reason. I finally noticed a common factor. If I was carrying my Galaxy Note 4 with the Bluetooth turned off the remote connection would work just fine on the Gear s3 until I turned the phone off. As soon as the phone went off the s3 would go to stand alone mode even though the phone and watch had no Bluetooth connection. As far as I can see the only way this can happen is if AT&T is somehow linking the phone and watch through the cellular connection so that the watch knows if the phone is on or off. When the watch somehow senses the phone is off it drops to stand alone and when the phone turns on it goes to "connected remotely to AT&T". Anyone else seen this? The phone doesn't need to be anywhere close by, just turned on. I hate to leave the phone on all day just to have the s3 remote connection to AT&T working. Any suggestions?

 

[afblangley]

The phone must remain on. If the phone is off, it can't connect with watch. If there is no communication between devices, the watch is on its own (standalone). It has nothing to do with AT&T (or T-Mobile). My phone doesn't even have a SIM card, it's connected only via my home WiFi. I keep BT off on the watch, so it's permanently remotely connected to the phone. Still, the connection can be flakey. Several times it has become broken and unable to remotely connect. This was fixed by doing a soft reset. Since the latest upgrade, it seems to be a bit more stable.