Standalone Mode

[CHRISALLEN3285]

I'm really confused about standalone mode. Can anyone on here explain it to me. I had call forwarding turned on and I wasn't receiving any phone calls on my phone. A few of my friends said that when they tried to call me it went straight to voicemail. I spoke with an AT&T chat agent about this and she turned off call forwarding for me. She explained to me that in order for me to receive phone calls on my phone that my watch has to be in standalone mode. She also said that if I go out somewhere and I don't want to take my phone with me but I want to make and receive phone calls on my watch that my watch has to be paired/connected to my phone. Is that correct?

 

[Paul Paradis]

Which Gear S3 do you own? Is it the LTE or bluetooth version?

 

[CHRISALLEN3285]

Which Gear S3 do you own? Is it the LTE or bluetooth version?

The LTE version

 

[Paul Paradis]

Something is off about that. She's just plain wrong.

 

[CHRISALLEN3285]

Something is off about that. She's just plain wrong.

So if she's plain wrong then what's the correct answer?

 

[Bob31464]

Paul is right. What you're wanting to do is what AT&T Numbersync is for. I bought my S3 at the AT&T store and had them set it up for me. You can do it yourself through the AT&T website. Search the forums, there are others that have explained how to do this. Or, you can take it to the store, with your phone, and have them do it for you.

 

[Paul Paradis]

I just went into stand alone mode, and got calls on both the phone and watch. Then remote connected, and that works as well. Bluetooth connected I get phone if I don't answer it switches to the watch. I can also receive calls at the same time on both devices.

 

[CHRISALLEN3285]

Paul is right. What you're wanting to do is what AT&T Numbersync is for. I bought my S3 at the AT&T store and had them set it up for me. You can do it yourself through the AT&T website. Search the forums, there are others that have explained how to do this. Or, you can take it to the store, with your phone, and have them do it for you.

I bought mine at the AT&T store as well. I had it shipped to the store so they could set it up for me which they did. I have had people call me on my phone and my Gear S3 Frontier was nearby and calls didn't go to the watch. I saw a YouTube video where someone enabled call forwarding on their Gear S3 Frontier by going to the Samsung Gear app and turning call forwarding on so that's what I thought I had to do to get calls to go from my phone to the watch. I had a AT&T chat agent turn call forwarding on for me last night and when someone tried to call me today they said the call went straight to voicemail and I told her that my phone didn't even ring. I was also really confused about the two numbers. They told me that one number is my mobile phone number and the other number is just a number that was set up to add the watch to my account. I was confused as to what number to give people or tell them which number to call. I was also confused as to why my phone wasn't ringing and why calls were going straight to voicemail. I thought it had something to do with the watch. I have NumberSync turned on so if NumberSync is turned on and I want to make and receive phone calls does it matter if my phone is paired with the watch or if the watch is disconnected from my phone?

 

[jsk0703]

With numbersync enabled you can send or receive calls from either the phone or watch. This would use whatever number is assigned to your phone, not the watches number.

 

[Paul Paradis]

The watch has it's own number so it can make and receive calls on it's own just like it has an LTE connection of it's own. It shows up as the watch's number on caller ID. So, you can give people both numbers if you want.

 

[CHRISALLEN3285]

With numbersync enabled you can send or receive calls from either the phone or watch. This would use whatever number is assigned to your phone, not the watches number.

If that's the case why am I not getting phone calls on the watch? Do I have to have the watch on my wrist to get phone calls? Most of the time the watch is hooked up to the wireless charger that is plugged in over by the wall.

 

[CHRISALLEN3285]

The watch has it's own number so it can make and receive calls on it's own just like it has an LTE connection of it's own. It shows up as the watch's number on caller ID. So, you can give people both numbers if you want.

So if I'm out somewhere and I want to call a friend does the watch have to be paired/connected to my phone for me to call them or can the watch be disconnected from the phone? If I'm out somewhere and someone calls me does it matter whether my watch is paired/connected to my phone or disconnected from my phone? I just want to make sure I can make and receive phone calls and it doesn't matter if the watch is paired with my phone or the watch is disconnected from the phone. I'm getting a lot of false information from people at AT&T.

 

[Paul Paradis]

When I run, walk, hike, etc I only carry my watch. No need for the phone. That's one of the reason's I buy these things. Now the non LTE ones have to be paired. So maybe they're confused, or they're ignorant of the way these devices work.

 

[CHRISALLEN3285]

When I run, walk, hike, etc I only carry my watch. No need for the phone. That's one of the reason's I buy these things.

I bought the Gear S3 Frontier so I could use Samsung Pay on the watch since it has MST and NFC technology. I also bought the Gear S3 Frontier so I could make and receive phone calls on my watch without it having to be connected to my phone. I used to have the Apple Watch and I had Apple Pay and I hated that every time I went to a store or restaurant nobody accepted Apple Pay.

 

[afblangley]

So if I'm out somewhere and I want to call a friend does the watch have to be paired/connected to my phone for me to call them or can the watch be disconnected from the phone? If I'm out somewhere and someone calls me does it matter whether my watch is paired/connected to my phone or disconnected from my phone? I just want to make sure I can make and receive phone calls and it doesn't matter if the watch is paired with my phone or the watch is disconnected from the phone. I'm getting a lot of false information from people at AT&T.

Have you done some basic troubleshooting?
Have someone call your watch number to make sure It rings directly. Try It when BT connected and standalone. It should work in both scenarios. If it doesn't work, the watch is defective or the SIM isn't properly registered. If It works, then the problem is definitely a NumberSync setup issue.

I'm in standalone mode the majority of the time, so I know It should work, but as a GV user, I've no experience with NumberSync.

 

[TomOfTx]

saw a YouTube video where someone enabled call forwarding on their Gear S3 Frontier by going to the Samsung Gear app and turning call forwarding on so that's what I thought I had to do to get calls to go from my phone to the watch. I had a AT&T chat agent turn call forwarding on for me last night and when someone tried to call me today they said the call went straight to voicemail and I told her that my phone didn't even ring. ...........................

I have NumberSync turned on so if NumberSync is turned on and I want to make and receive phone calls does it matter if my phone is paired with the watch or if the watch is disconnected from my phone?

Which do you have turned on, call forwarding or NumberSync? You cannot have both active at the same time, nor would you want to, as NumberSync is the best option as calls to your phone will ring to your watch simultaneously and even when your phone is not nearby or turned off (AT&T users).

On your watch home screen, swipe down from the top to see the status and other settings. The second icon from the left on the bottom of this drop down menu should either be a phone icon (for call forwarding) or a # with arrows circling it (to indicate NumberSync is active). Which do you see? You may think NumberSync is active when it may not be. If call forwarding was not turned on either, then yes, any calls to you phone will not ring your watch. Sometimes NumberSync will turn off for no reason. This is why I will check this drop down menu on the watch occasionally if my watch is not connected to my phone via bluetooth.

Word of advice......do not rely on people at the AT&T store to help with your watch setup. I have yet to see a single one of these idiots who truly understands exactly how the Gear S2/S3 works, how NumberSync works, and what an e-sim in the watch is. Sad, but true. Even many of the people in technical support do not fully understand what the e-sim inside the watch is, which is downright ridiculous if you ask me. These people working in customer service and at stores need to be better trained on the devices they are selling. You do not see this level of ignorance on devices sold at an Apple store if visiting the Genius Bar.

 

[BOSSY TEXAS CHICK]

Never mind post below. I just tried it AGAIN and NOW if i am even "one inch out of range" the phone i am calling gets the watch's number... Grrrrr Sammy, ONCE again you are making it hard for me to "completely love you", there is NO denying it, you have issues!

Here is my understanding of the fact that the LTE version has its "own" number. You should NEVER have to even "know" what that number is, NOR give it to ANYBODY, NOR (if you have "remote connection" ALWAYS enabled, should ANY caller "EVER" see the watches number, "EVEN if your phone is 100 miles away and you are using the watch to call them (provided your phone is "remotely connected to gear S3 when you last left it SOMEWHERE on the planet and the phone is turned "on" communicating to "some" cell tower"...)

The watch would ONLY rely upon its “own number to make and receive calls, aIF it is unable to remotely receive a signal from your phone, (due to Gear Connection being disabled ie: phone being turned off, out of juice, or ur cat jumped on ur desk and disable bluetooth out of spite for you not being home on time to feed him (yes i have one of THOSE cats : )

I have 3 phones and have tested this thoroughly, and in my 3 weeks of ownership have never experienced a “hiccup” when moving out of range to where my phone is… I get a “quick vibration on my wrist” and the watch tells me it is “now using remote connection” … My Frontier is the T-Mobile version, not sure if that matters.

NOW getting emails & gmaill is "Hiccup City"…. Still waiting for SOMEONE to do a step by step tutorial of what EACH & EVERY setting that needs to be checked so that the you can receive email notifications BOTH places, all the time, regardless of proximity to where phone is….I will make one IF & WHEN I ever figure it all out, but that will prolly not be till the 2525 and we’ll all have chips in our head by then…lol

BTC

 

[CHRISALLEN3285]

Have you done some basic troubleshooting?
Have someone call your watch number to make sure It rings directly. Try It when BT connected and standalone. It should work in both scenarios. If it doesn't work, the watch is defective or the SIM isn't properly registered. If It works, then the problem is definitely a NumberSync setup issue.

I'm in standalone mode the majority of the time, so I know It should work, but as a GV user, I've no experience with NumberSync.

Yes I have. I had three people try to call my cell phone and all three people said the call went straight to voicemail. I haven't had anyone try to call the watch.

 

[CHRISALLEN3285]

Which do you have turned on, call forwarding or NumberSync? You cannot have both active at the same time, nor would you want to, as NumberSync is the best option as calls to your phone will ring to your watch simultaneously and even when your phone is not nearby or turned off (AT&T users).

On your watch home screen, swipe down from the top to see the status and other settings. The second icon from the left on the bottom of this drop down menu should either be a phone icon (for call forwarding) or a # with arrows circling it (to indicate NumberSync is active). Which do you see? You may think NumberSync is active when it may not be. If call forwarding was not turned on either, then yes, any calls to you phone will not ring your watch. Sometimes NumberSync will turn off for no reason. This is why I will check this drop down menu on the watch occasionally if my watch is not connected to my phone via bluetooth.

Word of advice......do not rely on people at the AT&T store to help with your watch setup. I have yet to see a single one of these idiots who truly understands exactly how the Gear S2/S3 works, how NumberSync works, and what an e-sim in the watch is. Sad, but true. Even many of the people in technical support do not fully understand what the e-sim inside the watch is, which is downright ridiculous if you ask me. These people working in customer service and at stores need to be better trained on the devices they are selling. You do not see this level of ignorance on devices sold at an Apple store if visiting the Genius Bar.

Apparently, call forwarding and NumberSync were turned on at the same time. I talked to an AT&T chat agent last night online and had them turn call forwarding off so NumberSync is the only thing that is turned on right now. Right now my watch is in standalone mode because I disconnected my watch from my phone in the Samsung Gear app. On the watch home screen when I swipe down from the top the second icon from the left on my watch is a # with arrows circling it. Yes, I've kind of figured out not to rely on people at the AT&T store or even online. All of the AT&T chat agents seem clueless because I keep getting false information. I agree with you. It is ridiculous. They do need to be trained better but they also need to stop giving false information.

 

[BOSSY TEXAS CHICK]

.....All of the AT&T chat agents seem clueless because I keep getting false information. I agree with you. It is ridiculous. They do need to be trained better but they also need to stop giving false information.

But they aren't entirely to blame, If i were an AT&T person i'd be telling my Manager, "Sorry, i don't have a degree in quantum mechanics, i'll TRY to help out our customers, but i'm at a little bit of a deficit here, THIS IS HARRRRRRD!"

Would it KILL Tizen designers to put all options in one dang place with each option THOROUGHLY explained?! (For ppl who do not need their "hand held" it could just remain a little "info" button for each feature that could be opened/collapsed...)

Good gravy, the watch is supposed to be the "SMART one, not me.. i never claimed to have a "brain in my head, which is why i'm using "smart" phones/watches in the FIRST place... I don't like to work this hard to understand ANYTHING....

I was so completely "over the moon" about this purchase, but gotta admit, when all of a sudden you notice you haven't gotten any emails and then spend 6 hours, countless searches, give up, try next day, do another exhaustive search, then find the software is glitchy or there is no "true set up" instructions anywhere to be found, or its working, THEN its not, or ONLY working under a set of conditions that is ONLY apparent to The Great Smartwatch G*d up in the sky and NO ONE ELSE, my appreciation of it begins to dwindle, & it becomes hard to recommend this watch to people.

BTC