Apple Watch pairing error

[JonathanB]

Hi everyone,

We've moved everything relating to Apple Watch pairing issues to this new conversation and will be providing all future updates as edits to this post, so that you won't need to go searching through the comments for these.

I appreciate these pairing errors must be very frustrating, especially for those of you that have been running into issues for several weeks now. Technical specialists are continuing to look into this, however based on what they've seen so far, this does not seem to be one overall fault that we can apply a blanket fix to.

With this in mind, please make sure you have followed the advice on the private message we've sent to each of you, this will ensure that your individual case has been escalated. We've originally sent these messages out a couple of weeks ago, so I'll double check that everyone that has commented has received these. You can find your community messages by clicking on your avatar in the top right of any page, then on "Messages".

Finally, please ensure you are following the Community House Rules when posting on the community, particularly points 8 and 13.

The private message mentioned above will put you in touch with a team that you can raise a complaint with should you wish to do so, any comments that share details of individual Three employees will be removed from the community.

JonathanB

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**Update 26/10/2022**

Hi everyone,

We really appreciate your patience whilst we've been working on this issue. I can't imagine how frustrating it is to not be able to take full advantage of your Apple watches.

As I mentioned last week above, the errors do not seem to be one overall fault that can be fixed immediately for everyone. We do need a specialist team to do some work in the background on your accounts. With this in mind, I'd advise the following:

• Make sure you've taken any action we've recommended on private messages to your community account. If you're experiencing these issues and we don't already know, please reply on this post so we can reach out.
• Do not repeatedly attempt unpairing and pairing, this may be interfering with the work done in the background. Please wait for a Three representative to contact you and advise before you unpair and pair again.

We've seen some great progress towards getting this sorted in the last few days, I'm hopeful that it won't be too much longer till this issue is fully resolved for everyone.

JonathanB

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**Update 17/11/2022**

 Hi everyone,

We’re really sorry that there’s been a considerable delay between updates on the errors with Apple watch pairing. As we’ve mentioned previously there is more than one error involved and specialist teams are working hard to address the root causes of these.

I assure you that all comments about this issue are read, and all feedback given is being escalated on a daily basis.

Whilst we’re working on this, we’d be grateful if you can do the following:

• If you’re new to this thread, please either private message me, or add a reply, and I’ll direct you to a team that can help further.
• If I’ve already sent you this information, please ensure you have spoken to that team.
• Please only unpair and re-pair your watch if directed to by one of our support teams as part of the troubleshooting and investigation of your issue.

I’ll provide another update soon.

Thanks,
JonathanB

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**Update 02/12/2022**

Hi everyone,

Thanks for your continued patience. We’ve seen some great progress towards resolving these issues since the last update. As I’ve mentioned previously there is more than one error involved, and for many of you, your bill cycle will also affect when you can successfully re-pair the service.

Here’s some general steps that should help with common scenarios we’re seeing.

• Ensure that you’ve registered for My3, without a registered online account and password set, the pairing will fail.
• There are some instances where special characters at the start of My3 passwords have resulted in an error. We recommend that you have a strong password that is a combination of upper and lower case letters, numbers, and special characters but avoid beginning the password with characters like /!”£$|\. My3 supports these, but it seems to be causing an issue when this info is passed onto the smartwatch pairing system.
• If you’ve changed your priceplan, upgraded, or are instructed to wait for your bill cycle to complete, you should wait till the day after your new bill cycle starts to attempt pairing. So for example, if your allowances refresh on the 1st, wait till the 2nd.
• Although individual smartwatches can be unpaired from your account, cancelling or removing the add on completely will delay being able to reinstate the service till the following bill cycle.
• As mentioned before, don’t repeatedly unpair and re-pair, the failed requests may cause further issues on your account that delay this being solved.
• I’m continuing to regularly check for anyone new on the thread, just send a reply or private message me, and I’ll link you in with a support team that can help get your specific error looked into and make sure you get the best advice.

Thanks,
JonathanB

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**Update 11/01/2023**

Hi Everyone,

As well as the steps on the last update, we're finding it helps to clear your temporary data from your iPhone before attempting pairing.

You can do this in Settings, Safari, Clear History & Website Data.

In case anyone is having trouble finding their private messages, click on your avatar image in the top right of any community page, then "Messages". If you've posted on this thread, then you should have a message waiting from me with a link to a support team that will help.

Thanks,
JonathanB

[Cpbasso]

Well over a month now since first getting in touch with issues. Numerous calls lately from the technical team, numerous failed fixes. My most recent call today has apparently passed my problem to the back end support team who will be looking into it. They gave absolutely no time frame for this though and I’ve been told to just wait indefinitely until they eventually get round to me.

[tdg]

Please help.  
‘There’s a problem one of the fields is missing’.

Bottleneck, have admissible password and have cleared most recent cookies etc.  
Many thanks!

[Lukeapricey]

Nobody cares at three.  I think I’ve been written off/blacklisted 😂.  Three have even ignored my complaint case.  My next move is to escalate the complaint myself, get three to admit they are unable to solve my problem and that they have made mistakes dealing with my queries - in writing and then I can escalate the complaint to the communications ombudsman.  After being with three for over a decade I’m finally done with them.  I just want out, I have a year left on my contract but I’m prepared to buy myself out of it now.  The customer service is just appalling.  

[Steven-Apple]

Any help all I’m getting is this message, I was able to activate it the other day but was stuck on activation and didn’t come looking before attempting to try again  

[davec]

I'm in the same position as Steven, I've followed all the instructions in the main post and I spent ages trying to get it working with the support team on chat.  I've waited until a new billing cycle and still not working.  It's really frustrating, I've been without service for over a month.  I had no issues setting up a plan when on vodafone.

[FireVR]

Hi guys.

Saying I am frustrated doesn’t quite do it justice. I read instructions on the three website before my watch arrived. Instructions seemed simple enough and elsewhere on their website I also read that activation can take up to 30 minutes.

Therefore, following instructions to the letter, I first had the “missing field” issue. However, I solved that by copying and pasting my details into the text boxes and then adding a space at the end of my username and then deleting it. I did the same for my password. I believe this may be an Apple and webpage compatibility issue because often pasting or using autofill appears as if websites haven’t detected these inputs and require some typing before they will. I believe this will be an algorithmic issue where systems check each character for compliance as it is typed into a text field.

Based on the “up to 30 minutes” advice, I finally decided to quit and try again after waiting nearly the entire day. I now have the well documented “There is an Error” message. I have followed all the different advice on this forum and so far nothing has worked for me at all. Additionally, I have toggled on and off private relay, my vpn, WiFi and mobile data to see if the connection type might be to blame. Sadly, nothing has gotten me past the dreaded and all to common error message and I’m running out of ideas.

I am growing more suspicious of Three’s internal practices because many of us are being charged for this and I wonder if the Apple Watch service wasn’t fully ready but a decision was made to accept all customers anyway and pocket their cash until it is.

Moreover, if you miss a bill payment, rather than make it easier to settle up, Three make it harder by blocking access to their app forcing you to call and pay which often causes delays. Late fees and the interest mounts up for users but I imagine the accumulation of profits that this would raise for Three is significant. I think it may be time to contact the ombudsman especially if this isn’t explained or solved imminently.

[rodmarso]

Hi FireVR,

We are in the same boat.

I am getting the 'There's a problem' message all the time.

I didn't wait the 30 minutes and cancelled the process as well, that was the big mistake.

I should have left it trying, some people here in this forum got this working after 24 hours!

That is not as excuse, the Three Apple watch activation system is a terrible application.

If that doesn't activate in the first try and you cancel it, it will never activate!

Some people here got the Apple Watch plan cancelled and they managed to have another go with Three or moved to EE, which worked straight away.

I am fighting to have my Apple Watch plan cancelled with Three, so I can try it again or move Service Provider.

Three said it will take 1 month to cancel my Apple Watch plan, I am waiting until 22nd of November now.

Good luck and let me know if you find another way to fix this.

I have some technical acknowledgement, I have offered Three to run a debug or log system on my iPhone/Apple watch to help and troubleshoot this issue. However, it looks like Three doesn't have a technician with that skill to work on this, which is a shame.

Regards,

Rodrigo

[rodmarso]

I also have a case with the ombudsman opened.

[FireVR]

Hi Guys,

I took a look at my iPhone’s console while I tried to set up my mobile service. Here are the (ironically) three errors that I found. I am no expert but I am a bit of a nerd so I have included a short description of each:

1. **Connection reset by peer**:
This error occurs when the remote server (the "peer") sends a TCP reset packet to your device. A TCP reset packet is sent by a device to immediately abort the current TCP connection. This can happen for several reasons, such as:
- The server is restarting.
- The server is overloaded and cannot handle more connections.
- A firewall or other security tool is blocking the connection and forcibly closing it.
- There is a mismatch in the communication protocol between the client and the server.

2. **Failed to get peer state (status = -536870212)**:
This message suggests that an attempt to retrieve the status or state of a peer (another device or service in the network) has failed. The numerical code is likely an error code specific to the system or application that generated it, which can be used for troubleshooting by the developers or technical support team.

3. **Operation failed (sel: 57 ret: e00002bc)**:
This line indicates that an operation has failed within the system, possibly related to security or key management (as indicated by "AppleSEPKeyStore"). The "sel" and "ret" parts are likely referring to a selector (a kind of command or function in the code) and a return value, respectively. The return value is in hexadecimal format, which could correspond to a specific error code.

These network-related errors could be symptomatic of transient issues with the network (like a temporary service disruption), problems with the iPhone's connection to the network, or possibly more systemic issues that might require troubleshooting by the service provider (Three Mobile in our case) or Apple.

In the context of setting up cellular service for your Apple Watch, such network issues could prevent the necessary data exchange between your iPhone, your carrier, and Apple's servers from completing successfully. As these errors are consistent and not just one-off occurrences, it would suggest that Three or Apple are at fault. Apple do not appear to have many issues with other networks and therefore I would suggest that Three consider these errors. Reproducing these errors from customer descriptions alone is likely tricky but if engineers have more direct access to their own network protocols may differ. If security and connection protocols are not the same it may be impossible to replicate these issues but I imagine they would have thought of this.

I hope this helps in some way because it is becoming more frustrating after receiving a £900 watch and being unable to use one of its most desirable features.

Rodrigo,

I feel your pain, I too have looked into leaving but I have been with Three for over a decade and can't top my package anywhere else. I have found one plan with EE which comes close but it is a PAYG and I lose certain features, not to mention I don't believe that it is possible to pair a watch on PAYG. Coincidently, I came back here having run the console and saw your message. Maybe together we can find a workaround but in any case, I would be keen to get your thoughts on my points above. I am no expert, a jack of all and master of none when it comes to IT. I am currently teaching myself to code Python and Swift mostly having learned HTML and CSS a long time ago but haven't kept up-to-date with it. So I will try my best to keep up with you if you do have any thoughts but be gentle with me I am a newbie. Thanks again.

Rich. 

[rodmarso]

Hi FireVR,

Thanks for you reply and well explained e-mail.

We need somebody technical from Three to analyse those logs, but my first impression would be:

1. **Connection reset by peer**:

RS: Three service provider is resetting the connection, but this is a generic message from Apple device, Three should be able to see what they are receiving and replying from their side.

2. **Failed to get peer state (status = -536870212)**:

RS: I agree, this code could be helpful if we have somebody technical from Three side looking on it.

3. **Operation failed (sel: 57 ret: e00002bc)**:

RS: Again, another code that Three should be able to troubleshoot and work with Apple to discover the root cause.

For those errors messages and tentatives, have you tried the Apple watch pairing running only on 4G, with the Wifi disabled?

I have noticed the Mobile data must be enabled for the Apple Watch pairing, otherwise it will fail before the 'There's a problem' message.

Regards,

Rodrigo