smart watch connection to O2 wifi

[cam2424fg]

Hi there,
I can connect my Android phone to O2 wifi (in Sainsbury's) and sign in to O2,
but when I connect to it with my Android smartwatch it immediately says "cannot sign in to this network".  Does anybody know what the difference is ?
A setting ?  It's a Samsung Galaxy watch 6
Thanks, Cameron

[MI5]

@cam2424fg 

The watch is only capable of connecting to your phone, not any other external data connections.

[madasaf1sh]

@cam2424fg 

Because the watch wont authenticate via the method required by the o2 wifi network, so your watch cant sign in to the network. 

[cam2424fg]

Thank you madasaf1sh that's good to know. 
My watch connects to other wifi networks using WPA/WPA2. 
Do you know what O2 wifi requires instead ?

[madasaf1sh]

@cam2424fg 

It doesnt use WPA/WPA2, it uses the sim card to authenticate, which Smart Watches dont have the ability to use as the functionality from memory is not built in.. 

[cam2424fg]

why would O2 wifi require a SIM to authenticate when the reason that O2 provides public wifi
is for devices not to need to use a SIM ?

[madasaf1sh · Accepted solution]

Because you are an o2 customer and it simplifies the authentication journey for o2 customers... If you arent an o2 customer then it pops up with a login page that asks for personal data, which you cant fill in from your watch...  

The reason retailers and other venues provide o2 wifi is to provide a Value added service, and from the data I have seen on the place I work's deployment is no one connects from anything but mobile phones, and also its a way to collect customer data, and flow through the store... 

If you work at Sainsburys then you shouldnt be using o2 wifi, but the colleague wifi...

[cam2424fg]

Thanks again madasaf1sh, great explaination.

So my watch (which isn't an O2 customer since it hasn't got a SIM) connects to the O2 wifi which tries to open a login pop-up on my watch which it can't do, then either my watch or O2 realises it has failed and gives the message "cannot sign in to this network".
It would be nice if O2 used a different way to authenticate instead of a pop-up, though I can't think what.  Perhaps a watch app which syncs with O2 account data on the phone..?

[madasaf1sh]

To be fair that is how a lot of hotspots work, and it hasnt changed in over 10 years or so... and it seems to work for 99% of users.. 

I did it in Lidl the other day, the phone came up with a POP up, to sign after it had connected to the network, and we do the same in my workplace with guest wifi.. 

I think the use case is so niche it wont happen @cam2424fg