[Apple Watch] Unable to Check for Update - Not connected to the internet error

Apple please mark this answer as the correct solution. Originally provided by Beem355i, no thanks to you guys!!!!


I finally fixed it, guys! This is what I did to get it to finally update...
Hard reset apple watch > when the apple logo shows hold down the button next to the crown and hold for 30 seconds > select erase all settings and content.
After watch resets > power down the watch do not hard reset, move the power slider to the right you might have to put in your wrist to do that and then put it back on the charger.
On your iPhone sign out of iCloud completely > go to settings > general > scroll down > shut down iphone (do not hard reset)
Power up Watch and then your iPhone > sign into iCloud/AppleID
Start the pairing process > it should say your watch is now paired > select update > it will give you the update error again saying no internet but let it sit for a minute > boom it will start updating the watch. Headache is GONE hopefully!
Hope this works for everyone because after trying everything these are the steps that I took you might have to try a few times but mine worked the very first try. 

Cheers!! 

@AmartinV solution helped me. The manual setup was what made the difference! Thank you.

TURN OFF YOUR CELLULAR DATA

Just purchased a mint condition used Series 5 watch and had this issue while trying to pair with iPhone 8+ running 14.1.5. Tried all steps mentioned here including a 45 minute conversation with Apple Support. Discovered other user(s) here mentioning Cellular Data. I turned it off and the update instantly loaded.

Try it!

Hi I'm running IOS 14 in my IphoneX. I finally solved this problem after 3 months.

Here are my tips:

Apple Watch

1. Reset your watch (When apple logo appears hold the button -not the crown- as long as the options (reset apple watch) appear and change it back to factory settings)

2. Change your language to english

3. Change your region to Australia (But my region is in the Philippines)

Iphone

1. Hard Set your phone

2. Change your own region to other country (Australia) and change it back again to your own country then reset your phone.

3. Turn off Auto lock screen settings.

4. When you paired your watch and it is currently activating, a small window will show up and it will not pop again this will be very fast. try tapping your phone in the button which says update so that it will continue the update.

SO...

After many weeks of having a dead-beat Apple Watch I finally got the update to work without prompting me to connect to the internet. It took going through most of these responses here and combining suggestions. Here's what worked for me (copy&pasted from posts):

Hard reset & wipe all content from the watch.

You do this by:

• Turning off the watch completely from the side Botton below the digital crown.

• Turn it back on, and when you see the apple logo pop up, press and hold the same Botton for 30+ second until it asks to wipe all content of the Apple Watch.

Shut down Watch again. (Do not hard reset)

Hard reset the phone.

Steps are:
Press Volume Up and let go.
Press Volume Down and let go.
Press and hold the side button.
NOTE*: This does not wipe any data from your phone"

Once powered back up, sign out of iCloud completely. Go to settings > click on your name > scroll all the way to bottom and click sign out. **This was nerve-racking, but will NOT erase any information from your phone! 

Once signed out of iCloud, shut down phone again (do not hard reset). Go to settings > general > shut down iPhone.

Power up Watch and place on charger. 

Power up iPhone > sign into iCloud/AppleID 

On iPhone, make a Network Reset. *This was the step that finally made the difference! Go to settings > wifi > the “i” next to the network you’re connected to > “forget this network”

Connect back to your wifi network and enter your password. 

Go to the watch app and start the pairing process. ** Make sure to press the option to do it manually and enter the sequence of numbers displayed on the Apple Watch. 

From there it asked me to go through with a software update - and success!

Godspeed ya'll.

Thanks @AmartinV, I tried your steps, the most important step is to "pair manually", then problem solved!

So I tried all of the advice in here. What finally worked was uninstalling and reinstalling the Watch app.

***** Apple. They want $199 to fix my watch. The issue is their IOS! I’ve tried everything and will continue trying different things but this is BS.

I fixed that issue with a simple step!
I got my new watch and same thing happened.

Then I remembered I have split my WIFI bands to 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz

I checked my router setting and realised that
my phone was connected to 5Ghz and watch automatically connected to 2.4Ghz.

This caused them thinking I have no internet connection.

So I switched off 5Ghz on router and it went on with installing update straight away!

After trying everything which was described here and on other forums I finally made it work, and I am soooo angry with Apple!

First I should say that most probably there are different issues which may cause this problem with the internet connection (wi-fi bands, ios compatability, real connection issues at least).

I had this issue pairing iPhone 11 and iWatch 3 which was not used for ~ a year. First I tried the accepted answer, then I tried Beem355i's tutorial for multiple times. Then I tried updated Beem355i's tutorials from other users here. I also read other forums, I finally contacted Apple.

After several questions I was provided a reply that this happens when I have a too low iOS on my watch (5) and too high iOS on my phone (14). So I need to find a device with iOS 12, pair my watch, update its iOS, unpair, and then I will be able to pair it with my iPhone 11. How would you rate the ridiculousness of the situation? Of course, I don't have an old iPhone, so they suggested me to take the watch to a service center. I googled it, and they ask for 250$ for the repair!!

I was desperate, I decided that sometime later when we are back to normal (afterCovid) daily working routine, I would ask around in the office if smn has iOS12 or earlier device and is ready to help me.

My final decision was to read through all the posts here, and I found the one from @mochimilk:

I tried absolutely everything to get my watch to pair and I was about at my wits end; but all I had to do was change my region to Canada on my phone and watch and it started to update. Such a pain! Hope it works for all of you as well.

I tried it too, I changed from Austria to Canada, and it worked! Now my watch is in the process of update. It is definitely a software limitation, worst of all it is based on your chosen region...

So if all the guides do not work for you, try changing the region. I am not sure if just changing the region alone works, because I have tried any other possible steps (even resetting wi-fi) before this change, but anyway, there is hope. Keep trying.

I managed to solve this issue as well now. I tried all the weird solutions listed in this thread but none of them worked. What did actually solve it in the end was to just charge the watch before attempting to do the update. I'm pretty sure the actual solution for all previous posts in this thread isn't the actual resets etc they've done, but just that they've had the watch in the charger during the procedure so the battery has eventually reached its 50% and therefore been able to start the update.

The real bug here is the UX of the Watch app on the phone that doesn't tell you this but instead lets you think it's due to a network failure.

@apple please update the UX in the watch app so we get a proper message about this, it would have saved myself and tons of other people around the world a lot of frustration.

And again, for everyone struggling with this, just leave the watch on the charger for 1-2 hours to get it fully charged, and attempt the update again and it should work.

reset the watch as follows

1. switch off the watch.
2. hold power button for 30 sec
3. clear all settings will appear. Click on that.
4. turn off the watch.

Iphone steps

1. sign out from cloud
2. power off

final steps

1. power on watch

2.power on phone 3.remove battery saver mode from phone-- IMPORTANT 4.start pairing watch . 5. After pairing click on update software. and there you go buddy.

I just can't believe myself , I tried all the normal options like resetting and Icloud signout and all as stated in the thread but nothing worked.

Then as other said , I thought of trying the most weird option of chaanging location and language to the one you are not currently in --> I changed my Language to Portuguese and Location to Afghanistan --> BOOMMMMMMMMMMM ---> It worked and started downloading the latest updates....

I would recommend below steps -

1 - Reset Apple Watch by holding for 30 Seconds and then erase all settings. 2- Sign Out from iCloud On your Phone. 3- Now start Apple Watch BUT Please dont Sign In into iCloud. Let it remain Signout. 4 - Now --> Change Language to Portuguese and Location to Afghanistan 5 - When it ask you to pair --> Click on Pair Manually.

and hopefully you will see that the update will start downloading 😃

This is so frustrating. I’ve literally tried every single solution offered here yet still having the issue. @apple help!!!!!

I solved this issue by uninstalling the Watch app from my iphone and reloading it. After reloading the app I paired the watch to the phone and the update started loading.

I’ve tried all solutions and none of them unfortunately work for me please help

Hi. I was trying to pair a brand new series 3 to iPhone 12 with iOS 14.6. My problem was solved by following these steps.

1. make sure both devices are charging.
2. general > redefine > redefine network

I will say one thing today was a frustrating day trying to get the watch to pair for a few hours. Finally I have success. My fix is the same as many but it took only one try when I changed the Country and Language. I decided to use language Portuguese, and country Afghanistan. It worked. so mad I could not see straight. But success, hope it works for you. It will.

I spent a lot of time on this and try all, the methods mentioned (changing language and country, hard resetting the watch, the phone the network, using 2.4 Ghz wi-fi, logging off and on iCloud on my phone, updating in low battery mode, airplane on of and leaving the watch on charger for a night, using spare clean iPhone 6Plus for pairing, and many else I do not even remember now). Finally I went into my phone's current wi-fi settings and changed the DNS (settings ->wi-fi ->currently used wi-fi name scrolled down to DNS and changed automatic to manual and set it to cloudflare's 1.1.1.1 and 1.0.0.1) after saving the changes and restarting the pairing process again the phone immediately found an update and started downloading.

Hope it helps some of you

Apple Watch 3, iPhone 11Pro w/ iOS 14.6 - nothing works to update the watch and make it a usable device, it's basically a dud now. I've tried resetting the iPhone and trying to update the watch in different language. No dice!

this is beyond frustrating!! For such an expensive device, there has to be away to fix this issue? @cousinvinny, have you had any luck since posting that? How upsetting.

For anyone still looking at this in 2021, I have spent hours today with this error constantly looping back. After trying all the suggested fixes on this forum.

weirdly enough I clicked on the change language option, set to UK (which it was already on)

it then gave me a option to pair the device, once paired this time it continued to download the update for the OS

hope this helps anyone, I would recommend trying all fixes on this page including this one. As different fixes have worked for different people

Beem335i's answer worked for me as well! Thank you!!

Make sure your watch is on the charger before you pair/check for update. The update will not start if the watch is not on the charger. Try restarting phone and watch, and then (once the watch is on the charger) pair and select update. It should begin the update.

I'm having the same issue. Trying to update a series 4 watch on an iPhone XS Max on ios14.6. Keeps saying I'm not connected to internet or the update is stuck on "Paused". This is why Apple is utter garbage