The Nintendo Switch is one of the best-selling consoles on the market. The main reason for that when using the Switch, it’s very easy for you to connect to it using wifi, and use it away from your bedroom or home. You still can’t watch Netflix on Switch, but I’m sure that’ll change soon enough.
If the Wi-Fi’s good enough, you can even use it when you’re travelling too. However, in some cases, you might actually have problems connecting your Switch to the wifi. This can be for a couple of different reasons, and there are various different solutions to the problem too.
We’re going to look at all the key ones so you can get back to doing what you love; whether that be talking to your friendly cute animal neighbours in Animal Crossing or punching similarly cute animals and characters across the Battlefield in Smash Bros.
Nintendo Switch not connecting to wifi
If you can’t connect to the wifi on your Switch, you can consider resetting both your Switch and your home router too. You’ll also want to make sure that nothing’s blocking your connection too.
There’s also a small chance that the issue may actually be with Nintendo. if the Nintendo Online network is down, then there’s not much you can do about that, unfortunately. It’s worth checking online beforehand to make sure.
Sometimes, this kind of issue can happen suddenly when you update your Nintendo Switch console. It’s much better if it does happen randomly, as it means that it could be a bug in a recent firmware update that’s caused your wi-fi problem.
Plus, you usually search for wifi with the Network settings panel by pressing the wifi button. Make sure that you’ve given this a try as well. If you’re sure that it isn’t a problem with Nintendo, then read on to see how else you might fix your Switch.
Connecting to home wifi only
Things are a little bit easier if you’re on the home network. If you are, then you can check out all of the different solutions below. If you’re on a public network, then things might be a little bit more difficult for you to resolve.
The bad news about a public network is you have much less control over the wifi signal. The good news is that there are still a few things that you can do to fix your Switch’s wifi troubles.
Restarting your home router
Of course, you won’t be able to do this option if you’re trying to connect to public wifi. Without access to the router itself, things are a little bit more difficult.
But if you’re trying to use your Nintendo Switch at home and you can’t connect, then the first thing to do is reset your internet. When you reset your router, you’re actually doing two things.
First, you’re clearing out all of your router’s memory. This means that everything it’s currently doing is disappearing. And secondly, the knock-on effect of this is that it’ll clear out all of its current tasks.
So if it’s stuck trying to connect your new devices, then resetting it and trying again should work – assuming there’s nothing else at play here. This is the first thing I’d do if you’re trying to connect to your home wifi.
Restart your Switch
It doesn’t matter what console you’re using – when you encounter problems, one of the first things that you should try is turning the device off and on again.
And this is definitely the case for the Nintendo Switch. It could just be a minor bug that’s stopping you from connecting to the internet. And if you turn your Switch off, then it should get rid of this completely.
Because it’s so easy to do, it’s worth trying, no matter what. Turn your Switch off for a few seconds, then turn it back on again and try to connect.
Run any updates
The Switch is a console that relies on regular updates to keep it working properly. These updates are designed to fix any small flaws that may occur with the console, as well as introduce anything new that Nintendo has been working on.
If you don’t update your Switch for a while, then there’s the potential that it could cause you some problems. One of the could be connecting to a wifi network to use the internet.
So, ensuring that your switch is fully updated is something very simple to do. And it’s definitely worth doing if you want to ensure that it’s not stopping your Switch connecting to the wifi.
Distance and interference
The distance between you and the wifi you’re accessing is going to be a factor is the quality of your connection. Not only this, but it’ll dictate whether you’re able to connect to the wifi at all.
If you’re at home, then it’s easy for you to move closer to your router. Or in some scenarios, it may make sense for you to move your router closer to your device. Metal objects are often a killer for this, so make sure that there’s nothing between your Switch and the router.
You could also consider a wifi booster, which can help spread the signal around your house. If you’re getting an error code when your Switch won’t connect to the internet, then it could be a lack of signal.
In public, you can also move closer to the source of the wifi network too. You’ll also want to think about any public devices that may be causing interference between you and the network. The most common one for this is phones, which could be stopping your Switch from accessing the wifi.
Conclusion
In conclusion, these are just a few of the best ways you can try and connect your Nintendo Switch to wifi. For the most part, the Switch is actually relatively good with a wireless connection, though it’s much more reliable if you have high bandwidth.
In a last resort scenario, you may want to think about factory resetting your Switch. This will delete all of the data on your device, so make sure you think this through beforehand. The last thing you want to do is delete all of your saves without realising it.
