So you’re trying to connect your Nintendo Switch to your hotspot but it’s refusing to connect. Your Nintendo Switch is meant to be portable.
But if you can’t connect it to your mobile hotspot, it’s hard to take advantage of its convenience. Don’t fret when your Switch’s Wifi acts up!
I was struggling to get my Switch to connect to my mobile hotspot, so I did some research, and I found some solutions that worked for me.
Why Won’t My Nintendo Switch Connect to My Wi-Fi Hotspot?
The Nintendo Switch won’t connect to a hotspot that has special characters as the password. To connect your Switch to a hotspot, change the hotspot’s password to only letters. You can also try connecting to the hotspot by manually entering the hotspot’s SSID and network information.
Looking to buy a Nintendo Switch? Buy on Amazon. I loved the Nintendo Switch so much, I added it to the list of my favourite products.
How to Manually Connect to Hotspot with Nintendo Switch
When your Nintendo Switch won’t connect to your hotspot (or Wifi network) most of the time manually entering the Wifi details on your Switch will force it to connect. I also found this solution to work when your Switch doesn’t even find your hotspot on the list of Wifi networks.
Here’s what you need to do:
- Start a hotspot on your phone (keep the name and password easy to input)
- Power on the Switch
- Open System Settings
- Select Internet
- Scroll down to the bottom and choose Manual Setup.
- Fill in the network details from your phone’s hotspot. Make sure the SSID is an exact match
- Set IP address and DNS settings to automatic
- Attempt to connect. It should connect after a few seconds.
If this fails, open your mobile device and head to your device’s settings. Click on mobile hotspot, and edit your Wi-Fi hotspot’s “Network Name”, also known as its SSID. Your new SSID should not include any numbers or special characters. That means if your current SSID is “Joe’s Phone”, change it to “Joe’s Phone” without the apostrophe.
Moreover, you can edit your hotspot’s password to make sure you only include letters like you did with your SSID.
Follow Nintendo’s official network guide for more information.
Change Hotspot Frequency from 5 GHz to 2.4 GHz
Another solution is to change your hotspot’s Wifi band to 2.4 GHz. Most of the time the default is 2.4 GHz but some newer phones automatically broadcast at 5 GHz.
If you use Android, switch your “Band” to 2.4 GHz, even if it says that other bands provide better performance.
Nintendo Switch Won’t Connect to iPhone Hotspot
If you use an iOS device, the solution is similar to the one for Android. The procedure on your Nintendo Switch is identical. Simply fill in the hotspot network details into the manual connection field.
To change your SSID and password on your iOS device, open your device’s settings. Then, click “Cellular” and click “Personal Hotspot”. Now, you’ll have the option to edit your Wi-Fi password. Use letters exclusively, no numbers or special characters.
To edit your device’s name and therefore your SSID to make it compatible with your Switch. Go back to your iPhone’s settings, click “General”, click “About” and click “Name” at the top. Now, you can edit your name. Remove any numbers or special characters.
After you enter these new details on your Switch, save your changes and connect to the hotspot.
Keep Your iPhone Hotspot Settings Open
Another tip you can try to keep the iPhone’s hotspot settings open while you attempt to connect the Switch. In other words, don’t let your phone lock, it should be on and the hotspot settings window should be open.
Other Fixes
Of course, there are other potential fixes to resolve this network connectivity issue. If your Nintendo Switch is still refusing to connect to your hotspot, try these fixes.
Change Hotspot Password
You might have already changed your hotspot password to one that exclusively contains letters. However, some users report that they needed to change their password more than once to make their Switch work like normal. Be prepared to try a few times if necessary.
Restart The Switch
If your Nintendo Switch isn’t frozen, you can simply hold the power button to turn it off. Then, turn the device back on as you would normally. If your Switch is frozen, you should hold the power button for about 15 seconds to restart it.
Connect Another Device to the Hotspot First
If you have another mobile device like a tablet with you, try connecting that device to the hotspot before you connect your Switch to make sure that the hotspot works. In some cases, the Switch will connect after another device connects to it first.
Start a Hotspot from a Different Phone
Have another phone with cellular data? Maybe a friend’s or family members? Try hosting a hotspot on their phone to see if your Switch can connect to theirs. In some cases, the Switch struggles to connect to hotspots hosted on older versions of Android phones.
Adjust Your DNS Settings
Sometimes, the Switch doesn’t automatically recognize your DNS. Go to the internet settings on your Nintendo Switch. Scroll down to the bottom, there you’ll see DNS Settings. Change the settings from “Automatic” to “Manual”.
Now, you need to find your hotspot’s DNS. If you’ve connected a different device to your Wi-Fi hotspot, it’s easy to find the DNS in that device’s Wi-Fi settings. Simply click on your Wi-Fi hotspot’s information or network settings. Next, click on an option that says “Configure DNS”. There, you’ll see your DNS number, it is usually an 11-digit number like “114.329.094.10”.
Finally, go back to the DNS Settings on your Switch. Click on “Primary DNS” and enter your DNS manually. Once you’re finished, save your settings and connect to your hotspot.
Final Thoughts
It’s frustrating when you can’t use your Nintendo Switch’s basic functionality. I should know, I’ve been there myself. I found that the easiest way to fix this problem was to edit my device name and password to only include letters. Hopefully, that will get you back to your normal gaming routine.
In case none of my solutions worked, you might want to check if your phone plan has sufficient data capacity. Running your Switch off 4G LTE is ideal, and make sure you have enough gigabytes of data too.
If you enjoyed this article, or you still have some questions, please leave a comment and let me know. I will try to assist you as best I can.
