How to connect Switch to hotel Wi-Fi

The Nintendo Switch is one of the most popular gaming consoles of all time, recently outselling PS2 in the U.S. This makes it the second best-selling console in the U.S. ever, surpassed only by Nintendo DS. 

While the Switch’s portability makes it a great travel companion, users might find it frustrating to connect to unfamiliar Wi-Fi, especially in hotels. There are a few methods to try; here is a quick guide.

Why is it hard to connect Nintendo Switch to hotel Wi-Fi?

The main hurdle in connecting any game console to hotel Wi-Fi is the captive portal—the page that normally pops up on your phone or computer asking you to enter information like your room number and accept terms to use the Wi-Fi. With game consoles like Switch, there’s no obvious opportunity for the captive portal to show up, blocking you from connecting to the Wi-Fi.

Here are a few ways around it. 

Jump to…
Connect Switch to hotel Wi-Fi using a travel router
Connect Switch to hotel Wi-Fi by tethering to your phone
Connect Switch in a hotel with your own Wi-Fi hotspot
Connect Switch to hotel Wi-Fi by whitelisting your MAC address on the hotel network
Connect Switch to hotel Wi-Fi using the PS5 browser

Connect Switch to hotel Wi-Fi using a travel router

A portable router like Aircove Go lets you connect all your devices to the router, then connect your router to hotel Wi-Fi. You control Aircove Go and handle the captive portal on your phone or computer. All your devices will be connected to hotel Wi-Fi.

1. Turn on your Aircove Go. 
2. Connect your devices, such as your phone, computer, and Switch, to the Aircove Go Wi-Fi network. You’ll need your Aircove Go Wi-Fi password. (You may do this step beforehand at home, and all your devices will recognize Aircove Go and connect to it when they detect it.)
3. On your phone or computer, open a browser and head to expressvpnrouter.com. You’ll be taken to the Aircove Go dashboard.
4. Select the cloud symbol and go to Internet Settings; there you can use Wi-Fi Link to connect to the hotel Wi-Fi network.
5. If there is a captive portal, you’ll be prompted to open it on a separate browser window. 
6. All your devices should now be using hotel Wi-Fi, including PS5.

Watch our support video with detailed instructions.

Bonus: If you’re using VPN functionality, you’ll also be protected by strong VPN encryption and able to appear to be in a different location—in fact, you can place different devices in different countries using the Aircove Go dashboard.

An active ExpressVPN subscription is required to use VPN functionality on Aircove Go. However, you do not have to use the VPN functionality. The device will still function as a convenient travel router for connecting devices like Switch even if you stop your ExpressVPN subscription.

Ready to buy Aircove Go? Head to the ExpressVPN Store or Amazon.

Connect Switch to hotel Wi-Fi by tethering to your phone

You can use your phone’s internet connection as a hotspot and tether the switch onto it. While this method works easily with mobile data on your phone (potentially incurring costs to you), it’s not always possible to do so using Wi-Fi. Newer Android phone models are your best bet for tethering onto a phone using Wi-Fi.

1. Connect your phone to hotel Wi-Fi. Enter details into the captive portal as prompted.
2. Turn on a hotspot on your phone. How to do this depends on your phone, but on Samsung phones it’s within Settings > Connections > Mobile hotspot and tethering. Toggle on mobile hotspot.
3. Tether your Switch to your phone. On Switch, go to System Settings > Internet > Internet Settings. Choose your phone’s hotspot name, and enter the password. 

Your Switch should now be using hotel Wi-Fi via your phone.

Connect Switch in a hotel with your own Wi-Fi hotspot

If you find hotel Wi-Fi to be too slow or too hard to use with your devices, you could bring your own Wi-Fi hotspot. You’ll have to pay for a data plan, which could range from 5GB to basically unlimited (but likely with throttling). For activities as data intensive as gaming, the costs could add up.

All you’ll have to do is plug the Wi-Fi device into a power outlet, and you’ll have your own personal Wi-Fi network with no captive portal to deal with. Just make sure it will work in your destination country if you’re traveling overseas.

Connect Switch to hotel Wi-Fi by whitelisting your MAC address on the hotel network

You can bypass the captive portal if your Switch’s MAC address gets whitelisted by IT staff for the hotel. First find your MAC address:

1. In the Home menu, select Settings > Internet
2. The MAC address will be listed under System MAC Address.

Call the hotel operator or front desk and tell them you’d like your device whitelisted for the hotel Wi-Fi and that you have the MAC address ready for them to do so. Ideally they will then transfer you to the right person who can whitelist the device.

This method is highly dependent on the hotel staff’s training, experience, and access to systems.

Connect Switch to hotel Wi-Fi using the Switch browser

Switch consoles do include a browser, making it possible to access the captive portal through the console itself. However, the browser doesn’t support pop-ups; you need to seek it out and try to prompt the captive portal to appear. It can be hard to make this method work, but if it does, it means you don’t need any additional equipment or cost.

Here are the steps to try:

1. Attempt to log in to the hotel Wi-Fi as you would any network. In the Home menu, go to System Settings (gear symbol) > Internet > Internet Settings. Choose the hotel Wi-Fi network and enter the password when prompted. If you can’t reach the hotel’s captive portal, your connection might fail.
2. Now is the time to access the Switch’s web browser by opening the Nintendo eShop. In the Home menu, launch the Nintendo eShop. If your Switch tries to connect to hotel Wi-Fi at this point, then a captive portal might pop up.

Enter the credentials, and see if you’ve been successfully connected to hotel Wi-Fi.

Note: If this doesn’t work, you might want to try to change the order of these steps. While tethered to your phone’s hotspot, open a browser window (Step 2), followed by the Wi-Fi setup (Step 1), and go back to the eShop, hoping to prompt the captive portal to open.