How to Get Your Wii Online (Wireless or Wired)

By
Charles Herold
Charles Herold
Writer
  • California College of Arts and Crafts
A former Lifewire Writer, Charles Herold has been reviewing and writing about Nintendo video games, consoles, and peripherals for two decades.
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Updated on January 5, 2020
Downloadable games for Nintendo Wii

 To get your Wii online you will first need to have a high-speed internet connection.

For a wireless connection, you will need to have a wireless network access point, aka a wireless hub. The Wii works with most standard wireless hubs.

For a wired connection, you will need an Ethernet adapter. We used Nyko’s Net Connect. Plug it into one of the Wii’s USB ports. The USB ports are the two small, rectangular slots in the back of the Wii. You will also need an Ethernet cable running from either your modem or from an Ethernet broadband router attached to your modem.

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Access the Wii's Internet Settings

From the main menu, click Wii Options (the circle with “Wii” written on it located in the lower left-hand corner).

Click Wii Settings

Click the right-hand side arrow to move to the second Wii Settings Page. Click on Internet.

Click on Connection Settings

You can have up to 3 connections set up, but most people will only need one. Click on Connection 1.

If you are using a wireless network, click Wireless Connection.

If you are using a USB Ethernet adapter, click Wired Connection. Click Okay for the Wii to begin a connection test.

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Find a Wireless Access Point

Click Search for an access point. (For information on the other option, using Nintendo’s discontinued Nintendo Wi-Fi USB Connector, check Nintendo’s site.

The Wii will spend a few seconds searching for access points. When it tells you to choose the access point you want to connect to, click OK. (If it doesn’t find any access points, you need to figure out what’s wrong with your wireless network.)

You will now have a list of wireless access points that you can scroll to. The list will show the name of the access point, its security status indicated by a padlock) and the signal strength. If the padlock is unlocked and the signal strength is good, you could actually use that connection even if it’s not yours, although some people consider it wrong to steal others' bandwidth in this manner.

Your access point will have either a name you’ve given it or a default generic name (for example, some are just called WLAN). Click on the connection you want. If it is a secure connection, you will be asked to input a password. After doing so you will have to click OK a few times to get to a screen where your connection is tested.

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See If It Works

Wait a little while as the Wii tests your connection. If the test is successful you will probably be asked if you would like to perform a Wii System Update. Unless you have homebrew applications on your Wii, you’ll probably want to go ahead and perform the update, but if you like you can say no.

At this point, you are connected and can play online games, buy games at the online store (like World of Goo or even surf the World Wide Web).

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