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According to the Nintendo support site, your Wii should use channels 1 and 11 on the 2.4 GHz frequency. The Wii does not support channels on the 5 GHz frequency, so if your Wi-Fi router is set on any channel on this frequency, your Wii will be unable to connect to the internet.
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Can Wii Still Connect to the Internet in 2021?
As an online game, the Wii is Wi-Fi enabled, and it can connect to a wireless access point – like a wireless router – to connect to the internet. The only exception to the Nintendo games connecting to the internet is the Wii Mini, a small revision released in 2012 to 2013.
The Wii should use a channel that supports it, and the channels differ from country to country. For example, North America has access to channels 1 through 11, and Japan has access to channels 1 through 14, with only 11b on channel 14, whereas most of the world has access to channels 1 to 13.
The Wii works with 802.11 b/g, and this is on the 2.4 GHz frequency. If your Wi-Fi router is not set to broadcast at a channel that the Wii can use, you cannot play any games online.
Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) channels are often accessed using IEEE 802.11 standards/protocols. Wi-Fi and Bluetooth are some of the equipment that accesses the same channels. The radio frequency spectrum produced by the 802.11 standards is essential for wireless communications technology.
The ranges of radio frequency it provides for Wi-Fi communications include 2.4 GHz, 1000 MHz, 3.6 MHz, 4.9 MHz, 5 MHz, 5.9 MHz, 6 MHz, and 60 MHz bands. Each range is further divided into many channels, as seen above.
What Wi-fi Channel Does the Wii Use?
The Nintendo Wii is an electronic game console released by Nintendo in 2006. The Japanese company created a console that featured multiplayer games. The console was low-cost, innovative, and it overtook the Xbox 360 and PS3 in the year of its release.
The appeal of Wii was that anyone could play games on it, and not just seasoned gamers. This expanded the whole video-game console market and thus set up the most extensive user base over PS3 and Xbox 360.
Nintendo Wii comes with a wireless remote controller that connects to a joystick or another type of input device. By linking to a wireless sensor plugged into the console, the game detects inputs from the device’s buttons as well as movements of the device.
When people play a game of golf in Wii sports, they could swing their arms to hit the ball instead of pushing buttons on the device. Besides the remote, other controllers like a floor mat, a balance board, and a racing wheel are available.
Wii can still connect to the internet today, but there is not much you can do with it online. It is old, and most of its online features were disabled when the company shut down production a few years ago.
Right now, the only significant benefit in linking your Wii to Wi-Fi is to update your console, and only if you are just bringing it out of storage after many years.
Immediately after you connect to Wi-Fi, you will most likely get a prompt asking you to update your console. If you don’t get the prompt, do these:
- Go to the Wii Settings menu and scroll over the third page
- Choose Wii System update
- Accept the message
Your console will be updated, albeit without any new features to get you pumped. The last system update was in 2012!
Before the Wii was discontinued, you could connect to Nintendo servers and play games with other Wii users, chat, see weather reports, download games from Nintendo’s extensive game library, and even purchase a browser to surf the internet.
What to Do When Your Wii Doesn’t Connect to the Internet
Follow these simple steps to get your Wii connected:
- Move the router closer to your Wii console
- Restart your Wii console and power cycle your modem and router
- Create a new internet connection in the Wii console’s settings
- Try to connect again
- Change the wireless channel in your wireless router’s settings
To confirm your Wii’s connection to the internet, do this:
- Open the Wii Menu
- Click on System Settings
- With the Left Stick, select the Internet icon
- Press the A button
- Choose Connect to the Internet
Your Wii will search for open Wi-Fi networks in your area and connect to one.
Does the Wii Internet Channel Still Work?
Although many people have forgotten about its existence, the Wii is still a fantastic console with great innovative controls and an extensive game library.
Of course, compared to today’s games, it has some outdated requirements and features. For example, you will need a designated connection to run it on your TV, and the speed of gameplay is about 480p.
The Wii was officially discontinued in October 2013, and Nintendo’s Wi-Fi Connection was terminated in May 2014. Despite this, Nintendo continued to produce and sell the Wii Mini throughout 2017. This mini version has no online capabilities, so it was not affected by the Wi-Fi disconnect.
A subset of the Wii’s online services kept running until January 30, 2019. While it ran, you could download the Internet Channel for free through the Wii Shop Channel. Matchmaking, online play, leaderboards, game downloads, and competitions are no longer available.
New users no longer have access to the Internet channel since the online services have been shut down. However, old users who downloaded it previously can re-download it. The latest version of the Internet Channel is version 9.30, and here are some of its features:
- A web browser made by Opera software enables users to surf the world wide web. You can perform web searches, access websites, etc., and you need a broadband internet connection to do so.
- The Internet Channel only supports HTTP and HTTPS. Other protocols like FTP, mailto, etc., are not compatible with it.
- It supports USB keyboards.
Apart from the features above, there are still two channels available on the Wii Shop Channel. One of them is a transfer tool that allows you to transfer your Wii data to a Wii U, and the other fixes a game-breaking glitch in The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword.
If you can jailbreak your Wii, you can extend the possibilities from only Nintendo-approved activities to various others. After jailbreaking your Wii, there are many cool things you can do like:
- Install Homebrew Wii Games and Apps – some are open source games from other platforms, while others are original. Browse the homebrew channel to install the game of your choice and start playing.
- Play DVDs with your Wii – if you install WiiMC, you can also play video games. However, it will only work on earlier Wii models. You can watch videos with resolutions of up to 1280×720. CDs will not play, only DVDs
- Turn your Wii into an alarm clock – the Strobe Alarm Clock is a homebrew product that allows you to run a clock in full-screen view. Keep the Wii and your display switched on at bedtime so it can rouse you in the morning.
- Explore the earth from your couch using your WiiMote. It works just like Google Earth.
- Convert your Wii into a PC using Wii-Linux – the Homebrew Channel on your Wii allows you to install Wii-Linux. PowerPC-compatible Linux apps can run on your Wii and many distributions are available. You can use Gentoo, Arch Linux, and Debian.
- You can install a metronome on your Wii – as a musician, having a metronome comes in handy and with your Wii console, you have better control over the timing. It is perfect for practicing at home.