Why Does My PlayStation Keep Disconnecting from WiFi?

If you’re facing Wi-Fi connection drops on your PS4 or PS5, you are most certainly not alone. Over the years, we’ve seen countless user complaints online of PlayStation consoles that keep disconnecting from Wi-Fi for no apparent reason. It's frustrating; it can be hair-pulling.

So why does it happen? Why does your PlayStation keep disconnecting from Wi-Fi?

Wi-Fi network congestion, wireless interference from home appliances (such as microwave ovens), corrupted DNS cache, incorrect DNS settings, downed DNS server, corrupted PlayStation database, a glitch in either your PlayStation or your Wi-Fi router's communication module, or even a software bug in the PlayStation's firmware can all potentially cause Wi-Fi disconnection issues.

Let's look at these root causes in more detail and try to understand how they affect your PlayStation-Wi-Fi connectivity.

PlayStation uses a database to organize and classify your game files and save game data on internal storage. Unfortunately, this database can become fragmented and disorganized over time and may cause many issues, including Wi-Fi disconnectivity.

DNS servers are responsible for linking your PlayStation to the internet. Incorrect DNS settings or an offline DNS server will reject your console's web requests, causing Wi-Fi connectivity issues.

A glitch or bug in either your PlayStation or your Wi-Fi router's firmware update can cause unexpected Wi-Fi connection drops on your PlayStation. You may need to perform a complete firmware restore to fix this.

The Wi-Fi standard has two frequency bands: 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz. Selecting a Wi-Fi band on your PlayStation that's unsupported by your Wi-Fi router, or vice versa will cause the internet connection to drop.

Network congestion happens when you fully saturate your router's available bandwidth, which worsens latency and may cause Wi-Fi disconnection issues on your PlayStation.

So how do you troubleshoot these problems?

The very first thing that you must do is test your Wi-Fi connection. If you have a PS5:

Restarting your internet router can also potentially solve Wi-Fi connectivity issues on your PlayStation 4 or PlayStation 5:

Still not working?

Restarting your PlayStation may also fix any Wi-Fi-related connectivity issues. This is especially true if you never turn off your console and always keep it in standby mode.

To restart your PS5:

The steps for PS4 are similar.

While PlayStation 5 supports both 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz Wi-Fi frequencies, not all Wi-Fi routers are 5 GHz compatible. Hence, if your router only supports 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi 4 standard (802.11n), chances are you may have selected the wrong Wi-Fi frequency while setting up your console. This can apply to PS4 users as well.

To remedy the issue:

A corrupted PlayStation database can also cause Wi-Fi connectivity issues, among other things. So, if you suspect your PlayStation 5's database is corrupted, you can easily rebuild it by following a few simple steps.

First, boot your console into ‘Safe Mode’. For that:

You can perform these steps for the PS4 too.

Keeping your PlayStation firmware version up to date is crucial to avoid any potential bugs and glitches, including wireless connectivity issues. Here's how to update your PS5's firmware to the latest version:

If you’re still facing Wi-Fi related issues then you can try resetting your PlayStation console. Here's how to reset a PlayStation 5:

Lastly, you can try changing your console DNS settings to potentially fix address resolution Wi-Fi-related issues. To do so on your PlayStation 5:

Perform the same steps if you own a PS4 console.

The original PlayStation 4 supports the 2.4GHz Wi-Fi 4 protocol (802.11n), while the PlayStation Slim and PlayStation 4 Pro models offer support for the dual-band 5GHz Wi-Fi 5 protocol (802.11ac). Meanwhile, PS5 supports the latest Wi-Fi 6 protocol (802.11ax).

You can improve your PlayStation's Wi-Fi speed by changing its DNS settings to either Google's (8.8.8.8) or Cloudflare's (1.1.1.1) DNS servers. Both these DNS services are 100% free to use and can greatly reduce your internet connection's latency.

LAN cables are always preferable when it comes to gaming. Wireless connections are highly susceptible to network congestion and environmental interference, which worsens latency. On the other hand, wired connections transfer data via light signals and offer minimal latencies and packet losses.

Wi-Fi issues on PlayStation consoles are quite common, and it typically takes a few minor tweaks to fix them right away.

In many cases, problems arise due to incorrect Wi-Fi frequency bands. Often, people mistakenly choose the 5 GHz Wi-Fi option without realizing that their wireless router is single-band, 2.4 GHz only.

Fortunately, 5 GHz Wi-Fi routers have become very affordable in recent years, and it's possible to get a good Wi-Fi 5 or even Wi-Fi 6 router for well under $200. Check out our best cheap router guide to find some great recommendations.

About Eddie Randolph