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What's the point of a portable Splatoon 2 that you can't play online on the go?

Chittagong

Chittagong

Gold Member
So, anyone who knows my post history knows I love my Switch. I think it's the perfect console concept, I love playing the same games home and on the go. I travel a lot, so I spend a lot of time in hotels, airport lounges, airplanes and trains. Zelda was heaven, I could just fire it up anywhere.

But Splatoon 2 is something else. I absolutely love the multiplayer, it's my favourite online multiplayer game. The thought of playing it in airport lounges, hotels and at the summer cottage filled me with joy.

Now that I have taken Splatoon 2 on the road, I have discovered just how shitty the Switch networking software is. So far, I have been entirely unable to play Splatoon 2 online outside my home and office - aside from a hotel in Italy that had a simple wifi with a password only, no popup.

- Heathrow Express train. Connects to wifi. Doesn't bring up sign in popup. Can't get online.
- British Airways lounge wifi. Connects to wifi. Doesn't bring up sign in popup. Can't get online.
- Helsinki Airport free wifi. Connects to wifi. Doesn't bring up T&C popup. Can't get online.
- Hotel wifi. Connects to wifi. Doesn't bring up sign in popup. Can't get online. - fixed by power cycling
- iPhone 7 / iPhone SE with full bars 4G as a hotspot. Connects to wifi. Goes online, Nintendo eShop works. Splatoon goes online, but fails matchmaking.

I have not come up with a way to play Splatoon 2 online when travelling, and it really bugs me.

What's the point of making this thing portable? Is Nintendo Switch only a SP / local MP machine on the go?

EDIT:

Splatoon 2 community service update for playing out of home

So far, we have discovered two important issues in this thread. Because Nintendo might be reading this thread eventually, or people might land here from Google, I'll summarise.

Issue 1 - Mobile hotspots fail in Splatoon 2 matchmaking
- This seems to be related to carrier
- eShop works, but matchmaking fails
- Carriers that reportedly work include Verizon, T-Mobile, Sprint, Three and O2
- Carriers that fail matchmaking include ATT and Vodafone
- Working carriers display NAT A-B
- Failing carriers dispay NAT D
- Same issue replicated on Splatoon with Wii U

Issue 2 - Switch wifi fails to bring up popup page
- This seems to be related to wifi provider
- Switch connects to wifi but doesn't bring up popup, so connection is not established
- This issue might be rectified by power cycling the Switch a few times (hold power button and select 'Reset')
- After power cycle Switch might be more willing to show wifi popup
 
M

Magwik

Banned
There might not be a point aside from the system just happening to also function as a portable. not every game is going to be designed in a way with both ways of play in mind.
 
O

OricWindstar

Member
You're acting like Splatoon 2 was created with portability in mind. It's on a system that has portability as a feature, but not every game is going to focus on that.
 
U

UnemployedVillain

Member
I'm pretty sure there was an update to the Switch to show those sign in pages for public wifi so I'm not sure what's going wrong.

Plus there's this thing called local multiplayer

oti said:
OP made a thread about mobile online play. What's your point?
Click to expand...

No, he made a thread about portable Splatoon of which playing with friends locally is an option
 
Chittagong

Chittagong

Gold Member
AlexFlame116 said:
I use my phone as a mobile hotspot and it works perfectly haven't had any issues yet.
Click to expand...

Are you on an iPhone? 4G? I've tried both my iPhone SE and my wife's iPhone 7, on Vodafone (UK) and on Elisa (FI), 4G and full bars. I can get to the matchmaking, but it always kicks me, unable to find a match. Meanwhile, no problems home.
 
L

LegendofLex

Member
You can play Splatoon 2 offline on the go, connect to a mobile hotspot (if your connection is good enough/your provider is open enough), use public Wi-Fi (this is possible but not intuitive), play at a friend's house without needing a bunch of TVs and power supplies.

I was just on a trip to the mountains over the weekend and after we were done drinking and hanging out by the lake, three of us hung out playing Splatoon together.

Switch also being portable doesn't limit Splatoon 2 at all.
 
B

Beartruck

Member
Sony tried to sell a vita that had 3g instead of wifi and they were laughed out of the room. Find a place that has wifi (which is rapidly becoming damn near everywhere) and you're fine. No connection? Good thing there's a single player campaign.
 
E

E_Darkness

Member
oti said:
OP made a thread about mobile online play. What's your point?
Click to expand...

He made a thread about playing multiplayer. This is like me complaining I can't play my 3DS online games easily when I go out. If the Switch was designed with portable online play with mind Nintendo would've made a 4G model.

Chittagong said:
I literally don't have friends who play video games. Unless my personal trainer counts as a friend :-(
Click to expand...

Ha.. same..
 
Z

ZombiePlatypus

Member
oti said:
OP made a thread about mobile online play. What's your point?
Click to expand...

The thread title suggests that without online play there's no point in a portable Splatoon 2. Kinda ignores:

*Play in public Wi-Fi spot
*Play with friends on the go
*Take game and switch to a friends place where they have Wi-Fi
*Portable single player campaign

Not sure why they're having tech difficulties connecting to WiFi though .
 
D

deoee

Member
Doens't work for me with LTE and full bars because it ALWAYS fails matchmaking.

Super stupid and infuriating shit.
Carrier is Vodafone I dunno if it's their fault but I guess it's Nintendos.
 
A

AlexFlame116

Member
Chittagong said:
Are you on an iPhone? 4G? I've tried both my iPhone SE and my wife's iPhone 7, on Vodafone (UK) and on Elisa (FI), 4G and full bars. I can get to the matchmaking, but it always kicks me, unable to find a match. Meanwhile, no problems home.
Click to expand...
Actually I'm using a Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge. It's slowing down and not as good as it used to be but it's still chugging along.

I'm sorry but I have no experiences with iPhones. Maybe I've just been really lucky.

I've played Splatoon 2 and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe with no problems.

My carrier is T-Mobile.
 
J

James Scott

Banned
I've tried using LTE and it works well enough.
I'm pretty sure there are more local modes this time around though you'll need other local friends kind of like Monster Hunter.
You also can sign into wifi pages as far as I know
 
P

phanphare

Banned
I thought you could connect to wifi when it does the sign in pop up..

isn't that why there's a web browser hidden in the Switch's OS?
 
N

Nesther

Member
Yeah the fact that Nintendos online infrastructure is allergic to most mobile networks is such a shame. Tried it with all 3 major providers in my country and they're all incompatible with the Switch due to NAT. Unless you're really lucky or your ISP offers fixed IPs for your mobile phone so you can port forward, there's no way you can enjoy mobile hotspot Switch gaming on the go.
 
Chittagong

Chittagong

Gold Member
Jaded Alyx said:
OP, unless I'm mistaken, didn't you also have problems with your Switch connecting online in your own home at first?
Click to expand...

I did - but going wired at home solved it. But I played successfully Splatoon 2 in a hotel wifi in Sicily last weekend, being Italian they didn't overcomplicate things with interstitials and they had an open wifi, it was glorious to play Splatoon 2 online in the hotel bed. So I don't think the unit as such is borked.

The reason why Splatoon 2 prompted this thread is that it is an essentially online only game. I have put in 8 hours or so to the campaign, but it's not the same game. The campaign is a puzzle platformer, more like.
 
S

Scanna

Member
Chittagong said:
So, anyone who knows my post history knows I love my Switch. I think it's the perfect console concept, I love playing the same games home and on the go. I travel a lot, so I spend a lot of time in hotels, airport lounges, airplanes and trains. Zelda was heaven, I could just fire it up anywhere.

But Splatoon 2 is something else. I absolutely love the multiplayer, it's my favourite online mulitplayer game. The thought of playing it in airport lounges, hotels and at the summer cottage filled me with joy.

Now that I have taken Splatoon 2 the road, I have discovered just how shitty the Switch networking software is. So far, I have been entirely unable to play Splatoon 2 online outside my home and office.

- Heathrow Express train. Connects to wifi. Doesn't bring up sign in popup. Can't get online.
- British Airways lounge wifi. Connects to wifi. Doesn't bring up sign in popup. Can't get online.
- Helsinki Airport free wifi. Connects to wifi. Doesn't bring up T&C popup. Can't get online.
- Hotel wifi. Connects to wifi. Doesn't bring up sign in popup. Can't get online.
- iPhone 7 with full bars 4G as a hotspot. Connects to wifi. Goes online, Nintendo eShop works. Splatoon goes online, but fails matchmaking.

I have not come up with a way to play Splatoon 2 online when travelling, and it really bugs me.

What's the point of making this thing portable? Is Nintendo Switch only a SP / local MP machine on the go?
Click to expand...
Same with me and Mario Kart 8. Terrible. Really.
 
S

shiyrley

Banned
I go to my gf's house with my Switch (or she comes with hers) and we both play online together in the same room. I would never do that with a Wii U.

Portable doesn't only mean "play on the train" or "play in the hotel"
 
Z

Zen_Arcade

Banned
E_Darkness said:
He made a thread about playing multiplayer. This is like me complaining I can't play my 3DS online games easily when I go out. If the Switch was designed with portable online play with mind Nintendo would've made a 4G model.



Ha.. same..
Click to expand...
Talk about splitting hairs.

You would have a point if only the title existed. He's obviously talking about online multiplayer if you read even a paragraph of the OP.
 
T

thekonamicode

Member
Hotspot on my phone.

I have T-Mobile and it doesn't cost me any extra in my monthly bill for unlimited hot spot data. Plus, I basically always have 4G LTE so speed is fine.
 
S

Struct09

Member
My LTE connection is pretty good with my iPhone 7 on AT&T, however I'm not able to matchmake in Splatoon 2 when I'm tethered. The NAT type is "D", and I'm not aware of any ways to improve it.
 
N

Nesther

Member
Struct09 said:
My LTE connection is pretty good with my iPhone 7 on AT&T, however I'm not able to matchmake in Splatoon 2 when I'm tethered. The NAT type is "D", and I'm not aware of any ways to improve it.
Click to expand...

There is no way. Ask your carrier if they offer fixed IP, otherwise you can change carriers and hope it works then.
 
S

shiyrley

Banned
Zen_Arcade said:
Talk about splitting hairs.

You would have a point if only the title existed. He's obviously talking about online multiplayer if you read even a paragraph of the OP.
Click to expand...
The title is still stupid. Imagine if I created a thread with a dumb sentence like "what's the point of the Switch if it can't play PS4 games?" and then the post talks about the fact that I want a Crash Trilogy port specifically.

You can't just write a stupid thread title and expect not to get a backlash because you don't actually mean what the title says
 
Chittagong

Chittagong

Gold Member
Struct09 said:
My LTE connection is pretty good with my iPhone 7 on AT&T, however I'm not able to matchmake in Splatoon 2 when I'm tethered. The NAT type is "D", and I'm not aware of any ways to improve it.
Click to expand...

My NAT is D on iPhone as well. Download speed 13.1Mbs and Upload speed 4.3Mbs. The iPhone NAT is probably the matchmaking killer.
 
V

Vic

Please help me with my bad english
I'm interested. I'll trying to play some games when connected through my Nexus 6P later tonight.

Can you access the eShop when your Switch is connected to your phone?
 
Z

Zen_Arcade

Banned
shiyrley said:
The title is still stupid. Imagine if I created a thread with a dumb sentence like "what's the point of the Switch if it can't play PS4 games?" and then the post talks about the fact that I want a Crash Trilogy port specifically.

You can't just write a stupid thread title and expect not to get a backlash because you don't actually mean what the titles says
Click to expand...
The thread title isn't even stupid or misrepresenting his point. He can't play Splatoon online.

Even if it wasn't a wholly correct title, you're essentially excusing not reading an OP. It's completely moronic to read the title of a thread and not bother reading the further detailed context.

Stop blaming OP because some people here don't bother to read past the title of a thread. You, and the people who are doing so are the ones shitting up the forum, not OP.
 
N

Ninja Dom

Member
Chittagong said:
Are you on an iPhone? 4G? I've tried both my iPhone SE and my wife's iPhone 7, on Vodafone (UK) and on Elisa (FI), 4G and full bars. I can get to the matchmaking, but it always kicks me, unable to find a match. Meanwhile, no problems home.
Click to expand...

Chittagong, UK here, London.

There's two ways I play in portable mode online.

1) Virgin Media free public wifi (London Underground). Switch does bring up the splash screen. I'm logged in with a Three mobile sim account. Online works fine. I have to re-log in every 30 minutes.

2) iPhone 7 personal hotspot. O2 4G mobile contract. Online works fine. But longer wait for matchmaking and a couple of throw-outs from the lobby. Game works fine once a match has started.
 
S

Skittzo0413

Member
OP I'm a bit confused about your issue with signing into public Wi-Fi. I've never heard of that being an issue- the hidden web browser is supposed to do that fairly well from what I've heard. I haven't tried to use it myself though.

Vic said:
Never had a single Wifi issue with my Switch.
Click to expand...

Same here. I wonder how widespread the bad wifi is...
 
S

SlickVic

Member
I'm surprised the Switch isn't able to connect to those public networks. My understanding is the system has a limited browser for getting through the splash screens for connecting to public networks. There was an article on it here.

Haven't tried it myself on the Switch. My experience with connecting to public wifi hotspots on my phone has always been a mixed bag. Often it refuses to connect and then after I power cycle my phone it magically decides it's ok to connect to the network. No clue how it works.
 
N

Nesther

Member
Vic said:
I'm interested. I'll trying to play some games when connected through my Nexus 6P later tonight.

Can you access the eShop when your Switch is connected to your phone?
Click to expand...

Even if you end up with a NAT that blocks you from playing online, you can always access the eshop and such via mobile hotspot. The issue is connecting to other Switches online.
 
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