Hardware

Sony BDP-BX57 BDP-S570 Blu-ray Player Can’t Connect to Internet over Wi-Fi

201 Comments

A lot of people are having problems connecting the Sony BDP-BX57 and BDP-S570 Blu-ray disc players to the Internet via Wi-Fi with encryption enabled (WEP, WPA, WPA2, etc.). I ran into this as well, but eventually got it working with a pretty easy fix. So, don’t return yours to Costco or BestBuy just yet.

To make sure your connection problem isn’t a configuration error, be sure that your SSID in the player’s wireless network configuration matches the one in your wireless router (properly entered upper- and lowercase letters, if any). It’s a good idea to turn off all wireless encryption to verify that the Blu-ray player connects via Wi-Fi without it and that video or music streams properly over the network.

Finally, verify that your Blu-ray player’s firmware is up to date. Some earlier network problems were the result of firmware bugs and you want to make sure that you’re not suffering from one of those problems. The current version, at the time of this post, is M04.R.735. To find the firmware version in your disc player, do the following:

  1. From the player’s main menu, scroll all the way to the left to Setup.
  2. Select System Settings, then System Information at the bottom.
  3. The firmware version appears near the top of the screen.

If your firmware is older than M04.R.735, update it before continuing on. I’ll wait right here.

All set to continue? Good. If you updated the firmware, double check that unencrypted wireless is still working. Now, re-enable encryption in the wireless router, set the corresponding encryption mode in the player (WEP, WPA, WPA2, etc.) and enter the correct encryption key. At this point, if you’re encountering the problem, having enabled encryption will result in a good wireless connection, but no Internet access. The player’s green Wi-Fi LED on the front of the device will be on, but the IP address will start with 169 instead of the usual 172 or 192.

It seems that firmware changes can introduce problems with the network configuration information or other related data in the system. As a result, encryption over the wireless doesn’t work properly. To fix this, do the following:

  1. In the player’s menu, scroll all the way to the left to Setup.
  2. Scroll to the bottom and select Resetting.
  3. Select Reset to Factory Default Settings. Don’t worry, it won’t reset just yet.
  4. Select Network Settings to wipe out all the network configuration data.
  5. Re-enter the wireless network settings that you did before. (I know, it’s a pain.)

That’s it. It should connect to the wireless and to the Internet now. Wiping the old network data and re-entering it removes whatever was causing the wireless not to properly encrypt the network communication. If, for some reason, resetting just the Network Settings isn’t enough, you can opt to reset everything. It’s the last reset item in the menu.

Did it work for you? Do you have a different model Sony Blu-ray player or even a different brand with a similar problem and found a fix? Post your experiences in the comments.

201 thoughts on “Sony BDP-BX57 BDP-S570 Blu-ray Player Can’t Connect to Internet over Wi-Fi”

  1. I was able to access all of the online features but when it came time to perform a network update, I could not. It would tell me I needed to update, but then fail with a message like, Failed to access gateway. The network connection always showed internet connection as failed as well, even though all internet functionality was there. For me, the problem was that my firewall box, that is the gateway, wasn’t responding to pings. If I allow it to respond to pings, everything works correctly. This caused my HOURS of effort, Sony was of no help.

  2. @Matt: Pretty odd that blocking pings from the outside would cause such a problem. Thanks for sharing!

  3. I like to think that I’m not the average Internet user, however this thing is really testing my patience. I was able to connect right away to my wifi, and it told me right away I needed a firmware update…but gave errors when I tried to update or get internet content.

    I tried everything suggested above, including burning a firmware upate cd. Still nothing, reset everything, turned off encryption, tried, same problem. Then I went into my AT&T U-Verse gateway and turned unblocked ICMP, still nothing. Then I took it an extra step and put the BDP-BX57 in the DMZ. STILL NOTHING. I’m about to give up. Putting it in the DMZ completely unrestricts just this device, allowing it to act although the Internet plugged directly into it with no firewall protection. Still nothing. Any ideas?

    Thanks,

    Scott

  4. @Scott: Do you only have this problem when connecting via WiFi or also when connecting with an Ethernet cable?

  6. @kristen: Is the wired connection working properly? If so, be sure you have the latest firmware. There have been a couple of updates that can affect network functionality. Check for and install any updates with the wired connection before going through the reset process.

  7. I could not connect at all, I followed the instructions posted here for my BR S570 model and it worked. No further issues with connection to the unit… No this thing rocks…

  8. @Rich: Thanks for the feedback. Glad to hear it worked for you too. I’ve been enjoying many hours of Pandora streaming on mine.

  9. I have a BDP-BX57 and it connects to the internet fine and i can do updates with no problem, but my issue is that it looses connection every five minutes. if i am watching a movie i have to start it from the beginning every time how do i solve this issue???? Help!!!

  10. @Jes: I occasionally encounter this. Check the strength of your Wi-Fi signal. The lower the signal strength, the more susceptible it’ll be to dropping. If you have a really strong signal, try the wired connection to confirm that there isn’t an issue somewhere else (e.g., unstable connection to your ISP or between the ISP and the video streaming service).

  11. My S570 has failed to connect to the internet – connected to the wireless network but not the internet? Flipping frustrating. Have reset factory settings etc… but to no avail. Might take it back to the shop and exchnage it for another? Would that work?

  12. @Kevan: It might, but I’ve seen various folk saying that exchanging didn’t help. Before you exchange it, make sure that the wired Ethernet connection works fine and that you install the latest software update for the player. Then, reset settings.

  13. Hi Peter:
    Hello – I have a recently purchased the BDP-s570 blu-ray device. It plays the following internet services well:

    netflix
    youtube
    amazon
    hulu plus (don’t have account but still have access to the login screen)
    qriocity
    pandora
    the other radio station

    However, when i try to access every other internet enabled items, i get an error saying “a network error has occurred”. This occurs with every other internet item, including:

    dailymotion
    blip
    michael jackson videos
    etc.

    Could you please help me with this? I have the blu-ray player connected via wireless, and as mentioned above it works for some items and not others, so it can’t be the internet connection. I am able to connect to the unavailable items on the blu-ray player while using my computer, so it really isn’t a network error. i have updated the firmware. i have reset my router and I still cannot access these items. The product is registered under my account.

    Thank you

  14. @Paul: Does it happen if you connect the Blu-ray player to your router with an Ethernet cable?

  15. Hi Peter – it also doesn’t work when I attach it through the ethernet connection.

    I should mention that I needed to change, in my router, the primary and secondary DNS Servers to a specific address in order to get certain things to work, such as netflix. Could this be the problem? If so, is there a workaround on the player itself that you are aware of? I am also using WPA-PSK security. However, I turned that off and it still didn’t work (of course i realized afterwards that this potential wireless security issue was already dealt with when I connected the blu-ray player via ethernet).

    Any other suggestions? Thanks a lot for your time here.

    Paul

  16. @Paul: If it fails with the Ethernet connection, then it’s not a WiFi problem and, as you discovered, it’s also not because of WPA. A DNS server problem is plausible since you get connection errors to some services, but not others. There are many public DNS servers available. If you’re still getting the errors, try testing with OpenDNS. The IPs for a couple of their servers are 208.67.222.222 and 208.67.220.220 which you can see at the bottom right of their home page.

  17. Thanks Peter. I do believe it is a DNS problem and I am investigating. I don’t want to go through another server without checking it out, but thank you very much for the information in your post as well as your overall help here. Much appreciated.

    Paul

  19. I have the BDP-BX57 player and everything was working fine yesterday in regards to utilizing the wireless features (i.e. Netflix). Then later in the evening when I tried again, nothing would connect (Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, etc). My laptop is working fine with the router and the BD player is able to find the network, just not connect. I have tried resetting everything to the factory default settings, but have had no luck. Any suggestions of other things to try?

  20. @Chris: You might try unplugging the player for a couple of minutes to reset the hardware. Do you encounter the same problem with the Ethernet (wired) connection? If not, the next time you can’t reach the Internet via wireless, try moving the player next to the wireless router to see if it’s a distance/location issue.

  21. Returning it back tomorrow………will not connect wireless……..didn’t spend $135 to have this big a pain in the ass

  22. Wireless not working on Sony S570. Updated firmware per above using wire connection. I have reset both Network connection and reset everything (and re-updated wireless info), still received a failed status for my Internet Access. My wire setup works fine. Any other thoughts?

  23. @Steve: Does it work better if you put the player next to the wireless router? If so, then the problem is likely the location (obstructions interfering with the signal or it’s too far away).

  24. Hello, I positioned the BluRay about 1 metre from the router for the above work. No obstruction between router and BluRay. My wireless connection is 5/5 bars. I re-confirmed password off wireless laptop. I wonder if it could be my WPA. I was thinking of selecting other options. Thanks for the quick response.

  25. @Steve: WPA should work. Try testing with no encryption. Mine works fine with WPA2.