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:
- From the player’s main menu, scroll all the way to the left to Setup.
- Select System Settings, then System Information at the bottom.
- 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:
- In the player’s menu, scroll all the way to the left to Setup.
- Scroll to the bottom and select Resetting.
- Select Reset to Factory Default Settings. Don’t worry, it won’t reset just yet.
- Select Network Settings to wipe out all the network configuration data.
- 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.
@David Smith: Good question. As long as the iPhone acts like a true WiFi hotspot, it should work. In the Blu-ray player, enter the phone’s SSID and, if you have encryption enabled, the type of encryption and encryption key. It should work.
Of course, if your connection is slow, streaming through the phone to the Blu-ray player may not work well.
Thanks for the reply. I have tried your suggestions, “In the Blu-ray player, enter the phone’s SSID and, if you have encryption enabled, the type of encryption and encryption key. It should work”, but still the Blu-ray player DOES NOT see my SSID. I am able to connect to my Apple TV and Amazon Fire through my hotspot, but not this Sony BX510 Blu-ray player. Spoke with Sony tech support, they said “you should be able to connect to the BX510, just keep rescaning until it shows up. Well after literally hundreds of rescans I quit trying. Also spoke with Verizon techs. Tested my hotspot in the store and my hotspot works. If anyone has any other suggestions that I may try, I would appreciate trying again.
Thanks for the reply. I have tried your suggestions, “In the Blu-ray player, enter the phone’s SSID and, if you have encryption enabled, the type of encryption and encryption key. It should work”, but still the Blu-ray player DOES NOT see my SSID. I am able to connect to my Apple TV and Amazon Fire through my hotspot, but not this Sony BX510 Blu-ray player. Spoke with Sony tech support, they said “you should be able to connect to the BX510, just keep rescaning until it shows up. Well after literally hundreds of rescans I quit trying. Also spoke with Verizon techs. Tested my hotspot in the store and my hotspot works. If anyone has any other suggestions that I may try, I would appreciate trying again.
Firmware is up to date.
@David Smith: Did manually setting the SSID work rather than trying to get the Sony to find it? If not, try setting your hotspot to a different channel and be sure that there aren’t other devices connected to your phone already. Usually hotspots have a limited number of devices that they can service at the same time.
Have you tried getting the Blu-ray player to connect to a regular Wi-Fi access point or router? If it can’t connect to a “normal” Wi-Fi device, updating the firmware via Ethernet connection may help.
Peter, just a follow up comment. I finally have gotten my Sony BDP-BX510 to work on my iPhone 5 wireless hotspot. The problem was with the SSID. The original SSID had an ‘s (apostrophe s) in the SSID name. I changed my SSID an removed the ‘s (apostrophe s) and the BX510 was able to see my network. The problem was that the ‘s did not correctly translate into the proper ASII Key characters. I hope this helps some one else.
@David: Good sleuthing! That’s a pretty subtle technicality. Thanks for the follow up. It will be helpful.
I have a Sony BDP-S3200. It is having a problem with intermittent connection to my two PCs on the network. I don’t have a problem getting onto Netflix or Youtube. Network diagnostics all come back fine.
When I go to Network on the PC, the blu ray keeps blinking in and out under Media Devices. On the blu ray screen, under Music, Photos, or Videos, the icons for my two PCs keep appearing and disappearing. When they appear, I can see some folders, but eventually, I get a message saying that it can’t connect to the server.
Any thoughts?
Mine will still not work. Tried the above steps, etc. And I only have capital letters and numbers in my SSID & WPA Key/Password. I even tried the “IT Crowd” solution of “turning it off and on again” …. any help?!
None of these solutions have worked for me — device sees the internet but just can’t connect to the servers to download video.
What if you’ve done all of the above and Internet access still fails??? Do I call my ISP? Sony?
@Jason: Sometimes, Sony’s servers seem to not respond and then the problem goes away.
@Linda: If other devices, such as your laptop, can access the Internet normally, there is nothing wrong with your network. So, don’t call your ISP in that case. Sometimes, Sony’s servers don’t respond for a little while and then the problem goes away.
Oh, so thankful I found this. My blu ray would not connect to the internet after downloading an update, I am technically naïve so I despaired. But I followed the directions and restored every thing to factory settings reentered my info and I am now connected, Thank you!
I’m currently having connectivity problems as well, but I’ve been using this player for at least 2 years without trouble. It says I need to update, but how do you update to fix a connectivity issue if you can’t connect? Tried everything I can think of and nothing works.
Thanks. I reset to the factory settings and it connected to the wireless. I had software updates and the Blu ray would not connect to Amazon or Netflix.
Technically challenged here. How do I update the firmware??? I see its needed but I have zero clue on how to. PLEASE help
I have a Sony BDP-S590 that will no longer connect to my wifi network. How can I change my player’s connection method from wired to wireless? I have tried everything and I can not change it from wired to wireless. An error message keeps popping up saying that a wireless Lan can not be found. Any suggestions? I have reset the device to factory settings and I still can’t get it to say Wireless. Please help!
I’ve had three BDP-S5100 for years now operating on wifi. The last couple of weeks all 3 players have stopped playing Amazon with the message, “This unit needs a software update in order to receive more new and exciting content.” I’m still fine with Netflix and getting online in general (YouTube). My software version is M15.R.0175. Although my connection status is fine for everything else, I’ll go to do a Network Update to see if I’m prompted for a software update and get the message,”Connection status cannot be confirmed. Cannot communicate with server.” Hulu also now just shows “loading” forever. But, again, wifi connection shows fine for everything else.
@Jayelle: You can do the update manually. Go to the Blu-ray player support page http://esupport.sony.com/US/perl/select-system.pl?model_type_group_id=1 to select your model, then in the section System Updates/Firmware, select the operating system for the computer you’ll be using to create the update disc. Follow the instructions to create and use the update disc.
@Ester: Disconnect the network cable from the TV. Go into the TV’s wireless settings and if it doesn’t list your wireless access point name, try entering the SSID manually. Different model players may call the option “manual” something or “other” network.
@Melissa: Try using a network cable, instead of Wi-Fi, to do the firmware update. If it still doesn’t work, wait a few days. Sometimes Sony’s servers don’t respond and then start working again sometime later.
I have a Sony BDP-S570 was working find using wifi…untill it just stopped working. I click on the scan for wirless and nothing comes up anymore. Ive even try using my hotspot from my phone and still it will not find any wifi connections. Can anyone.help. ive unplug unit and even reset settings and nothing..
FINALLY!! Following the instructions above worked! I could have sworn I had reset the factory settings before and it not work, but doesn’t matter, it works now! Thank you!
WOW-WOW-WOW,,,lol
sony blu ray. hmmmmmmm well i got one of them also. bdp-s590. its call brain farts within the op system. most of the time you can clean the fart by unpluging the unit for just a minute. this last brain fart required unpluging unit overnight to clear the fart. the blu ray would connect to my wifi isp but would not pull in internet video content (brain fart) lol…. a 9 hr unplug from ac did the trick. sony, stop brainwashing people and get your act together and make a reliable blu ray. its so sad the trouble you all have caused us consumers!
after reading many sony bluray complants above and to the people that have even unpluged the unit to clear the fault and that did not work try this…unplug the unit from the wall (ac outlet) overnight. with it unpluged push the on&off button on&off several times. the op sys holds charge and may take hours to send them there little electrons to chassis grnd or whatever path they choose to take to discharge. sony get your act together!!!