Forum Discussion
Thanks for laying this out clearly -- that behavior is important.
If the connection fails on the first attempt regardless of whether you start on WiFi or a hotspot, and then succeeds after switching networks, that points to something different than a specific ISP or router issue.
In this case, the consistent factor isn’t the network itself, but the initial connection attempt. The network switch is effectively forcing a fresh connection attempt, which is why it succeeds on the second try.
That explains why:
- Both WiFi and hotspot can fail if used first
- Both can work after switching
- The issue resets after restarting the game/system
So this isn’t about one network “blocking” the connection -- it’s about how the connection is being established on the first attempt.
For now, the most reliable workaround remains:
- Start the game and attempt to go online
- If it fails, switch networks (WiFi ↔ hotspot) to force a new connection attempt
If others are seeing the same “first attempt fails, second works after switching” pattern, feel free to confirm -- that helps separate this from standard network-specific issues.
Did some additional testing to see what worked and didn't, detailed below. These were all done one after the other.
- Restart > Change from WiFi to hotspot > Works
- Restart > Change from hotspot to WiFi > Works
- Back out of lobby > Attempt to host new game > Fails
- Restart (staying on WiFi) > Fails
- Change to hotspot (no restart) > Fails
- Restart (staying on hot spot) > Works
- Back out of lobby > Attempt to host new game > Fails
- Change to WiFi (no restart) > Fails
This seems to support that we have one shot at connecting, regardless of the connection method (see 3 and 7) but have to restart for a connection change to "count" (see 4-6). The most reliable hack seems to be to restart, then change the connection method, then host a game (see 1 and 2). EA_Leeuw, is this helpful in getting closer to an actual fix?
For some bonus testing, I checked my Switch's WiFi NAT and got a B (Nintendo grades this from A to F, A being the best). I also tried a couple other non-EA Switch online games on WiFi and had no issues starting a lobby. If anyone has a different Switch EA game to test starting an online lobby, maybe that could also help narrow down the cause?