How to Surf the Internet on your Wii
with the Wii Internet Channel

The Wii has its own specially designed web browser for surfing the internet, called the Wii internet channel.

The internet channel is just like the Internet Explorer web browser on your computer, and lets you visit all of your favourite websites on the net.

The Wii internet channel doesn't come already installed on the Wii console, so you'll need to download it from the Wii Shop if you want to surf the web. The internet channel used to cost 500 points to download but is now free.

You can find out how to download software from the Wii Shop on the Wii Shop help page.

It's important to note that you don't need the internet channel to use the other Wii online services. If you don't want to download it, you can still play your Wii games online, buy games and software from the Wii Shop, and use the Friends Message Board without the internet channel installed on your Wii.

You'll only need the internet channel if you want to use your Wii to visit websites.

If you already use a computer to browse the internet, you might be asking why you would need to use your Wii to do the same thing...well, the Wii internet channel can actually add extra features to your console if you use it smartly!

• Use the internet channel to stream music from your favourite internet radio stations. Because the internet channel works like a regular computer web browser, you can listen to music from the same web radio stations you listen to on your computer. Some of the most popular ones are Pandora.com and WinAmp Remote.
• There are lots of websites on the internet with free Wii flash games that you can play using the Wii mote controller. Simply surf to these sites and play these free games online directly in the Wii's web browser.
• Watch your favourite YouTube clips on your Wii. YouTube and Nintendo have launched the "YouTube for Television" website which can only be accessed from the Wii console (www.youtube.com/tv).
• In the UK, you can watch your favourite TV shows using the BBC iPlayer.

Because the Wii internet browser has been specially designed for the Wii console, you can't install the same internet browser that you use on your computer.

Once you have downloaded the Wii internet channel from the Wii Shop though, you're free to surf all your favourite websites, and add some extra oomph to your Wii console, without paying any service fees (like you have to with the XBox Live service).


The Wii internet channel adds fun and features to the Wii console. Learn more about the Wii from the Wii Features main page.


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