The NW-31280-4 error on the PS4 is a more obscure error code, which suddenly pops up telling players their PS4 cannot connect to the internet. They cannot play games online, see their friends list or log into YouTube or other apps. The PS4 just cuts off from the internet entirely.

This appears to be more of a general error than a specific one, and can have many different causes and solutions to fix it. There could be a number of reasons why your PS4 cannot connect to the internet, including a weak Wi-Fi signal from your router, or the PSN or wider internet in your area having problems.

The NW-31280-4 connection error usually relates to a weak Wi-Fi connection with your router, and either moving to wired LAN, resetting your console or reconfiguring and refreshing your internet settings seems to resolve this issue. There may also be an IP conflict where your PS4 is trying to use and IP address that another device on your network is already using, and moving to a different IP often resolves this.

Let’s run through some of the different ways PS4 users have fixed this error message in more detail.

Quick Solutions To Fix PS4 Error Code NW-31280-4

Browsing through the various forums, here is a list of quick solutions that have worked for different PS4 users in resolving this error code. Most often, it appears to simply boil down to a poor Wi-Fi connection between your router and console, or IP address conflict, and either reconfiguring or resetting it in different forms often restores the connection and gets rid of the error message.

• Move your PS4 and router closer together.
• Quick reset your PS4 and router.
• Hard reset your PS4 and router, fully unplugging them for 10-15 minutes before plugging them back in. Especially try this if your PS4 has been in Rest Mode for a long time.
• Make sure your PS4 is fully up to date. Go the Settings….System Software Update to check.
• Restore the Default Settings on your PS4 in Safe Mode – see this video. Option number 4 is the one to use. It merely restores all default connection and game settings; it does not delete any data. Here are the quick steps:
  • • Make sure your PS4 controller is plugged in and not on wireless.
    • Press and hold the power button for 7 seconds on your PS4 when it is turned off.
    • Safe Mode should boot up
    • When in there, you need to select Option 4 – Restore Default Settings.
• Use wired LAN connections instead of wireless. Ethernet connections are always better than wireless for gaming. See the section below for more on this.
• Use the WPS button to connect through Wi-Fi. This is a button that is on your router; press and hold it until it starts flashing and then run through the Wi-Fi connection setup on your PS4, selecting the WPS option whilst the button is still flashing on your router.
• Configure your connection through Wi-Fi, but select Custom instead of Easy when setting it up. Then run through all the options as they are, without changing them and finish the setup and test the connection. Sometimes works.
• Connect with a LAN cable temporarily and set up a connection this way. Then reconfigure through Wi-Fi again if you would rather use wireless for now, leaving the LAN cable plugged in. Once your Wi-Fi in connected, unplug the LAN cable and the Wi-Fi should work.
• Switch the Wi-Fi band your console is connecting from 2.4GHz to 5GHz or vice versa. See Solution #1 of this article for how to do this. Use the other band to whatever you are using now.
• There may be an IP addressing conflict. Try setting a static IP for your PS4, as per Solution #3 in this article. For the last part of your IP, pick a number above 100 but less than 254. If you are using a static IP, switch back to Automatic or Easy setup and see if this works. Here are quick steps for setting a static IP:
  • • Go to Settings…Network….Set Up Internet Connection
    • Select Wi-Fi or LAN depending on your connection
    • Select Custom setup for LAN
    • For IP Address, switch to Manual and input the following values:
      • • IP Address – 192.168.0.x, where x is any number between 100 and 254 (you choose)
        • Subnet Mask – 255.255.255.0
        • Default Gateway – 192.168.0.1
        • Primary DNS – 8.8.8.8
        • Secondary DNS – 8.8.4.4
    • Alternatively, you can go to Settings.…Connection Status before you start, and note down all the above settings with a pen and paper, and then go and reconfigure the connection, entering the details as you noted them, but just changing the last digit of the IP address. Sometimes IP addresses, Subnet Masks and Default Gateways do change depending on where you are in the world.
    • Run through the rest of the settings as they are, without changing them.
    • Save and test your internet connection to see if you can get back online.
    • See our full article on setting a static IP address for a more in depth look at this.

 

Leaving the PS4 in Rest Mode for a long time, several hours or more, is also a fairly common cause of this error message, and fully resetting your console a few times can sometimes flush all the settings out and reset everything back to the point where you can connect again.

In fact all of the above solutions are basically different ways of resetting all your network settings and configuration back to default and starting again with a new connection, new IP address etc.

Anyone who has tried all these solutions and still can’t get this error message resolved, or are now getting a different error message, leave a note in the comments, or check out our other PS4 error codes we have covered.

Use Wired Connections For Gaming If Possible

As we have mentioned in relation to PS4 error messages before, so many of them often result from using Wi-Fi to connect and getting a poor or unreliable signal as a result. This is unfortunately largely built into the way Wi-Fi operates, as wireless RF signals are always prone to dropping out and weakening over distance.

This is why it is always better to be on wired LAN/ethernet connections for gaming whenever possible, since they always produce a more reliable and consistent connection for gaming than Wi-Fi, especially the further you get from the router. See our article on the many benefits wired connections have over Wi-Fi for gaming.

If you are only using Wi-Fi in the first place because you are too far away from the router to run an ethernet cable directly, then consider a powerline adapter as an alternative way of getting on a wired connection even at distance from the router.

Powerline adapter kits consist of a pair of adapters, one of which is connected to your router and other of which is connected to your PS4. The two adapters then communicate through the existing electrical wiring of the house to deliver a strong, wired internet connection to the receiving end, even if it is several rooms away from the router and the Wi-Fi signal is weak there.

They are clever home networking solutions which can help out with exactly this problem of Wi-Fi being too weak for PS4 users when you have too many walls or floors in the way and the Wi-Fi signal keeps failing and dropping out, delivering these connection error message like the NW-31280-4 error.

Powerline adapters take advantage of the fact that copper wiring can transmit data as well as electricity, and effectively turn your wall socket into a wired ethernet connection, bypassing Wi-Fi altogether and giving you the advantages of a wired connection (low latency, higher bandwidth, consistent signal) without having to run long cables through the house.

They can be an excellent solution for gamers and are worth considering for gamers if you are on Wi-Fi and you keep suffering from lag or getting these PS4 connection error messages. See the video just below for a demonstration of how powerline technology works.

 

You can find links to the TP Link Nano Powerline adapter pictured above, plus more advanced models, from different retailers, on our Powerline Adapters page.