The convenience of wireless controllers quickly disappears in the face of connection issues, a feeling that many Switch 2 owners are becoming all-too familiar with. While it’s easy to point the blame at buggy firmware, faulty hardware, or other sensible sources, the reason for such troubles is more likely a less obvious one. It’s time to double check your cables.
Turns out that forgoing the HDMI cable packaged with your Switch 2 could be the root of your controller connection woes. As Nintendo outlines in its troubleshooting guide, if you’re not using an ‘Ultra High Speed’ HDMI cable then your console won’t perform as expected while docked. Thankfully, swapping over to the stock wire is a simple fix (providing you’ve not thrown it out, of course).
The reason your tried-and-tested cable isn’t up to handling Switch 2 likely comes down to data rates. Ultra High Speed HDMI cables are capable of communicating up to 48Gb/s of data, the maximum supported by the HDMI 2.1 standard. Even one generation prior, HDMI 2.0, is much slower at 18Gb/s. Older cables create bottlenecks and something has to give, leading to wireless Joy-Con 2 connections getting caught in the crossfire.
UGREEN HDMI 2.1 Cable (Ultra High Speed)
A perfect replacement for your Switch 2 HDMI cable, meeting the ‘Ultra High Speed’ specification of 48Gb/s bandwidth.
If the bundled cable that came with your Switch 2 is beyond reach, you can easily identify an Ultra High Speed HDMI cable off the shelf thanks to certifications on its packaging. I can wholeheartedly recommend options from UGreen, having outfitted my desktop and home theatre setups with cables from the brand.
Should a new HDMI cable not resolve your issues, make sure your dock is running with the official Switch 2 power cable or an alternative capable of delivering at least 54W per Nintendo’s guidelines. You can find further troubleshooting guidelines on the official support page linked below.
We’ve got loads more to say on Switch 2 and other parts of the tech space, so make sure you’re following Club386 on Google News or wherever your favourite social media haunt is.
