Everything you need to know about connecting your Garmin watch to Wi-Fi.
Connecting your Garmin watch to a Wi-Fi network is fundamental to the experience. To get the latest updates or connect to Spotify, you’ll first need to set up your Garmin Wi-Fi.
Fortunately, this is usually quite straightforward – and Garmin now enables you to do this through the Connect app or directly on the device.
Below, we will go over how to do both and offer troubleshooting tips for when connecting your Garmin watch to Wi-Fi isn’t smooth sailing.
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How to add a new Wi-Fi network to Garmin
In most cases, you’ll be prompted to join and save a Wi-Fi network in Garmin Connect during the initial setup of your device. However, if you are in a hotel, office, or public place with a different network, you will need to add it to ensure your device continues to function normally.
Add a new network in Garmin Connect
- Open Garmin Connect on your iOS/Android device and begin in the ‘More’ section.
- Scroll to the bottom and tap ‘Garmin Devices’.
- Choose the device you wish to connect, then ‘Connectivity’ (or ‘General’)
- Next, select ‘Wi-Fi’ > ‘My Network’ and then ‘Add a Network’ to prompt a search.
- A list of available networks will then appear, as well as the option to add one manually.
- Select the network you want to connect to, input the password, and select ‘Connect’.
- Tap ‘OK’ to complete the process – your watch should now freely connect to this network.
Add a new network from your Garmin watch
- From your watch’s home screen, hold the ‘Up/Menu’ button until the list of options appears.
- Scroll down to and select ‘Connectivity’.
- Next, tap ‘Wi-Fi’.
- Ensure the ‘Status’ is turned on and then scroll down to ‘My Networks’.
- Hit ‘Add Network’ to begin a search for available networks around you.
- Select the network you want to add and then use the keyboard or letter wheel to type in the password.
- Confirm the password and then wait for your watch to connect.
Top tip: Have Garmin Connect open during this process – the ‘Instant Keyboard’ will appear when you’re prompted to type in the password on your watch, which is much quicker.
Garmin Wi-Fi requirements and troubleshooting
If you’re here, you might be having issues with Garmin Wi-Fi. While this isn’t very common in our experience, there are a couple of requirements that you need to follow first:
- Only 2.4 GHz frequency is supported
- Security for the network must be WPA or WPA2 (or have no password)
- The password must be at least eight characters long
- The Wi-Fi network can’t contain a captive portal (browser login screen)
If you believe the Wi-Fi network you’re trying to join meets those requirements, it’s time to dig a little deeper. Here are our go-to troubleshooting steps when we encounter further issues with Garmin Wi-Fi:
- Ensure Garmin Connect is up to date by checking the App Store or Google Play Store
- Try both methods – Garmin Connect and the watch itself – for entering a new network
- Remove your network from the ‘My Networks’ section and reconnect
- Remove parental controls – these may affect your connection
- Restart your Garmin watch
