Connect a Samsung TV to Wi‑Fi without a remote
This is the hard case: no remote, and the TV is not on your network. Phone apps, Tuned included, cannot reach a TV that is offline, so the first job is to get the TV online by another route. These routes work, from easiest to slowest.
Route 1: plug in a network cable
Most Samsung smart TVs have an Ethernet (LAN) port on the back. Run a cable from it to your router. The TV usually joins the network by itself within a minute or so, with no menu to navigate. You can leave the cable in, or use it only to get started. A TV on a cable counts as being on your network, so Tuned can connect to it as long as your phone is on the same router.
Route 2: the phone hotspot trick
A TV remembers networks it has joined. If it forgot your Wi‑Fi because you changed router or password, you can make your phone pretend to be the old network.
- On your phone, open the personal hotspot settings.
- Give the hotspot exactly the same name and password as the Wi‑Fi the TV used to know.
- Switch the hotspot on and restart the TV.
- The TV joins the hotspot. Your phone is now on the same network as the TV.
- Open Tuned, connect, and use the remote to pick your real Wi‑Fi under Settings, General, Network.
Hotspots can be 2.4 GHz only, depending on the phone, and some TVs are fussy about that. If the TV does not join within a couple of minutes, try another route.
Route 3: use the control button
The control button on the TV, usually a joystick under the bottom edge or at the back, opens a small on-screen menu on many models. From there you can reach Settings, then Network, then choose your Wi‑Fi. Typing a long password with a joystick is slow, but it works. A USB keyboard plugged into the TV makes the typing easier on models that accept one.
Route 4: borrow a way to navigate
- A universal infrared remote set to Samsung.
- An Android phone with an infrared blaster. Tuned has an infrared mode for these, which needs no network. iPhones have no infrared.
- A USB mouse in the TV's USB port, on models that accept one.
What Tuned does once the TV is online
When the TV is on your network, Tuned finds it, asks you to choose Allow on the TV, and then gives you the full remote including typing, so a long Wi‑Fi password is quick. It cannot join a TV to Wi‑Fi by itself, because the TV is not reachable until it is online.
Questions about Samsung Wi‑Fi without a remote
Can the Tuned app connect my Samsung TV to Wi‑Fi?
Not on its own. Tuned talks to the TV over your home network, so the TV has to be on that network first. Use a cable, the hotspot trick or the TV's button to get it there.
Does the SmartThings app fix this?
SmartThings also needs the TV and phone on the same network, and it asks for a Samsung account. It does not solve a TV that is offline.
What if the Wi‑Fi password has changed?
The TV cannot join until it is given the new one. Use the cable route or hotspot route to get the TV online, then change the Wi‑Fi in its network settings.
Will my Samsung TV work on a guest network?
Not with Tuned. The phone and the TV must be on the same normal network. A guest network usually keeps devices apart.
Get Tuned
Free to download for iPhone and Android.