Can I Use PS4 Remote Play From Starbucks?

One of the features that people get excited about for the PS4 is the ability to play PS4 games remotely on your PS Vita. It”s very simple to do and allows you to continue playing your game when other people want to watch the rugby on the big telly, for example.

Since this is done over the wi-fi connection, you can”t help wondering if you could use it to play PS4 games when you”re out and about, right? Could be nice to play some Assassin”s Creed IV over the lunch break. With that in mind, we took our PS Vita out for a jolly at three of the biggest nationwide franchises that offer free wi-fi: Starbucks, McDonalds and Wetherspoons.

Note: This is not recommended by Sony. Over in the PS4 FAQ on the EU PlayStation Blog they say specifically:

“Can Remote Play work outside the user’s home network?
We strongly recommend that Remote online casino Play be used within the same WiFi network where the PS4 system is connected. Remote Play may or may not work over a wide area network. For Remote Play to function over a wide area network, a robust and stable WiFi connection and broadband Internet connection is required, and the local area network where the PS4 system is connected must be configured to permit the PS Vita system to access the PS4 system.”

But you”ve gotta try, right?

The experiment failed miserably. Connecting at home works wonderfully – there”s no noticeable lag so Nick could quite happily play Resogun without any troubles. Connecting from outdoors just didn”t happen.

We managed to get on the wi-fi networks at all three locations but not one of them could find our PS4 over the Internet. It”s not featured in the video but we actually tried two separate Starbucks locations, as well as a Waterstones. On top of that we tried the paid outdoor service from BT Wifi and couldn”t connect to that at all.

We tried. We failed.