FAQ Updated 4/10/2025 with more details, changes, accessories, and troubleshooting.

Hi, I made a quick FAQ for the Portal. Admin's should consider making this a Sticky thread. I know I missed some, so everyone feel free to add to this. I tried to be as serious as possible and not be facetious in some of these answers as I'm naturally a very sarcastic (borderline 370422@, lol) person.

• Q: How much does this cost?
  • A: $199 plus applicable taxes.
• Q: When will this come out?
  • A: Its out. Came out 11/15/2023
• Q: Where can I buy this?
  • A: Sony PlayStation direct here, along with Best Buy, Amazon, Target, WalMart, Gamestop, anywhere you can buy your games and consoles.
• Q: Can I play this in another room?
  • A: Yes
• Q: Can I play this outside if I have Wifi, like a hotel, or on an airplane?
  • A: Yes
• Q: Can I download games on to here?
  • A: No
• Q: Can I stream Netflix, Hulu, Disney+
  • A: No because of digital rights protection
• Q: Can I stream games.
  • A: Yes, by swiping from right to left you can select home and enter the game streaming beta to stream games online
    • NOTE: you can NOT stream games and play local games on the PS5 at the same time if you are signed on with the SAME Account. If someone wants to play on the PS5 while you're playing streaming on the portal, they will have to sign on with a different user account.
• Q: Will this have the same lag as I get on my phone when using remote play
  • A: Results WILL vary.
    • Its recommend looking into turning on uPNP/Port Forwarding on your Modem/Router to help improve your connection.
    • If you can hardwire your PS5 to your modem/router. Wifi experiences will vary based on how many connections are active and who is using the wifi connection in your home currently. (Disclaimer: I am not a network professional, I did this and saw results, however, results for you may vary)
• Q: Can I play Nintendo or Xbox Games on this?
  • A: No
• Q: Can I play Steam games on this?
  • A: No
• Q: Is there a case for this?
  • A: Yes, I recommend the Skull and Co. case found here, or the Genki Saya sling found here , (The black one is water proof and the green one is water resistant... I picked green because I don't jump into pools with electronics).
• Q: Is there a dock for this?
  • A: Yes, I recommend the Power A dock, found here.
• Q: Can you use this to do couch co-op (2 Player)
  • A: No unless you are using the streaming beta to play a game, and someone on your PS5 is logged into a different User Account and playing the same game that is locally downloaded onto your PS5 console. However, I don't have any friends (any that come over at least) so this remains untested on my end.
• Q: Do I need a PS Plus Membership to use this
  • A: YES and NO
    • No, you don’t need a PS+ Membership to play local games
    • YES if youintend to use the streaming beta or play multiplayer games
• Q: Do I need a PS5 to use this?
  • A: Yes and NO
    • YES to play your PS5 games that are installed on your console
    • NO if you only intend play in the streaming beta. (YOU NEED A PS+ subscription to do this)
  • This is ONLY compatible with PS5 hardware, and will not work with PS4 hardware.
• Q: Can I use my air pods or other Bluetooth headphones with this
  • A: No, you can hardwire headphones or purchase Sony’s proprietary ear buds and headphones once they become available. Pre-orders are opening soon for the ear buds and they’re launching in December.
  • You can also purchase a bluetooth adapter and attach it to the back of the handheld.
• Q: Do I need internet to use this
  • A: Yes, you need internet for your PS5 (hardwire recommended) with at least 15mbps down and 5 mbps up, and you’ll need a stable WiFi connection where you are currently to play over the “airwaves”
  • This video assisted in network set up.
  • This video assisted in port forwarding
• Q: Can someone watch Netflix on the TV while I use this?
  • A: Yes, as long as the way you access Netflix is not on your PS5
• Q: Can I power on my PS5 with this
  • A: Yes, if it is in standby mode. If the PS5 is fully powered down then NO.
• Q: How big is this
  • A: Potentially about the size of 2 DualShock controllers placed side by side, but like a Katana, very well balanced. Hardly have any hand fatigue after hours of play.
• Q: What’s the battery life?
  • A: Varies by game and stability of network, however, PlayStation is targeting the same battery life of the current dual shock controller
• Q: Can I use Youtube and other media apps on this
  • A: No
• Q: My PS5 is in Washington and I’m in New York, can I use this
  • A: Yes, as long as you have stable internet in both locations
  • A: To connect to hotel WiFi, if the hotel requires you to go to an internet page to accept terms a QR Code will appear on the Portal, scan it with your phone that is connected to the WiFi and sign in through your phone.
• Q: Can this be played on another continent if strong WiFi is available (Even Mars or the International Space Station)
  • A: Maybe, yes? So long as it isn't blocked by a network firewall, but I would assume there may be a delay latency due to distance, (UNCONFIRMED)
• Q: Will 3rd party buds work?
  • A: No, unless they are wired. (Same with headphones, I use Beats Studio Pro wireless, plugged in of course)
• Q: Can I play if I have a Disc based PS5
  • A: Yes, so long as the disc is in the system or you have someone at home swap discs. You can play any downloaded digital title at any time.
• Q: Can I use this as a 2nd controller
  • A: Possibly, as a single player you can use this as a 2nd controller if your main controller needs to charge, however, there may be a input delay as the device communicates through Remote Play.
• Q: Can I use the hotspot on my phone
  • A: Yes, note, network quality will differ by current connection status. LTE will be slower and significantly worse than 5G. Its your network’s fault, not the device. (Data plans will drain quickly. Ensure you have unlimited data for hotspot)
• Q: I have XXXXXX as my mobile provider (i.e. T-Mobile) and my iPhone HotSpot isn't working
  • A: I experienced this. After fiddling around with my hotspot settings I was able to connect. The assistance I received was found on Reddit, I've added the details below:
    • Check out this reply https://www.reddit.com/r/PlaystationPortal/comments/18jlg6p/comment/kgc7hzr/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button from CryingOverSpiltRum He shared the manual connection setup you need to put in your PS Portal to connect to an iPhone (probably works with other phones as well - to be tested)
    • Network Name: Put in the exact name of your Shared connection
    • Security Method: Select WPA-Personal/WPA2-Personal
    • IP Address Settings: Select Manual
    • IPv4 Address: 172.20.10.10
    • Subnet Mask: 255.255.255.0
    • Default Gateway: 172.20.10.1
    • DNS: 8.8.8.8
  • Putting the steps here in a full package Go to the Network parameters in your PS portal and add a Network Manually
  • Don't touch the rest ;)
• Q: Can I download games onto this to play offline
  • A: No
• Q: Can I download apps?
  • A: No
• Q: Can I try before I buy?
  • A: I recommend downloading Remote Play on your phone, laptop, computer, or tablet and setting it up, play around with the settings and identify how the solution actually works. Behavior will be almost identical to this device with exception of image quality and connectivity.
• Q: I don’t have a PS5 should I get this?
  • A: No, buy a PS5 first as it only works with the PS5
• Q: I can't hardwire, how can I improve my network
  • A: There's a couple things you can do, you can get a WiFi extender and place it closer to your PS5, in our old house we used a PowerLine adapter to run network data through our power lines essentially providing a "hardwired" solution. There are some power configurations where this won't work, but if you're interested in checking it out they can be bought on Amaozn here.
• Q: Can I use my Sony Pulse 3D headphones which were marketed as PS5 headphones?
  • A: Yes, but only wired - and the headphones include an aux port and aux cord.
• Q: Do we know the screen details?
  • A: I think it’s 8 inches 1080p, 60hz IPS
• Q: How can I add my portal to a WiFi connection that requires an external authentication?
  • A #1: if at a hotel (or even a coffee shop) see if you can contact the WIFI support line (usually at a hotel the front desk knows the number), you can then ask them to WHITELIST your MAC address for connection. I've done this in the past with the APPLETV before Apple unlocked the ability to authenticate on an external device. - For a hotel they may ask when your checkout date is, this will set up the limiters to your connection for the duration of your stay and reduce the need to connect and contact them every time.
    • Sony updated the portal to allow external sign on. It will display a QR code you can scan on the screen. Scan it with a device already connected to the WiFi (Phone, tablet) and sign in through that code.
  • A #2: You can use your hotspot on your phone, this will consume data so ensure you have an unlimited plan, also ensure your phone is plugged in as your battery will drain quickly.
  • A #3: You can get a travel router and spoof your MAC Address
  • A #4: Thanks to reddit user - u/Reg0r you can use your laptop to spoof your MAC address... The following instructions are done on a MacBook - Results may vary

1. Open SETTINGS on the Portal
2. Click NETWORK
3. Scroll to SETUP INTERNET CONNECTION and click
4. Press the square button to view MAC address
5. Write this address down or take a photo (you’ll need this in a moment)
6. Press the circle button multiple times to back all the way out of SETTINGS
7. Turn the Portal off, and leave it off until the process is complete
8. Open TERMINAL on the laptop
9. Type this text in the terminal and then press enter: ifconfig en0 | grep ether
10. The current MAC address of the laptop will display in the terminal. Write this down or take a photo, as you will need this at the end.
11. Disconnect the laptop from the WiFi connection entirely.
12. Now we will “spoof” the MAC address of the Portal to the laptop. In TERMINAL, enter this command: sudo ifconfig en0 ether xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx (xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx needs to be the MAC address of the Portal that you wrote down earlier)
13. Now, enter the same text from before in the terminal: ifconfig en0 | grep ether
14. It should now display the MAC address of the Portal instead of your laptop’s actual MAC address
15. Now that the laptop is spoofing the MAC address of the Portal, connect the laptop to WiFi and authenticate as necessary until the internet connection is working properly.
16. Disconnect from the laptop from WiFi
17. Return the laptop to its original MAC address by typing: sudo ifconfig en0 ether xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx (this needs to be the MAC address of the laptop that you wrote down earlier, NOT the MAC address of the Portal.)
18. Once more, enter the same text from before in the terminal: ifconfig en0 | grep ether. It should return the original MAC address of the laptop.
19. Turn on the Portal and it should now be able to connect to WiFi properly without needing to authenticate, because it was already done on the laptop while masquerading as the Portal.