Learn Hardcore Russian: Я хочу подключиться к сети Wi-Fi.

подключиться means “to connect oneself,” specifically to link your device to something. The suffix -ся makes the verb reflexive, indicating the action is directed at the subject (you’re connecting yourself or your device). Without -ся, подключить would mean “to connect” something else (e.g. “to connect a printer”).

Why is the perfective form подключиться used here instead of the imperfective подключаться?

Perfective aspect (подключиться) is used to talk about a completed action: you want to connect (and succeed). Imperfective (подключаться) would focus on the process or repeated action (“I want to be connecting”), which sounds unnatural in this context.

Why do we use the preposition к with сети, and what case is сети?

The preposition к governs the dative case, indicating direction toward something. сети is the dative form of сеть (network). So к сети literally means “to the network.”

Can we say Я хочу подключиться к Wi-Fi without сети?

Yes. It’s common to drop сеть and say Я хочу подключиться к Wi-Fi, treating Wi-Fi as a stand-alone noun. Both versions are understood.

Why is Wi-Fi written in Latin script here, and how else might it appear in Russian?

Foreign technical terms like Wi-Fi often stay in Latin script. You may also see it transliterated as вай-фай, fully in Cyrillic, but both are acceptable and commonly understood.

Why is the phrase ordered as Я хочу подключиться к сети Wi-Fi, and could you drop Я?

In Russian, personal pronouns are often optional because the verb ending already indicates the subject. You can say simply Хочу подключиться к сети Wi-Fi in casual speech. The word order (Я хочу + infinitive) is the standard way to express desire (“I want to …”).

Could you express the same idea using a noun, for example Я хочу подключение к сети Wi-Fi?

You could, but it would sound awkward and overly formal. Russian prefers the verb construction хочу подключиться, which is more natural than using the noun подключение in this context.