pikvm/docs/wifi.md

Setting up Wi-Fi

!!! tip There is nothing more reliable than wired Ethernet, so it's better to use it. Wi-Fi with the steel case (on PiKVM V3 and V4) results in poor performance. But who are we to stop you... :)

The following describes how to setup a Wi-Fi connection. We recommend to do this while having a display and keyboard or a serial console connected directly to the Raspberry Pi as you will loose network connectivity once you connect to a Wi-Fi. Alternatively you can connect to the PiKVM via SSH. The built-in Web Terminal (available through the browser) should also work.

!!! note "Setting up Wi-Fi in the boot config (semi-auto)" Check out Optional setting up Wi-Fi in the First Steps guide. This is mandatory if you're using Zero 2 W board. It will work in most other cases, especially if you have physical access to the memory card.

??? note "Moving Wi-Fi settings for OS older than 2021.10.19" Starting from 2021.10.19, the old way to configure Wi-Fi using netctl is deprecated. Instead, it is proposed to use a more native path with systemd-networkd, which is already used to configure Ethernet. Follow the guide and then delete the old netctl profile:

```
# rw
# systemctl disable netctl-auto@wlan0.service
# rm /etc/netctl/wlan0-*
# ro
```

Setting up Wi-Fi manually

1. Make filesystem writable using rw command.

2. Create Wi-Fi settings file /etc/systemd/network/wlan0.network with following content:

   [Match]
   Name=wlan0
   
   [Network]
   DHCP=yes
   DNSSEC=no
   
   # Use same IP by forcing to use MAC address for clientID
   [DHCP]
   ClientIdentifier=mac
   

3. Set network ESSID and password:

   # wpa_passphrase 'MyNetwork' 'P@assw0rd' > /etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant-wlan0.conf
   # chmod 640 /etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant-wlan0.conf
   

   !!! note "Using Wi-Fi with hidden ESSID" Add option scan_ssid=1 to /etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant-wlan0.conf

   !!! note "Using 5GHz Wi-Fi in the USA" Add option country=US to /etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant-wlan0.conf

4. Enable WPA-supplicant service:

   systemctl enable wpa_supplicant@wlan0.service
   

5. Make filesystem read-only again using ro command

Useful console commands

• iwconfig - Manipulate the basic wireless parameters.
• iwlist - Allow's you to initiate scanning and list frequencies, bit-rates, encryption keys, etc.
• iwspy - Displays per node link quality.
• iwpriv - Allow's you to manipulate the Wireless Extensions specific to a driver (private).

??? example "Some examples" # iw dev wlan0 scan | egrep "signal:|SSID:" | sed -e "s/\tsignal: //" -e "s/\tSSID: //" | awk '{ORS = (NR % 2 == 0)? "\n" : " "; print}' | sort # iwlist wlan0 scan | egrep "Cell|ESSID|Signal|Rates" # iwlist wlan0 scan # iw wlan0 info

Additional resources

• Arch Linux Wiki for systemd-networkd