pikvm/docs/wifi.md

Setting up Wi-Fi

!!! warning "This is for ADVANCED Users, for non advanced users please follow this guide.

!!! 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 this guide guide. It is mandatory if you're using Zero 2 W board. It will useful in most other cases, especially if you have physical access to the memory card.

!!! note Devices based on Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W does not support 5GHz Wi-Fi.

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
   
   [DHCP]
   ClientIdentifier=mac
   RouteMetric=50
   

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

   !!! note "Block 2ghz or 5ghz" Add option bssid=xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx to /etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant-wlan0.conf within the network={ block

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