WiFi configuration on Raspberry Pi

Why?

WiFi configuration of Raspberry Pi may be pain in the bad. Here is step by step guide with some examples. This configuration is dedicated to build-in WiFi interface.

Environment

1. Raspberry Pi 3 Model B Rev 1.2.
2. Raspberry Pi OS Lite (64 bit) operating system (no GUI, only cmd).

Symptoms

1. Initial state after fresh installaton.
   • WiFi is being disabled at the software level by NetworkManager:

     root@pi15 /h/radek# rfkill list wifi
     0: phy0: Wireless LAN
        Soft blocked: yes
        Hard blocked: no
     root@pi15 /h/radek# nmcli  radio wifi
     disabled
     

   • WiFi interface present but in DOWN state

     3: wlan0: <BROADCAST,MULTICAST> mtu 1500 qdisc fq_codel state DOWN group default qlen 1000
      link/ether b8:27:eb:ad:b7:60 brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
     

   • NetworkManager configuration

     root@pi15 /h/radek# grep WirelessEnabled /var/lib/NetworkManager/NetworkManager.state
     WirelessEnabled=false
     

   • WPA supplicant refuse to start

     root@pi15 /h/radek# wpa_supplicant  -i  wlan0 -c  /etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.conf
     Successfully initialized wpa_supplicant
     rfkill: WLAN soft blocked
     rfkill: WLAN soft blocked
     

HowTo

Below steps use NetworkManager which is enabled by default in recent systems.

1. Enable WiFi using NetworkManager

   root@pi15 /h/radek# nmcli radio wifi on
   root@pi15 /h/radek# nmcli radio wifi
   enabled
   

2. Check WiFi state with rfkill

   root@pi15 /h/radek# rfkill  list wifi
   1: phy0: Wireless LAN
        Soft blocked: no
        Hard blocked: no
   

3. Configure WPA supplicant, create /etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.conf config file:

   root@pi15 /root# cat /etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.conf
   ctrl_interface=DIR=/var/run/wpa_supplicant GROUP=netdev
   update_config=1
   country=PL
   network={
    ssid="wifi-a"
    psk="My%SecretX2"
    priority=10
   }
   network={
    ssid="wifi-b"
    psk="My%SecretX2"
    priority=20
   }
   network={
    ssid="wifi-c"
    psk="My%SecretX2"
    priority=30
   }
   

4. Make sure wpa_supplicant is NOT running and test it as root first:

   systemctl  stop wpa_supplicant.service
   

5. Most common problem, wrong password:

   root@pi15 /root# wpa_supplicant  -i  wlan0 -c  /etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.conf
   ...
   wlan0: Trying to associate with 8a:7c:61:c2:e2:c9 (SSID='wifi-a' freq=2417 MHz)
   wlan0: Associated with 8a:7c:61:c2:e2:c9
   MBO: Disable MBO/OCE due to misbehaving AP not having enabled PMF
   wlan0: CTRL-EVENT-SUBNET-STATUS-UPDATE status=0
   wlan0: CTRL-EVENT-REGDOM-CHANGE init=COUNTRY_IE type=COUNTRY alpha2=DE
   wlan0: CTRL-EVENT-DISCONNECTED bssid=8a:7c:61:c2:e2:c9 reason=15
   wlan0: WPA: 4-Way Handshake failed - pre-shared key may be incorrect
   wlan0: CTRL-EVENT-SSID-TEMP-DISABLED id=0 ssid="wifi-a" auth_failures=1 duration=10 reason=WRONG_KEY
   ...
   

6. Restart and enable wpa_supplicant.service:

   systemctl  enable --now  wpa_supplicant.service
   

7. Add WiFi connection using NetworkManager:

   nmcli connection add type wifi con-name "wifi-a" ifname wlan0 ssid "wifi-a" wifi-sec.key-mgmt wpa-psk wifi-sec.psk ""My%SecretX2
   

8. Finally configure IP of your new shiny WiFi interface:

   nmcli connection modify <UUID_OF_WIFI_CONNECTION> \
    ipv4.method manual \
    ipv4.dns 192.168.14.1 \
    ipv4.dns-search kresy.local \
    ipv4.addresses 192.168.14.115/23  \
    ipv4.gateway 192.168.14.1
   nmcli connection modify <UUID_OF_WIFI_CONNECTION> \
    ipv6.method manual \
    ipv6.dns fd00:f00c::ffff:c0a8:e01 \
    ipv6.dns-search kresy.local \
    ipv6.addresses fd00:f00c::ffff:c0a8:e73/64 \
    ipv6.gateway fd00:f00c::ffff:c0a8:e01
   

Enjoy!