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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... :)
  • Devices based on Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W does not support 5GHz Wi-Fi.

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.

Take a look at the easiest way

This guide describes how to manually set up a Wi-Fi. An easier way is to use On-boot config. It is also mandatory for Zero 2 W board.

Setting up Wi-Fi manually

  1. Make filesystem writable using the rw command.

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

    [Match]
Name=wlan0

[Network]
DHCP=yes
DNSSEC=no

[DHCP]
ClientIdentifier=mac
RouteMetric=50

  3. Set network ESSID and password:

    [root@pikvm ~]# wpa_passphrase 'MyNetwork' 'P@assw0rd' > /etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant-wlan0.conf
[root@pikvm ~]# chmod 640 /etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant-wlan0.conf

    WPA2 and WPA3 support

    Add options key_mgmt=WPA-PSK-SHA256 WPA-PSK and ieee80211w=1 to /etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant-wlan0.conf

    Using Wi-Fi with hidden ESSID

    Add option scan_ssid=1 to /etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant-wlan0.conf

    Using 5GHz Wi-Fi in the USA

    Add option country=US to /etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant-wlan0.conf

    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:

[root@pikvm ~]# systemctl enable wpa_supplicant@wlan0.service
  1. Make filesystem read-only again using ro command

Multiple Wi-Fi networks

You can configure PiKVM to connect to one of several known Wi-Fi networks. To do this, just simply add the configuration of these networks. Pay attention to the symbol >>, it is used to append at the end of configuration, while a single > will overwrite the entire configuration.

  1. Make the filesystem writeble with rw command.

  2. Add some new networks:

    [root@pikvm ~]# wpa_passphrase 'Wifi1' 'P@assw0rd' >> /etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant-wlan0.conf
[root@pikvm ~]# wpa_passphrase 'Wifi2' 'P@assw0rd' >> /etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant-wlan0.conf
[root@pikvm ~]# wpa_passphrase 'Wifi3' 'P@assw0rd' >> /etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant-wlan0.conf

  3. Restart the service: systemctl restart wpa_supplicant@wlan0.service.

  4. Make the filesystem read-only again using ro command

Antenna on PiKVM V4

PiKVM V4 has a robust metal case that protects your device from physical damage and electromagnetic interference. This also means that an external antenna must be used for Wi-Fi. We recommend the official Antenna Kit for Raspberry Pi.

To install the antenna, fix it in the round hole in the back side of the PiKVM, and plug the wire to the connector on the Compute Module 4.

Next, to activate the antenna, add line dtparam=ant2 to the /boot/config.txt file on PiKVM, and perform reboot.

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).
Some examples 

[root@pikvm ~]# iw dev wlan0 scan | egrep "signal:|SSID:" | sed -e "s/\tsignal: //" -e "s/\tSSID: //" | awk '{ORS = (NR % 2 == 0)? "\n" : " "; print}' | sort

[root@pikvm ~]# iwlist wlan0 scan | egrep "Cell|ESSID|Signal|Rates"

[root@pikvm ~]# iwlist wlan0 scan

[root@pikvm ~]# iw wlan0 info

Additional resources