{"id":86,"date":"2016-04-09T19:05:09","date_gmt":"2016-04-09T18:05:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/eoghan.me.uk\/notes\/?p=86"},"modified":"2021-10-15T11:43:26","modified_gmt":"2021-10-15T10:43:26","slug":"rpi-wifi-wpa-supplicant","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/eoghan.me.uk\/notes\/2016\/04\/09\/rpi-wifi-wpa-supplicant\/","title":{"rendered":"Setting up RPi WiFi using WPA Supplicant"},"content":{"rendered":"

NOTE<\/strong>: This section may be redundant if you have set up your WiFi connection in the Raspberry Pi’s GUI.<\/span><\/p>\n

When I set up my Raspberry Pi’s WiFi, I used some well written notes on configuring WiFi with the wpa_supplicant file provided by Eduard Sch\u00e4li<\/a>.<\/p>\n

WiFi adapter or built-in<\/h2>\n

With the Raspberry Pi 2 Model B I started with, I used an Edimax 2.4 GHz USB 2.0 (EW-7811UN)<\/a> WiFi adapter.<\/p>\n

But the Raspberry Pi 3 now comes with built-in wireless<\/a>.<\/p>\n

[Note: I had trouble trying to set up the newer Edimax 2.4\/5 GHz USB 2.0 (EW-7811UTC)<\/a> – it seems to need an extra driver, but after trying some suggestions online I gave up and went back to my EW-7811UN]<\/p>\n

Setting up WiFi<\/h2>\n

[Tips on connecting to eduroam<\/a> below]<\/p>\n

Auto WiFi<\/h3>\n

Firstly set the Pi to automatically use the WiFi interface. Using the RPi’s Terminal, edit the \/etc\/network\/interfaces<\/em> file:<\/p>\n

sudo nano \/etc\/network\/interfaces\n<\/pre>\n
Above the line mentioning ‘wlan0’, add ‘auto wlan0<\/strong>‘. And, if you need to make sure your WiFi doesn’t go to sleep, add ‘wireless-power off<\/strong>‘ below the ‘iface wlan0’ line.<\/p>\n
So the wlan0 section of my file looks like this:<\/p>\n
auto wlan0\nallow-hotplug wlan0\niface wlan0 inet manual\n    wireless-power off\n    wpa-conf \/etc\/wpa_supplicant\/wpa_supplicant.conf\n<\/pre>\n
Ctrl-X to exit nano, type ‘y’, and press Enter to save your changes.<\/p>\n
WPA_Supplicant file<\/h3>\n
Now edit the \/etc\/wpa_supplicant\/wpa_supplicant.conf<\/em> file:<\/p>\n
sudo nano \/etc\/wpa_supplicant\/wpa_supplicant.conf\n<\/pre>\n
And added the following section to the bottom of the file, substituting your SSID and Password:<\/p>\n
network={\n  ssid=\"Enter Your SSID\"\n  psk=\"Enter Your WiFi Password\"\n}\n<\/pre>\n
Ctrl-X to exit nano, type ‘y’, and press Enter to save your changes.<\/p>\n
Reboot<\/h3>\n
Reboot your Pi.<\/p>\n
sudo shutdown -r\n<\/pre>\n
If you boot into the GUI, hopefully the Network menu at the right end of the menubar shows a WiFi signal. Hovering your mouse over the Network menu should show you that ‘wlan0’ is associated with your WiFi network, and show you which IP address it is using.<\/p>\n
From the command line (or Terminal in the GUI) you can find more information by using the command:<\/p>\n
ifconfig -a\n<\/pre>\n
Check that an entry for ‘wlan0’ is listed, and shows its IP address in the ‘inet addr’ section.<\/p>\n
If ‘wlan0’ is not listed – Drivers<\/h3>\n
Check which WiFi adapter you are using.<\/p>\n
The older Edimax WiFi adapter I had (EW-7811UN) was plug-n-play, but the newer adpter (EW-7811UTC) didn’t seem to work straight off. Some threads suggest changes in Raspian version “Jessie” may be stopping it(?).<\/p>\n
To check your verison of the kernal-release I had installed, use Terminal command:<\/p>\n
aname -r\n<\/pre>\n
My version was 4.1.21-v7+<\/p>\n
I’ll revert to EW-7811UN, and have another go at getting EW-7811UTC to work later (any suggestions welcome).
\n<\/a><\/p>\n
Setting a hostname<\/h2>\n
Keith on Keith’s Pi Tutorials<\/a> suggested setting the Hostname of your Pi, so you don’t need to use its IP address to log in.<\/p>\n
    \n
  1. Open the Raspberry Pi Configuration menu.<\/li>\n
  2. Switch to the ‘System’ tab.<\/li>\n
  3. Enter a new ‘Hostname’ (e.g. teamtrack for my climbing counter)<\/li>\n
  4. Reboot the Pi<\/li>\n
  5. You can now log in over SSH without the IP address, e.g. by typing:\n
    ssh pi@teamtrack.local<\/pre>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
    Disabling Power Saving<\/h2>\n
    A few people have noted that the Edimax\u00a0EW-7811UN WiFi adapter I’ve been using has a power saving mode, and can drop its connection. To make sure you don’t get a break in communication, you can disable power saving. I followed MrEngman’s suggestions on:<\/p>\n