Is your Pi connected? Find out with these simple steps.

Connecting a Raspberry Pi to the internet can be a daunting task for beginners, but once you get it right, it’s one less thing to worry about when using your Pi for projects. This article will guide y …


Updated September 28, 2023

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Connecting a Raspberry Pi to the internet can be a daunting task for beginners, but once you get it right, it’s one less thing to worry about when using your Pi for projects. This article will guide you through checking if your Raspberry Pi is connected to ethernet and troubleshooting any issues that may arise.

  1. Open a terminal window by clicking on the menu icon in the top left corner and selecting “Terminal.”
  2. Type ifconfig and press Enter. This will display all network interfaces available on your Pi, along with their IP addresses and connection status.
  3. Look for an interface labeled “eth0” or “enp0s3.” If you see an IP address underneath it (e.g., 192.168.x.x), then your Pi is connected to Ethernet. If not, go through the following steps to troubleshoot:
    • Plug in the Ethernet cable into the correct ports on both your Pi and router.
    • Make sure that your router is powered on and functioning properly.
    • Restart your Pi by typing sudo reboot and pressing Enter.
  4. If you still cannot see an IP address, try connecting via WiFi instead:
    • First, make sure you have a wireless dongle or built-in WiFi. Type iwconfig to check for any available wireless interfaces (e.g., wlan0).
    • If you have a wireless interface, connect to your network using the following command: sudo iwconfig <interface> essid <network_name> key <password> where <interface> is your wireless interface name, <network_name> is the SSID of your WiFi network, and <password> is the password for that network.
    • After connecting to WiFi, run ifconfig again to see if you have an IP address assigned. If not, try restarting your Pi once more with sudo reboot.
  5. If you still cannot get an IP address, there may be a problem with your router or ISP. Try connecting another device (e.g., a laptop) to the same network to rule out any issues with your Pi. Remember that troubleshooting is an iterative process. Keep trying different solutions until you find one that works for you! Once you’ve confirmed that your Raspberry Pi is connected to ethernet, you can move on to using it for your projects with confidence.