Troubleshooting the Network Connectivity of your Raspberry Pi

A step-by-step guide on how to check and ensure that your Raspberry Pi is properly connected to the internet. …

Updated September 12, 2023

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A step-by-step guide on how to check and ensure that your Raspberry Pi is properly connected to the internet.

Are you having issues with your Raspberry Pi’s internet connection? You need to make sure that it is connected and working properly before you can start using it for various projects, such as web development or IoT applications. In this article, we will show you how to check the internet connection on your Raspberry Pi and troubleshoot any issues that may arise.

Checking the Internet Connection

There are several ways to check if your Raspberry Pi is connected to the internet. The most common method involves using the command line interface (CLI) to ping a server or run a simple script. Here’s how you can do it:

Open the terminal on your Raspberry Pi by clicking on the Menu -> Accessories -> Terminal.
Type ping google.com and press Enter. This command will send a request to Google’s servers and measure the response time. If the connection is successful, you should see output similar to this:

PING google.com (172.217.6.14) 56(84) bytes of data.
64 bytes from lhr35s09-in-f14.1e100.net (172.217.6.14): icmp_seq=1 ttl=56 time=18.2 ms
64 bytes from lhr35s09-in-f14.1e100.net (172.217.6.14): icmp_seq=2 ttl=56 time=18.2 ms
64 bytes from lhr35s09-in-f14.1e100.net (172.217.6.14): icmp_seq=3 ttl=56 time=18.6 ms

If you get a response similar to the one above, it means that your Raspberry Pi is connected to the internet and can communicate with external servers.

Troubleshooting Tips

If you are not getting a response from the ping command or experiencing other network-related issues, here are some tips to help you troubleshoot:

Check your WiFi connection: If your Raspberry Pi is connected via WiFi, make sure that it is still connected to the correct network and that there are no connectivity problems with the router or access point. You can check the status of your WiFi connection using iwconfig command.

$ iwconfig
wlan0     IEEE 802.11abgn  ESSID:"your_network_name"  Nickname:"<WIFI@REALTEK>"
          Mode:Managed  Frequency=2.462 GHz  Access Point: xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx  
          Bit Rate=72.2 Mb/s   Tx-Power=15 dBm   
          Retry short limit:7   RTS thr:off   Fragment thr:off
          Power Management:on
          Link Quality=68/70  Signal level=-42 dBm  
          Rx invalid nwid:0  Rx invalid crypt:0  Rx invalid frag:0
          Tx excessive retries:0  Invalid misc:13   Missed beacon:0

This command should show you the network your Pi is connected to, as well as signal strength and other relevant information. If it says Access Point: Not-Associated, then your Raspberry Pi is not connected to a WiFi network.

Check your ethernet connection: If your Raspberry Pi is connected via an Ethernet cable, make sure that the cable is securely plugged into both the Pi and the router or switch. You can check if your Ethernet connection is working by using ifconfig command:

$ ifconfig 
eth0: flags=4163<UP,BROADCAST,RUNNING,MULTICAST>  mtu 1500
        inet 192.168.1.100  netmask 255.255.255.0  broadcast 192.168.1.255
        inet6 fe80::ba27:ebff:fexx:xx  prefixlen 64  scopeid 0x20<link>
        ether b8:27:eb:xx:xx:xx  txqueuelen 10000  (Ethernet)
        RX packets 35927  bytes 31272969 (2.9 MiB)
        RX errors 0  dropped 0  overruns 0  frame 0
        TX packets 24883  bytes 3780937 (3.6 MiB)
        TX errors 0  dropped 0 overruns 0  carrier 0  collisions 0

If you don’t see an IP address or similar information for your ethernet interface, it means that the connection is not working properly.

Check your DNS settings: If you can ping external servers but cannot access websites via a browser or other applications, make sure that your DNS settings are correct. You can check and edit /etc/resolv.conf file to ensure that it contains the right nameserver addresses (e.g., Google’s public DNS 8.8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4.4).

$ cat /etc/resolv.conf
# Generated by resolvconf
nameserver 8.8.8.8.8
nameserver 8.8.4.4.4

If you need to change the nameservers, use a text editor like nano to modify the file:

$ sudo nano /etc/resolv.conf

Check your firewall settings: If you have configured a firewall on your Raspberry Pi, make sure that it is not blocking incoming or outgoing traffic. You can use iptables command to check and modify the rules.
Restart networking services: Sometimes, restarting the networking service can fix connectivity issues. Use the following commands to restart the service:

$ sudo systemctl restart dhcpcd
$ sudo systemctl restart networking

If none of these tips help you solve your problem, there might be a hardware issue with your Raspberry Pi or its network interface. In this case, consider getting in touch with the manufacturer or seeking further assistance from the online community.