A Step-by-Step Guide for Beginners

Learn how to connect your Raspberry Pi to a wireless network using the command line interface and configure static IP address settings. …

Updated September 26, 2023

Learn how to connect your Raspberry Pi to a wireless network using the command line interface and configure static IP address settings.

Overview

Connecting a Raspberry Pi device to a Wi-Fi network can be done in multiple ways, but one of the most common and simplest methods is through the command line interface (CLI). This guide will walk you through the process step by step, making it easy for beginners to set up their Raspberry Pi with wireless connectivity.

Requirements:

A Raspberry Pi device (3B, 3B+, 4 or Zero W)
A Micro SD card with a fresh installation of the Raspberry Pi OS
A Wi-Fi dongle or built-in Wi-Fi support (for Raspberry Pi 3B+ and newer models)
A wireless network with internet access
A monitor, keyboard and mouse (optional for headless setup)

Steps:

Boot up your Raspberry Pi: Insert the Micro SD card into your Raspberry Pi device and power it on. If you’re using a monitor, keyboard and mouse, log in to the desktop environment with the default username pi and password raspberry.
Open a terminal window: Press Ctrl + Alt + T or navigate to Menu > Accessories > Terminal to open a new terminal window.
Check your Wi-Fi device: To verify that your Raspberry Pi recognizes your Wi-Fi dongle, type the following command and press Enter:

sudo iwconfig

You should see output similar to this:

wlan0     IEEE 802.11  ESSID:off/any  
          Mode:Managed  Access Point: Not-Associated   Tx-Power=15 dBm   
          Retry short limit:7   RTS thr:off   Fragment thr:off
          Power Management:off

If you don’t see wlan0 or a similar output, make sure your Wi-Fi device is properly connected to the Raspberry Pi.

Enable Wi-Fi: Type the following command to enable Wi-Fi on your Raspberry Pi and press Enter:

sudo systemctl enable wpa_supplicant

Configure Wi-Fi settings: Create a new file named wpa_supplicant.conf in the /etc/wpa_supplicant/ directory with your preferred text editor (e.g., nano or vim). For example, to use nano, type:

sudo nano /etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.conf

Add the following content to the file, replacing <your_network> with your Wi-Fi network name and <your_password> with your Wi-Fi password:

country=US
ctrl_interface=DIR=/var/run/wpa_supplicant GROUP=netdev
update_config=1

network={
    ssid="<your_network>"
    psk="<your_password>"
}

Save and exit the text editor (e.g., Ctrl + X, then Y to save, and Enter to confirm).

Reboot your Raspberry Pi: Type the following command to restart your device:

sudo reboot

After the reboot, your Raspberry Pi should automatically connect to the specified Wi-Fi network. You can verify the connection by typing iwconfig again in the terminal.

Optional: Configure Static IP Address Settings

If you want to assign a static IP address to your Raspberry Pi device instead of using DHCP, follow these steps:

Open the network configuration file: Type the following command to open the dhcpcd.conf file in your preferred text editor (e.g., nano):

sudo nano /etc/dhcpcd.conf

Add static IP settings: Add the following content to the end of the file, replacing <static_ip>, <subnet_mask>, <router_ip> and <dns_server> with appropriate values for your network:

interface wlan0
static ip_address=<static_ip>/<subnet_mask>
static routers=<router_ip>
static domain_name_servers=<dns_server>