Wi-Fi

2017-03-12T23:56:14Z

Cpadden:

This document describes how to set up a wireless network connection with WPA encryption.

First make sure your wireless drivers are loaded properly. (if you are using a Broadcom chipset, see note at the end of this post.)

Install {{Pkg|wireless-tools}} and {{Pkg|wpa_supplicant}}.
{{Cmd|apk add wireless-tools wpa_supplicant}}

Bring the link up so we can look for wireless networks. (An error here means you probably need extra drivers/firmware.)
{{Cmd|ip link set wlan0 up}}

Find a network to connect to. Look for the ESSID. In this example we will use the ESSID "MyNet".
{{Cmd|iwlist wlan0 scanning}}

Let's set the ESSID:
{{Cmd|iwconfig wlan0 essid MyNet}}

We need to create a shared key for wpa_supplicant.
{{Cmd|wpa_passphrase MyNet > wpa.conf}}
It will wait for the password from stdin. Enter the password and enter. Now you will have a {{Path|wpa.conf}} file with the preshared key.

Start wpa_supplicant with the generated config:
{{Cmd|wpa_supplicant -Dwext -iwlan0 -c ./wpa.conf}}

From another console, start dhcpcd:
{{Cmd|udhcpc -i wlan0}}

You should get an IP address.

You then want to make the connection process automatic on boot-up. Open {{Path|/etc/network/interfaces}} and add the following stanza:
auto wlan0
iface wlan0 inet dhcp
{{Note|I had to append `pre-up iwconfig wlan0 essid <ESSID>` to automatically connect to the network.}}

You will also need to set wpa_supplicant to start automatically on boot:
{{Cmd|rc-update add wpa_supplicant boot}}

Next, create {{Path|/etc/wpa_supplicant/}} (permissions of 755 with root:root are fine), and move {{Path|wpa.conf}} into that folder, renaming it to {{Path|wpa_supplicant.conf}}.

Reboot and check that you are associated with the access point:
{{Cmd|iwconfig wlan0}}
and check that you got a DHCP lease:
{{Cmd|ifconfig wlan0 {{!}} grep addr}}

{{Note|BROADCOM WIFI CHIPSET USERS will need to compile the firmware manually for their chipset. First, apk add alpine-sdk, then git clone aports from git.alpinelinux.org, switch to the aports/non-free/b43-firmware folder, then run abuild -r. Install the generated apk file. Run fwcutter, and you should be good to go.}}

[[Category:Networking]]

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Wi-Fi