Network Configuration

You have three network setup options:

1. Ethernet

2. Wi-Fi

3. Access Point Mode (« AutoAP »)

If you plan on using #1, simply connect your WPSD instance to Ethernet and move onto the next page/section. If you plan on using #3, move onto the next page/section. If you plan on using method #2, read this entire page/section…

Create WiFi configuration

If you used the Raspberry Pi Imager and followed the instructions for “Advanced Configuration,” you will not need to follow these steps.

An optional step you may perform before the initial startup of WPSD is creating the WiFi configuration file. Doing this step now can save some time during the initial configuration, but it is optional due to the AutoAP functionality built into WPSD.

W0CHP.radio has an official online tool that you can use to create this file, and you may find it here:

https://w0chp.radio/wifi-config-generator/

Fill in the SSID and PSK Passphrase fields, and select the country where your WiFi router operates. Click on the Generate Config button, and the WiFi configuration text will display on your screen. You may also download this file by clicking the Download Config File button above the generated text.

Windows

1. Download the resultant WiFi configuration file to your computer.

2. Insert the SD card into the computer.

3. Windows should automatically open the File Explorer to the /boot volume.

4. Find the downloaded WiFi configuration file on your computer. You should be able to find it in your Downloads folder.

5. Either drag and drop or copy and paste the WiFi configuration file file onto the /boot volume of the SD card.

6. Optionally, right-click anywhere in the boot volume’s white space and select New > Text Document. Name the file ssh and delete the .txt extension before you hit Enter. If Windows Explorer on your computer does not show file extensions, click View and Enable File Name Extensions in the menu bar.

7. Safely eject the SD card from your computer.

Linux / MacOS

1. Open a Terminal window.

2. Insert the SD card into the computer.

3. Use the lsblk command to find the SD card device.

   Indication

   The /boot volume should be the first partition on the SD card.

4. Mount the SD card’s /boot volume to a folder your user can access.

   Indication

   You may need to create a new, empty folder before mounting the SD card.

5. Change the directory to the mounted volume.

6. Use a text editor (e.g., nano, vi, or similar) to create a new WiFi configuration file file.

7. Copy and paste the text from the WPA / WiFi Configuration Generator page into the file.

8. Save and Exit the text editor.

9. Unmount the SD card and remove it from the computer.

Changing Wi-Fi after initial setup

If you need to move your hotspot to a different Wi-Fi network later — a new router, a different location, moving from a hotel/travel network back home — you don’t need to re-flash anything. Use the WiFi link in the dashboard’s top navigation bar. From there you can Scan for Networks and select one, or manually enter a new SSID and passphrase, and connect immediately.

Note

Older WPSD installations (on Debian releases prior to Bookworm/Trixie) instead use a Wireless Configuration section directly on the Configuration page rather than a separate WiFi page. The functionality is the same either way.

Giving your hotspot a consistent IP address

By default WPSD relies on your router’s DHCP, which is fine for most people — but if you want your hotspot to reliably answer at the same address every time (which also helps if http://wpsd.local ever fails to resolve on your network, see below), set a DHCP reservation for it in your router’s settings, so your router always hands out the same IP to that device.

Important

WPSD doesn’t support editing the underlying operating system’s network configuration by hand (e.g. setting a static IP directly on the hotspot) — that’s an unsupported change. A DHCP reservation, configured entirely on your router, achieves the same result without touching the hotspot at all, and it’s the only supported way to pin the address.

To set a reservation you’ll need your hotspot’s MAC address. Find it under Admin -> Advanced -> System / Device Details, which lists every network interface on the hotspot alongside its MAC address — use the one for whichever interface you actually use (Ethernet or Wi-Fi). Enter that MAC address into your router’s DHCP reservation / « Address Reservation » settings (the exact location varies by router brand — consult your router’s documentation).

Astuce

If http://wpsd.local (or your custom hostname) doesn’t resolve on your network, it’s usually because that network doesn’t support mDNS/Bonjour-style .local name discovery — common on some routers, guest/isolated Wi-Fi networks, and some Android devices. Find your hotspot’s IP address directly from your router’s connected-devices list instead, and use http://<that-ip-address> to reach the dashboard.

Firewall and port requirements

If your hotspot sits behind a normal home router, you don’t need to open or forward anything — WPSD’s outbound connections to DMR/D-Star/YSF/P25/NXDN networks work the same way any other outbound connection from your network does, and your router tracks the reply traffic automatically.

This tends to break down in two situations:

• CGNAT (Carrier-Grade NAT) — common on some mobile carrier hotspots and a growing number of residential ISPs — shares one public IP across many customers and can be stricter about which return traffic it allows back in than a router you control.

• Locked-down networks — guest Wi-Fi, hotel/travel networks, or a workplace firewall — may block outbound UDP or non-standard ports outright.

Several digital voice protocols (unlike a typical single-flow connection) use a range of UDP ports for replies rather than one consistent port, which is exactly the kind of traffic strict/symmetric NAT and aggressive firewalls tend to drop. If a specific mode won’t connect only on a particular network, this is a likely cause — worth testing on a different network (or a phone’s personal hotspot) before assuming it’s a WPSD configuration problem.

If you manage your own router or firewall and want to open ports proactively rather than troubleshoot after the fact, here’s what WPSD’s own built-in firewall allows through by default, by mode:

Mode / service	Ports
Dashboard (local network access)	80/tcp, 443/tcp
SSH	22/tcp
DMR (BrandMeister and most DMR Gateway networks)	62031/udp
XLX	62030/udp
TGIF Manager API	5040/tcp
D-Star (ircDDB / D-Plus / DExtra / DCS / CCS)	9007/tcp, 20001-20007/udp, 30001-30007/udp, 30051-30057/udp, 30061-30064/udp
YSF	42000-43000/udp
P25	41000-41010/udp, 41720/udp
NXDN	41400/udp, 41500/udp, 42400/udp
DAPNET (POCSAG)	43434/tcp

Note

This table only covers WPSD’s own default firewall — see System Manager if you need to add rules for something else running on the hotspot, or to disable WPSD’s firewall entirely if you’re already behind one you trust.