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.

Important

You will need to select the Operating System you are running with WPSD (Trixie/Bookworm, Bullseye, etc.) when using the W0CHP WiFi configuration tool.

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.

    Hint

    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.

    Hint

    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.