Networking WiFi

Configuring Wifi to work in Debian from the command line is now quite easy thanks to a tool called connmanctl. To set up your BeagleBone Black with a wifi dongle, plug in the dongle while the BeagleBone is powered off then power it on while connected to wifi. These instructions also apply to the BeagleBone Blue, Black Wireless, and Green Wireless.

Once you have restarted your BeagleBone with a wifi dongle plugged in, SSH in with the USB network conenction. Then use ifconfig to confirm the dongle is recognized. Note that no ipv4 address is assigned yet as we haven't yet set up a connection.

Basic Commands

root@beaglebone:~# ifconfig wlan0
wlan0     Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr ec:11:27:bf:fa:51
          UP BROADCAST MULTICAST DYNAMIC  MTU:1500  Metric:1
          RX packets:833 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:142 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
          RX bytes:114829 (112.1 KiB)  TX bytes:26578 (25.9 KiB)

Now start the connmanctl tool, enable wifi, and disable wifi tethering. Ignore any warnings regarding VPN connections. Depending on your image tethering may already be disabled.

root@beaglebone:~# connmanctl
connmanctl> enable wifi
Enabled wifi
connmanctl> tether wifi disable
Disabled tethering for wifi

Now we can scan for networks with 'scan wifi'. Once it says Scan complete, run 'services' to list the available networks.

connmanctl> scan wifi
Scan completed for wifi
connmanctl> services
        wheelies2.4          wifi_ec1127bffa51_776865656c696573322e34_managed_psk
        ATT5363              wifi_ec1127bffa51_41545435333633_managed_psk
        2WIRE407             wifi_ec1127bffa51_3257495245343037_managed_psk
        ATT8fHHhfi           wifi_ec1127bffa51_41545438664848686669_managed_psk
connmanctl>

Connecting with Passkey

To connect to a network with WPA/WPA2 security you need to enable the WPA agent. Then connect to your desired networking using the long name listed instead of the SSID. Don't worry, you can use the tab key to autocomplete the name.

connmanctl> agent on
Agent registered
connmanctl>
connmanctl> connect wifi_ec1127bffa51_776865656c696573322e34_managed_psk
Agent RequestInput wifi_ec1127bffa51_776865656c696573322e34_managed_psk
  Passphrase = [ Type=psk, Requirement=mandatory, Alternates=[ WPS ] ]
  WPS = [ Type=wpspin, Requirement=alternate ]
Passphrase? your_password
connmanctl>
Connected wifi_ec1127bffa51_776865656c696573322e34_managed_psk
connmanctl>

Now check to see what ipv4 address your BeagleBone was assigned by your router's DHCP service.

connmanctl> quit
root@beaglebone:~#
root@beaglebone:~# ifconfig wlan0
wlan0     Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr ec:11:27:bf:fa:51
          inet addr:192.168.1.172  Bcast:192.168.1.255  Mask:255.255.255.0
          inet6 addr: fe80::ee11:27ff:febf:fa51/64 Scope:Link
          UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST DYNAMIC  MTU:1500  Metric:1
          RX packets:976 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:403 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
          RX bytes:136872 (133.6 KiB)  TX bytes:91792 (89.6 KiB)

root@beaglebone:~#

Here you can see my beaglebone was assigned the address 192.168.1.172 which can now be used to SSH in over the network.

Networks with Enterprise Login

Many wifi networks such as those found at universities and enterprises, require a user login instead of a shared passphrase. To demonstrate how to configure connman to connect to such networks, we will use the UCSD campus-wide network as an example.

Start with a normal scan and look for the desired enterprise network.

connmanctl> scan wifi
Scan completed for wifi
connmanctl> services
        UCSD-PROTECTED       wifi_000f540aa884_554353442d50524f544543544544-ieee8021x
        ATT5363              wifi_ec1127bffa51_41545435333633_managed_psk
        2WIRE407             wifi_ec1127bffa51_3257495245343037_managed_psk
        ATT8fHHhfi           wifi_ec1127bffa51_41545438664848686669_managed_psk
connmanctl>

Note how the type of network is listed as ieee8021x indicating that it uses Network Access Control instead of a typical passkey (psk) as you would find in a consumer home network.

Make a new file in the /var/lib/connman/ directory with a name matching what is listed during the scan. For this example, the name would be 000f540aa884_554353442d50524f544543544544-ieee8021x.config

Fill in this file as follows, replacing the service name, SSID, Identity, and Passphrase with your own details. Your enterprise network may also use an authentication method other than PEAP and MSCHAPV2. Consult the IT help desk for your enterprise for details on that configuration.

sudo nano /var/lib/connman/wifi_000f540aa884_554353442d50524f544543544544-ieee8021x.config

Enter your information into the new config file like so:

[service_wifi_000f540aa884_554353442d50524f544543544544_managed_ieee8021x]
Type = wifi
SSID = 554353442d50524f544543544544
EAP = peap
Phase2 = MSCHAPV2
Identity= USERNAME
Passphrase= PASSWORD

Restart the connman service and check if the connection was successful

sudo systemctl restart connman
ifconfig wlan0