NETWORKING(7)

💖 NETWORKING(7) — the networking + wifi glow-up guide 💖

okay so bestie, this is networking(7) from the Miscellaneous Information Manual, and it's literally your quickstart guide to connecting to a network. no cap, it's short, it's sweet, it slays. let's go 🫶

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🌸 DESCRIPTION 🌸

so in all the examples below, the page is assuming a couple things, bestie, and your hardware will vary (iykyk):

• you're connecting to Ethernet with the first interface found by the ix(4) driver
• and you're doing Wi-Fi with the first interface found by the iwlwifi(4) driver

that's the vibe. your actual setup might be different and that's fine 💅

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✨ EXAMPLES ✨

🧚 Example 1: Connecting to an Ethernet network with DHCP

ask for a DHCP lease on the first Intel 10Gb Ethernet interface:

# dhclient ix0

ate. that's it. that's the whole thing 🍓

🔥 Example 2: Connecting to a cellular network with USB tethering

ask for a DHCP lease on the first USB tethering interface:

# dhclient ue0

same energy, different interface. iconic 💜

🌈 Example 3: Connecting to a Wi-Fi network

this one's a whole journey, but we got you. step by step, no skipping 💖

step one — identify your Wi-Fi hardware:

% sysctl net.wlan.devices

step two — create the wlan0 interface with the first Intel Wi-Fi adapter:

# sysrc wlans_iwlwifi0="wlan0"

step three — set that interface to ask for a DHCP lease with wpa_supplicant(8):

# sysrc ifconfig_wlan0="WPA SYNCDHCP"

step four — enter the details of the Wi-Fi network:

# cd /etc/
# wpa_passphrase "myssid" "mypassphrase" >> wpa_supplicant.conf

step five — restart the network interface daemon:

# service netif restart

and boom, you're on the network, main character energy ✨👑

🦋 Example 4: Scanning for Wi-Fi networks

% ifconfig wlan0 scan

look at all those networks. so many options. vibe check passed 🌸

👑 Example 5: Airplane mode

# service netif stop

going off the grid, respectfully. ✈️

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💀 CAVEATS 💀

Shell Special Characters in the SSID or passphrase will need to be escaped for wpa_passphrase(8), commonly using ‘\’ — see the manual page for your shell for more details. (fr fr, don't skip this one, your passphrase will simply not work and you'll be sad 😭)

also stopping the network interface service also stops internal networking. so like, heads up. service netif stop is not just a little pause, it's a whole thing. be aware 👀

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🔍 SEE ALSO 🔍

• bsdconfig(8)
• dhclient(8)
• ifconfig(8)
• wpa_passphrase(8)

and also: The Advanced Networking chapter of the FreeBSD Handbook — go read it, it's giving study buddy 📚💜

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and that's the page, bestie! 🎀 this iconic little guide comes to you from Debian, dated March 21, 2025 — stay connected, stay slay ✨💅