This guide will show you how to set up a Wi-Fi hotspot using NetworkManager.
Before you begin, make sure you have:
Suitable devices that support AP (Access Point) mode include Rock 5C, Rock 5B+, Khadas Edge 2, Khadas Vim 4, all Mekotronics R58 devices, and the Orange Pi 5B.
You can easily create a hotspot using the NetworkManager command-line tool nmcli.
nmcli device status
DEVICE TYPE STATE CONNECTION
bridge0 bridge connected bridge0
tailscale0 tun connected (externally) tailscale0
lo loopback connected (externally) lo
br-8a9f1336b961 bridge connected (externally) br-8a9f1336b961
br-aeeaf62e2336 bridge connected (externally) br-aeeaf62e2336
docker0 bridge connected (externally) docker0
virbr0 bridge connected (externally) virbr0
enp8s0 ethernet connected (externally) enp8s0
wlan0 wifi disconnected --
nmcli device wifi hotspot ifname <wifi_interface> ssid <MyHotspot> password <mypassword>
Device 'wlan0' successfully activated with '4d090d70-fd85-45bc-bf36-a63846f3f805'.
Hint: "nmcli dev wifi show-password" shows the Wi-Fi name and password.
Replace `<wifi_interface>` with your actual interface name, like `wlp2s0` or `wlan0`, `<MyHotspot>` with your desired SSID and `<mypassword>` with a secure passphrase of your choice.
If you get the following error run the command again with sudo.
Error: Failed to setup a Wi-Fi hotspot: Not authorized to control networking.
nmcli connection show
NAME UUID TYPE DEVICE
Hotspot 4d090d70-fd85-45bc-bf36-a63846f3f805 wifi wlan0
bridge0 210b2bd8-1a6b-43e6-9ed1-4abc50324505 bridge bridge0
tailscale0 27e86e0c-a8c7-4374-9083-51454c4b8b3e tun tailscale0
lo f6ba586b-a4c4-49c1-a0f3-3154f8eae92b loopback lo
br-8a9f1336b961 9a3d08b3-6516-4071-9369-30311a48b55a bridge br-8a9f1336b961
br-aeeaf62e2336 ee78e282-1516-45df-a6ec-cdcb9d989030 bridge br-aeeaf62e2336
docker0 c5f70ee8-5407-4510-8b61-6fc0f15c2e81 bridge docker0
virbr0 12d1109a-64a4-4d07-b0a2-887f10145109 bridge virbr0
enp8s0 184c8145-ca17-4258-b7db-7e32c298f424 ethernet enp8s0
You should see the hotspot listed under the active connections (second line in the above example).
To share your internet connection through the hotspot, you need to enable IP forwarding:
sudo sysctl net.ipv4.ip_forward=1
/etc/sysctl.d/99-sysctl.conf: sudo nano /etc/sysctl.d/99-sysctl.conf
net.ipv4.ip_forward=1
nmcli connection down Hotspot