Wi-Fi Setup & Troubleshooting

AcreetionOS ships NetworkManager, so Wi-Fi usually "just works".

Graphical way

Click the network icon in the system tray → choose network → enter password. That’s it. Tick Store password for all users for auto-connect at boot.

Terminal way

nmcli device wifi list                 # scan
nmcli device wifi connect "SSID" password "secret"
nmtui                                  # friendly text UI if you prefer

Saved networks and priority:

nmcli connection show
nmcli connection delete "old-network"
nmcli connection modify "SSID" connection.autoconnect yes

Radio off / airplane

rfkill list                    # any hard/soft blocks?
sudo rfkill unblock wifi
nmcli radio wifi on

Common problems

Adapter not visible

Missing firmware is the top cause. Identify the chip and install its firmware package from repo-main:

lspci -k | grep -A3 -i network   # or lsusb
sudo pacman -S linux-firmware    # covers most chips
reboot

Realtek USB sticks sometimes need rtl8xxxu module tweaks — search your exact chipset + "arch" for the module options.

Connects then drops

  • Disable MAC randomization for home router:

    nmcli connection modify "SSID" 802-11-wireless.cloned-mac-address permanent

  • Band steering issues? Pin band: nmcli connection modify "SSID" 802-11-wireless.band a (5 GHz) or bg (2.4).

Slow but stable

Check link rate: iw dev wlan0 link. If stuck at low MCS on 2.4 GHz, try channel 1/6/11 on the router or force 5 GHz.

Still dead?

Work through Administration → NetworkManager CLI, then check journalctl -u NetworkManager -b for errors, and ask in the community channels listed on acreetionos.org with that log attached.