How To Connect and Disconnect to a Network Manually in Terminal?

In today’s digital age, understanding how to manage your network connections is a valuable skill. This article will guide you through the process of manually connecting and disconnecting to a network using the terminal. We will explore several methods, including using nmcli, wpa_supplicant, wicd-curses, and netplan.

Using nmcli (Network Manager Command Line Interface)

nmcli is a command-line client for NetworkManager. It allows you to create, display, edit, delete, activate, and deactivate network connections, as well as control and display network device status.

Display Available Wireless Access Points

To show the available wireless access points, use the following command:

nmcli dev wifi

Connecting to an Access Point

To connect to an access point, use the following command:

nmcli dev wifi connect $ACCESS_POINT password $PASSWORD

In this command, replace $ACCESS_POINT with the SSID of the network you want to connect to, and $PASSWORD with the password of the network.

Disconnecting from a Network

To disconnect from a network, use the following command:

nmcli nm enable false

Using wpa_supplicant

wpa_supplicant is a WPA Supplicant for Linux, BSD, Mac OS X, and Windows with support for WPA and WPA2.

Creating a Configuration File

Create a configuration file (wpa.conf) with the network details:

network={
 ssid="NETWORK_NAME"
 psk="NETWORK_PASSWORD"
}

Replace NETWORK_NAME with the SSID of the network you want to connect to, and NETWORK_PASSWORD with the password of the network.

Connecting Using the Configuration File

Connect using the configuration file:

wpa_supplicant -iwlan0 -c/etc/wpa_supplicant.conf -Dwext

In this command, -iwlan0 specifies the wireless network interface, -c/etc/wpa_supplicant.conf specifies the path to the configuration file, and -Dwext specifies the driver to use.

Disconnecting from a Network

To disconnect, cancel the connection with CTRL+C.

Using wicd-curses

wicd-curses is a console-based network manager.

Installing wicd-curses

If wicd-curses is not already installed, you can install it using the following command:

sudo apt-get install wicd-curses

Using wicd-curses to Connect and Disconnect

Run wicd-curses and use the right arrow key (→) to configure and connect to networks. You can disconnect from a network by selecting the network and pressing the Disconnect button.

Using netplan (for Ubuntu 18.04+)

netplan is a utility for easily configuring networking on a linux system.

Editing the Netplan Configuration File

Edit the netplan configuration file (/etc/netplan/50-cloud-init.yaml) and add the wifi details:

network:
 version: 2
 wifis:
 wlan0:
 optional: true
 access-points:
 "NETWORK_NAME":
 password: "NETWORK_PASSWORD"
 dhcp4: true

Replace NETWORK_NAME with the SSID of the network you want to connect to, and NETWORK_PASSWORD with the password of the network.

Applying the Changes

Apply the changes with the following command:

sudo netplan apply

In conclusion, there are several ways to manually connect and disconnect to a network using the terminal. It’s important to note that you should be cautious when modifying network settings and ensure you have a backup plan, such as a wired connection, in case of any issues.

network={
 ssid="NETWORK_NAME"
 psk="NETWORK_PASSWORD"
}

network:
 version: 2
 wifis:
 wlan0:
 optional: true
 access-points:
 "NETWORK_NAME":
 password: "NETWORK_PASSWORD"
 dhcp4: true