The wifimgr looks at the lines in the
/etc/wpa_supplicant.conf file specifically for text string
"WPA" to differentiate between "wired" and "wireless" network connections. So on a non-encrypted open network, The "WPA" option keyword has to be deleted and you are left with ifconfig_wlan0="DHCP" or "SYNCDHCP". In this open network case, Wifimgr gui app does not work, because it is looking for "WPA" option keyword to be present on that line.
I did not know what lines need to be in the
/etc/sysctl.conf file, yet I suggest manually editing 3 files
/boot/loader.conf /etc/rc.conf and /etc/wpa_supplicant.conf. FreeBSD or GhostBSD app
Networkmgr edits these 3 files automatically. For FreeBSD or GhostBSD, You can install Networkmgr package using command,
pkg install networkmgr
.
Here is my write up of setting up a wifi connection manually, by editing 3 files and using 3 commands
ifconfig wlan0, wpa_supplicant and dhclient (or dhcpd)
to make the network connection. Use commands
netstat -rn
and
sockstat -4
to test the configuration
https://forums.ghostbsd.org/viewtopic.php?f=64&t=526 RTWN USB Dongle Edimax EW-7811un version 1 and maybe version 2
https://forums.ghostbsd.org/viewtopic.php?f=64&t=570 RTL8188CE PCI Realtek device slightly different manual network command examples
I welcome comments and corrections to these 2 forum posts. I put these together for a person to start from no knowledge to then be able to edit 3 files and issue a set of commands to enable the wifi connection. Use these and prove that they work in your situation case. The debug option of WPA_SUPPLICANT is quite helpful and diagnosing why a wifi connection is not made. After proving the manual wifi connection, then move on to NetworkMgr.
I , too, have been BIT by the manual edit to change file
/etc/rc.conf from "WPA DHCP" to just "DHCP" for an OPEN non-encrypted wifi connection. Your eye and mind just don't see the difference ifconfig_wlan0="WPA DHCP" versus "DHCP". I just wish the WPA_SUPPLICANT could see that you are connecting to an "OPEN" network and silently remove the "WPA" and make the connection work. This is a BIG PAIN in the AXX when moving your laptop from one network to another network. Now that most routers use encrypted WPA-PSK, Open Network connection is used less frequently, so makes this condition harder to diagnose when a wifi connection does not work for you on occasions.
My favorite ping command is
ping -c 3 he.net
Hurricane Electric ISP that is connected directly to a internet backbone and supports IPv6 tunneling.
or ping your local router
ping -c 3 192.168.1.1
or ping the internet google DNS ip number with
ping -c 3 8.8.4.4
or ping using a DNS name like FreeBSD.org
ping -c 3 freebsd.org
https://github.com/ghostbsd/networkmgr Github source code for NetworkMgr, includes reference to FreeBSD ports.
https://forums.freebsd.org/tags/networkmgr/ forum posts related to NetworkMgr
https://forums.freebsd.org/threads/finally-a-network-manager-for-freebsd.50638/ Explaining use of NetworkMgr with some pictures
https://www.serverlab.ca/tutorials/unix/how-to-set-static-ip-and-dhcp-in-freebsd/ A short tutorial of setting a Static IP and DHCP in FreeBSD for wired network connection
I welcome changes, modifications, suggestions and critique to the above statements. Please do read through the comprehensive 2 forum posts referenced above on forums.ghostbsd.org subforum Networking in the 2nd page. Thank you. I hope this helps you get wifi networking connections ,working better on your PC hardware' Also thanks to
ericbsd at
t.me/ghostbsd Telegram Group for creating and maintaining NetworkMgr python application for automatic connection to wifi networks.