How do I find my network SSID?

Question

I would like to install Arch Linux. In the first part of the installation, I need to connect to a wireless LAN network. But I don't know what my network's SSID is.

How can I find this out?

Solution 1

I'm guessing the real problem is that you don't know what a SSID is. It's the technical term for the network's name, i.e. the thing that shows up in a listing of available networks.

If you don't know what network you're supposed to connect to, you'll have to ask somebody at your location. If you have a WiFi router, it probably has its default SSID printed on a sticker somewhere on it.

As the Arch wiki explains, you can get a list of available networks with the command

iw dev wlan0 scan

(where wlan0 is whatever your wireless device is named).

Solution 2

It can be hard to find your wireless router if you have a hidden SSID.

You need to give your network manager a little help. Try this:

iwconfig wlan0 essid "myRouterName"

Then you can search for it:

Arch: wifi-menu Debian: iwlist wlan0 | grep "myRouterName"

Comments

[jasonwryan]

Please read the Arch Wiki, there is a step by step guide to setting up wireless...