How to Fix Kali Linux Cannot Connect to Wireless (2024)

Kali Linux is a powerful Linux distribution used for performing different security-related tasks, such as network troubleshooting, penetration testing, security auditing, and more. It is one of the beloved operating systems for network administrators and ethical hackers. The reason is it includes several advanced tools that help them in their research, allowing them to develop new security solutions. To fully utilize the Kali Linux system and its tools, you connect your system to the Internet. It can be possible only if you have connected the system to a Wireless network. However, sometimes, the users won’t be able to connect to the Wireless on their Kali Linux systems. It will prevent them from running tools, updating the packages, or installing additional tools on the system.

If you are one encountering the same issue on your Kali Linux system, read this guide to learn about:

  • Why Kali Linux Cannot Connect to Wireless
  • How to Fix Kali Linux Cannot Connect to Wireless
  • Conclusion

Why Kali Linux Cannot Connect to Wireless

There are multiple reasons why Kali Linux cannot connect to wireless, such as:

  • Your Wireless Adapter may not be enabled on your computer.
  • The Wi-Fi connection may be disabled on the Kali Linux system.
  • There is some issue with the Wireless Adapter
  • You are using Kali Linux on a Virtual Machine

How to Fix Kali Linux Cannot Connect to Wireless

To fix Kali Linux cannot connect to wireless issue, you have to:

  • Enable Wireless Adapter
  • Enable Wi-Fi

How to Enable Wireless Adapter

Every laptop has a dedicated button that allows you to enable and disable Wi-Fi on your computer. In some cases, you will find that button in the functional keys with a Wi-Fi icon, while in some laptops, you will find the button on the left or right side. To use a functional key button, you have to hold the Fn key and then press the functional key with a Wi-Fi icon.

How to Enable Wi-Fi on Kali Linux

If you have enabled the Wireless adapter on your computer and are still unable to connect to the Wireless, then you have to enable Wi-Fi on the Kali Linux system.

You can enable Wi-Fi on Kali Linux from:

  • GUI
  • Terminal

How to Enable Wi-Fi on Kali Linux from GUI

To enable Wi-Fi on Kali Linux from GUI, use the following steps:

Step 1: First, navigate to the NetworkManager icon option and right-click on it to ensure Wi-Fi is enabled on your system:

How to Fix Kali Linux Cannot Connect to Wireless (1)

Step 2: Then click on the NetworkManager icon, navigate to the Available networks option, and connect to a Wi-Fi network using the Wi-Fi pass key:

How to Fix Kali Linux Cannot Connect to Wireless (2)

Once done, Kali Linux will be successfully connected to a Wi-Fi network and it will fix the connection issue.

How to Fix Kali Linux Cannot Connect to Wireless (3)

How to Enable Wi-Fi on Kali Linux from Terminal

Besides using the GUI option to enable Wi-Fi on Kali Linux, you can perform the same process using the terminal as well. You can enable Wi-Fi on Kali Linux from the terminal using:

  • nmcli Command
  • nmtui Command

How to Enable Wi-Fi on Kali Linux from Terminal Using nmcli Command

nmcli is a command-line tool that manages the NetworkManager on Linux systems, including Kali Linux. With nmcli, you can list available networks and devices, edit network settings, manage network devices, and connect to a network through the command line. If you are facing an issue while not connecting to wireless on Kali Linux, follow the below-given steps to enable and connect to a Wi-Fi network on Kali Linux using the nmcli command:

Step 1: Enable Wi-Fi Radio Interface

First, use the following nmcli command to enable the Wi-Fi radio interface on your Kali Linux system:

nmcli radio wifi on

How to Fix Kali Linux Cannot Connect to Wireless (4)The above command will turn on the Wireless capabilities of your Kali Linux system, allowing the system to scan for available Wi-Fi networks within your range.

Step 2: Scan Available Wi-Fi Networks

Now, scan the available Wi-Fi networks on the Kali Linux system using the following command:

nmcli dev wifi list

How to Fix Kali Linux Cannot Connect to Wireless (5)You can also scan available Wi-Fi networks on the Kali Linux system using the iwlist command:

iwlist wlan0 scan | grep ESSID

How to Fix Kali Linux Cannot Connect to Wireless (6)Step 3: Connect to Wi-Fi Network

Now, connect to a Wi-Fi network on the terminal using the following nmcli command by replacing the Wi-Fi_SSID with the SSID of the network you want to connect:

sudo nmcli --ask dev wifi connect Wi-Fi_SSID

After running the above command, you have to enter your Wi-Fi pass key to connect to the wireless network on the Kali Linux system:How to Fix Kali Linux Cannot Connect to Wireless (7)

After entering the correct information, your Kali Linux system will be connected to Wi-Fi from the terminal.

How to Fix Kali Linux Cannot Connect to Wireless (8)

You can also use the following nmcli command to connect to the network on Kali Linux using the Wi-Fi SSID and passkey:

sudo nmcli d wifi connect Wi-Fi_SSID password Wi-Fi_passkey

How to Fix Kali Linux Cannot Connect to Wireless (9)

How to Enable Wi-Fi on Kali Linux from Terminal Using nmtui Command

You can also use the nmtui command-line utility to connect to a Wi-Fi network easily. This command-line utility opens up a user-friendly interface on the terminal and allows you to manage connections including connecting to a Wi-Fi network. Follow the below-given steps to enable Wi-Fi on Kali Linux from the terminal using the nmtui command:

Step 1: First run the nmtui command in the terminal to open the NetworkManager terminal user interface:

How to Fix Kali Linux Cannot Connect to Wireless (10)

Step 2: Now, navigate to Activate a connection option from the menu:

How to Fix Kali Linux Cannot Connect to Wireless (11)

Step 3: Then select the Wi-Fi network you want to connect from the list by pressing the Enter button:

How to Fix Kali Linux Cannot Connect to Wireless (12)

Step 4: Enter the password for your Wi-Fi connection and press the Enter button:

How to Fix Kali Linux Cannot Connect to Wireless (13)

Step 5: Wait until the connection to the Wi-Fi network is established, once completed, go back to the menu and use the Quit option to close the interface:

How to Fix Kali Linux Cannot Connect to Wireless (14)

Note: If you are still unable to connect to Wireless on Kali Linux, then the issue could be related to the Wireless Adapter. You should purchase a new adapter, and replace it with the older one to get the Wireless option working on your Kali Linux system.

Besides that, you can also use an external Wireless adapter on your Kali Linux system and connect to the Wi-Fi quickly. The external Wi-Fi adapter will work in both cases; either using it directly or within the virtual machine for connecting the Kali Linux system to the Wi-Fi network.

Conclusion

Connecting your Kali Linux system to a Wireless network is an important task that allows you to update the system, install applications, or execute other Internet-related tasks. However, if you experiencing an issue while connecting the Kali Linux to Wireless, you can fix it by enabling Wireless Adapter or Wi-Fi on your system. Enabling the Wireless Adapter varies based on the computer you are using since different computers have different key settings. To enable Wi-Fi on Kali Linux, you can use GUI or a terminal. The GUI method is simple and can be done quickly from the NetworkManager icon. For the terminal, you can enable Wi-Fi on Kali Linux using the ncmli or nmtui commands.

How to Fix Kali Linux Cannot Connect to Wireless (15)

Awais Khan

By day, I am an engineer and researcher, building bridges and figuring out how the universe works. But when the clock strikes five, I turn into a wordsmith!

I write about my adventures on my blog, sharing tips and tricks to help others join the tech fun. I have worked on Raspberry Pi, Ubuntu, Debian, and Laptops. Right now, I have accepted the challenge of working on the Kali Linux system, and with my vast expertise in Linux systems, I will help users overcome the challenges through my blogs.

How to Fix Kali Linux Cannot Connect to Wireless (2024)

FAQs

How to enable wireless connection on Kali Linux? ›

To begin, locate the network icon in the Taskbar, which is placed on the right side of the screen, near the top, next to the clock. Then, if you wish to connect to WiFi, right-click on the Network icon and choose “Enable Wi-Fi” from the list of options. Check the Disable WiFi option to disable the WiFi connection.

Why is my Linux not connecting to WiFi? ›

Troubleshooting Steps

Check that your wireless adapter is enabled and that Ubuntu recognizes it: see Device Recognition and Operation. Check if drivers are available for your wireless adapter; install them and check them: see Device Drivers. Check your connection to the Internet: see Wireless Connections.

How to reset network connection in Kali Linux? ›

To restart the network service on Kali Linux, you can use the command ` service networking restart` or ` systemctl restart networking` .

How to enable WiFi in Linux? ›

Select System Properties at the top right of the screen, expand the Wi-Fi section and select Wi-Fi Settings.
  1. Make sure that Wi-Fi is On and Aeroplane mode is Off.
  2. If eduroam is in the list of Visible Networks, select it. If eduroam is not visible in the list, use the dropdown menu to select to Connect to Hidden Network.

How to update wireless drivers in Kali Linux? ›

  1. sudo apt-get update && apt-get upgrade -y.
  2. sudo apt-get install linux-headers-$(uname -r)
  3. cd /usr/src/
  4. sudo tar xvfJ backports-3.16.2-1.tar.xz.
  5. cd backports-3.16.2-1.
  6. sudo make defconfig-wifi.
  7. sudo make.
  8. sudo make install.
Feb 24, 2024

How to setup network in Kali Linux? ›

Step by step enable the network in kali linux:
  1. Open your kali linux virtual box like this. ...
  2. Now the new window to set up the kali linux virtual box will open.
  3. By default the network adapter is attached to NAT. ...
  4. the next step you need to choose which network interface you want to bridge to.

How do I reset my Wi-Fi on Linux? ›

How to reset network settings on Linux?
  1. Open Terminal and type in these commands in order to clean the firewall and DNS rules: sudo iptables -F INPUT. sudo iptables -F OUTPUT. sudo iptables -P INPUT ACCEPT. sudo iptables -P OUTPUT ACCEPT. sudo systemctl restart NetworkManager.
  2. Reboot the device.
Aug 15, 2023

How do I connect my Linux device to Wi-Fi? ›

Connect to Wi-Fi Network on Linux
  1. On most Linux distributions, you can click the Wi-Fi icon, select your network, enter the password, and click Connect.
  2. To scan for Wi-Fi networks in the terminal, use "iwconfig <adapter name> scan".

How do I enable network connection in Linux? ›

To enable a network interface during system boot, you can configure it in your system's initialization scripts. This often involves editing files such as `/etc/network/interfaces` on Debian-based systems or `/etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-<interface>` on Red Hat-based systems.

How to check network connection in Kali Linux? ›

Checking active connections in Kali
  1. -a : Shows both the listening and non-listening sockets.
  2. -n : Shows numerical addresses, instead of trying to determine symbolic hosts, ports, or usernames.
  3. -t : Shows TCP connections.
  4. -p : Shows the process identifier (PID) and the name of the program to which each socket belongs:

Why is Kali Linux VM not detecting WiFi adapter? ›

Check if the network adapter is enabled in the virtual machine settings. Open VirtualBox and select the Kali Linux virtual machine. Then, click on Settings and navigate to the Network tab. Make sure the Enable Network Adapter option is checked.

References

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