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PiFi is Not Showing in WiFi Settings

PiFi is Not Showing in WiFi Settings

Can’t See PiFi in WiFi Settings

Here’s how to solve it…
⚠️ Methods beside re-flashing should not wipe or erase media/files you’ve stored on the Network Storage partition of your SD card. If re-flashing or just to be cautious, back-up any SD Card file

PiFi Adapter Fixes:

Raspberry Pi has no reset button so PiFi Kit users have an advantage as the USB adapter can, in most cases, be removed to recover your network in case there’s an issue - effectively acting as a reset button.

Physical Reset

1. Unplug the USB WiFi Adapter (the USB stick) and wait for PiFi Setup to show in WiFi Settings 2. Unplug the Raspberry Pi (remove power cable) 3. Plug the USB WiFi Adapter back in (that’s the USB stick - in top blue USB port), not power cable yet. 4. Make sure you power it with at least 5v3a power adapter/charger (the rating will be printed on the plug) and power on 5. After booting, around 60 seconds, PiFi should now show and perform without issues

Confirm PiFI USB Port

🟦 If PiFi 4 Setup or PiFi 5 Setup shows in WiFi Settings that suggests that the PiFi WiFi adapter is not detected/plugged in properly.

If you see this, try plugging it into the top Blue USB port (needs to be a blue USB port) on the Pi and wait about 60 seconds and PiFi 4 or PiFi 5 should show — and you should be all set!

If swapping from bottom to top (or vice versa) try a reboot or allow a few minutes for the system to update

Confirm Power Supply

Particularly if using PiFi Kit/USB WiFi adapter - you need to ensure you are using a sufficient power supply.

See the official Raspberry Pi documentation for the specs (Pi 4 needs 5.1V, 3.0A USB-C, Pi 5 needs 5V, 5A USB-C minimum)

2. If not using PiFi Adapter & other things to try

Check Other Devices (especially if 2.4Ghz-only)

Confirm that it’s not an issue with a specific device - such as TV, smartphone etc. I.e check if it loads on other devices.

If you're running an older device with 2.4Ghz WiFi (something like a set-top box) that lacks support for 5Ghz WiFi - you can enable 2.4G mode by going to Settings > WiFi Settings and enabling 2.4G mode. Then connect to PiFi on those devices. We recommend PiFi 4 or PiFi 5 (the USB-based network) for any devices that do support 5Ghz networks as it's much faster. If you do not have a PiFi USB adapter, you can change the main network to 2Ghz via SSH or LuCI if needed (exercise caution if doing so to avoid misconfiguration or needing to re-flash).

Remove ethernet cable & reboot

Try removing the ethernet cable and doing a power cycle to see if it restores the network

Confirm Power Supply

See the official Raspberry Pi documentation for the specs (Pi 4 needs 5.1V, 3.0A USB-C, Pi 5 needs 5V, 5A USB-C minimum). If insufficient, PiFi may not work properly.

Restore via PC/Laptop without Flashing (SSH - Soft or Hard Reset)

By default the single ethernet port on Raspberry Pi is set to WAN which means that when you connect to a laptop/PC it won’t be accessible. However, if you connect a USB-to-ethernet adapter (which defaults to LAN) you can then connect via SSH.

If you are you familiar with SSH and can access the network but not the app, you can also reset with the following command firstboot -y & reboot

Even better, there’s a less extreme option called a network reset you can achieve over SSH by running sh /etc/restoreconfig

Check HDMI Display for Details

If you have a micro HDMI adapter you can connect Raspberry Pi to a display and see if it shows any configuration errors or insights.

Re-flash PiFi Firmware

Follow the steps in the Download & Setup Guide to re-flash your SD card to fix your issue

More Support

Need more help with recovering PiFi or WiFi issues, why not check out the PiFi Community