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Mini PCIe Slot

The Radxa Fogwise® AIRbox Q900 features one onboard Mini PCIe slot that supports wireless network cards and 4G/5G modules.

Hardware Connection​

After powering off the motherboard, insert the Mini PCIe wireless network card or 4G/5G module into the Mini PCIe slot, then secure it with an M.2 screw.

User Guide​

You can use the lspci command to check if the wireless network card is properly recognized.

radxa@airbox$
lspci | grep -i net

If the system recognizes it correctly, the terminal will display output similar to:

0000:01:00.0 Network controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8852BE PCIe 802.11ax Wireless Network Controller

Use the nmcli command-line tool to connect to a WiFi network.

tip

nmcli (NetworkManager Command Line Interface) is a command-line management tool for NetworkManager, used to configure and manage network connections on Linux systems.

  • Enable WiFi
radxa@airbox$
sudo nmcli radio wifi on
  • Scan for WiFi Networks

If no WiFi networks are found after enabling WiFi, try restarting the system.

radxa@airbox$
sudo nmcli device wifi list
  • Connect to a WiFi Network
radxa@airbox$
sudo nmcli device wifi connect <SSID> password <PASSWORD>
# Example
sudo nmcli device wifi connect wifi-demo password 12345678

After a successful connection, the terminal will display output similar to:

Device 'wlp1s0' successfully activated with 'fb6ae336-87b2-4d36-af8b-ae9ac6b335d4'.
  • View Network Connection Details
radxa@airbox$
ip a

The terminal will display output similar to the following, where 192.168.31.231 is the IP address assigned by the router:

...
4: wlp1s0: <BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 1500 qdisc noqueue state UP group default qlen 1000
    link/ether fc:23:cd:90:8e:04 brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
    inet 192.168.31.231/24 brd 192.168.31.255 scope global dynamic noprefixroute wlp1s0
       valid_lft 3575sec preferred_lft 3575sec
    inet6 fdaa:0:0:30::f12/128 scope global dynamic noprefixroute
       valid_lft 3587sec preferred_lft 3587sec
    inet6 240e:3b7:324c:5782::f12/128 scope global dynamic noprefixroute
       valid_lft 3587sec preferred_lft 3587sec
    inet6 240e:3b7:324c:5782:f7ff:b72a:6f0c:e487/64 scope global temporary dynamic
       valid_lft 252323sec preferred_lft 86195sec
    inet6 240e:3b7:324c:5782:51aa:999e:13aa:20d9/64 scope global dynamic mngtmpaddr noprefixroute
       valid_lft 252323sec preferred_lft 165923sec
    inet6 fdaa::xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx scope global temporary dynamic
       valid_lft 604787sec preferred_lft 86195sec
    inet6 fdaa::xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx scope global mngtmpaddr noprefixroute
       valid_lft forever preferred_lft 604787sec
    inet6 240e:3b7:3247:94b2:a9c0:4f94:b63:8735/64 scope global deprecated dynamic mngtmpaddr noprefixroute
       valid_lft 292sec preferred_lft 0sec
    inet6 fe80::cca9:da77:4d73:58bb/64 scope link noprefixroute
       valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever
...
tip

Additional Commands:

  • sudo nmcli radio wifi off: Disable WiFi
  • sudo nmcli connection delete <SSID>: Delete a specific WiFi network
  • Set Up WiFi Hotspot

We'll use the nmcli command-line tool to set up a WiFi hotspot.

  • Check WiFi Network Interface

Use the ip a command to find the wireless network interface name.

radxa@airbox$
ip a

The terminal will display output similar to the following, where wlp1s0 is the wireless network interface name:

...
4: wlp1s0: <BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 1500 qdisc noqueue state UP group default qlen 1000
    link/ether fc:23:cd:90:8e:04 brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
    inet 192.168.31.231/24 brd 192.168.31.255 scope global dynamic noprefixroute wlp1s0
       valid_lft 3575sec preferred_lft 3575sec
    inet6 fdaa:0:0:30::f12/128 scope global dynamic noprefixroute
       valid_lft 3587sec preferred_lft 3587sec
    inet6 240e:3b7:324c:5782::f12/128 scope global dynamic noprefixroute
       valid_lft 3587sec preferred_lft 3587sec
    inet6 240e:3b7:324c:5782:f7ff:b72a:6f0c:e487/64 scope global temporary dynamic
       valid_lft 252323sec preferred_lft 86195sec
    inet6 240e:3b7:324c:5782:51aa:999e:13aa:20d9/64 scope global dynamic mngtmpaddr noprefixroute
       valid_lft 252323sec preferred_lft 165923sec
    inet6 fdaa::30:7cba:a8be:78f9:be4e/64 scope global temporary dynamic
       valid_lft 604787sec preferred_lft 86195sec
    inet6 fdaa::xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx scope global mngtmpaddr noprefixroute
       valid_lft forever preferred_lft 604787sec
    inet6 240e:3b7:3247:94b2:a9c0:4f94:b63:8735/64 scope global deprecated dynamic mngtmpaddr noprefixroute
       valid_lft 292sec preferred_lft 0sec
    inet6 fe80::cca9:da77:4d73:58bb/64 scope link noprefixroute
       valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever
...
  • Set Up WiFi Hotspot

Open the system terminal and enter the following command to set up a WiFi hotspot:

radxa@airbox$
sudo nmcli device wifi hotspot ifname <ifname> con-name <name> ssid <SSID> password <password>
# Example
sudo nmcli device wifi hotspot ifname wlp1s0 con-name My-Hotspot ssid My-Hotspot password 12345678

Parameter description: This creates a WiFi hotspot named My-Hotspot with password 12345678 using the wireless network interface named wlp1s0, and saves the connection as My-Hotspot for future management.

  • ifname: Specifies the wireless network interface name for creating the hotspot. Use ip a to find the interface name.
  • con-name: Specifies the connection name for managing (starting, stopping, deleting) the hotspot.
  • ssid: Specifies the hotspot name (SSID) that other devices will see.
  • password: Specifies the hotspot password.

After successful setup, the terminal will display output similar to:

Device 'wlp1s0' successfully activated with 'f680a445-8f38-44a0-9f50-cb1a8daafb30'.
Hint: "nmcli dev wifi show-password" shows the Wi-Fi name and password.
  • Disable WiFi Hotspot
radxa@airbox$
sudo nmcli connection down My-Hotspot
  • Enable WiFi Hotspot
radxa@airbox$
sudo nmcli connection up My-Hotspot
  • Delete WiFi Hotspot
radxa@airbox$
sudo nmcli connection delete My-Hotspot

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