Uploaded November 2025 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
Command (note copy after $ )
$ sudo apt update
If USB WLAN not detect, upgrade Firmware Full - skip this if WI-FI already detect.
$ sudo apt install armbian-firmware-full
$ reboot
1. Start configuration, select WIFI SSID Password (Fast Setting)
$ sudo nmtui
2. List available Wi-Fi networks (Manual setting)
$ nmcli device wifi list
Connect to Wi-Fi network "YourSSID" using "YourPassword"
$ nmcli device wifi connect "YourSSID" password "YourPassword"
3. Checking Connections and Setting Priority
Check the Wi-Fi list, Armbian device connects to the Home Assistant (HA) SSID and LAN port
$ nmcli connection show
Supervisor eth0 xxxxxxxx-85e4-352a-xxxx-0b91d0d83330 ethernet eth0
HA xxxxxxxx-cbf5-4368-xxxx-3e4fbf77ed29 wifi wlan0
In Linux networking, a lower route metric indicates a higher preference or priority for that route
Priority 50 for LAN, 150 for WIFI.
$ sudo nmcli connection modify "Supervisor eth0" ipv4.route-metric 50
$ sudo nmcli connection modify "HA" ipv4.route-metric 150
Armbian Server connection works automatically between LAN and USB Wi-Fi can be turned into an informative article about setting up network failover or automatic switching on a small server.
Seamless Connectivity: Setting Up Automatic Network Switching on Your Armbian Server
For the Armbian server with the S905X2 chip, setting up the internal Wi-Fi may not be easy. The good news is that Wi-Fi can be enabled using a USB Wi-Fi dongle, specifically one with the MT7610 chipset, which is often detected automatically without any manual setup
Why Automate Your Network Connection?
The Armbian Solution: Network Manager and Metrics
Armbian, being a modern Linux distribution, typically uses the Network Manager utility to handle network configurations. The core concept behind achieving automatic switching is the use of Interface Metrics.
A metric is a numerical value assigned to a network interface (like eth0 for LAN or wlan0 for Wi-Fi). Lower metric values are preferred by the operating system.
How to Configure Automatic Failover:
Identify Your Interfaces:
LAN (Ethernet): Usually eth0.
USB Wi-Fi: Usually wlan0 or similar.
The Automatic Switch: When the server boots up, it will check the interfaces. As long as eth0 is connected and active, it will use the route with the metric of 100. If the Ethernet link goes down, the route disappears, and the system immediately switches its default gateway to the next best available route—the Wi-Fi connection with the metric of 500.
Implementation Tips (Using nmcli or nmtui)
For an Armbian server, the easiest way to manage this configuration is often through the command-line interface using nmcli (NetworkManager command-line tool) or nmtui (NetworkManager text user interface).
Phase 1: Identify Your Connections
First, you need to find the exact names of the Network Manager connection profiles for your LAN and Wi-Fi.
List all connections:
nmcli connection show
Look for the names in the first column (NAME) that correspond to your wired and wireless interfaces (e.g., eth0 and wlan0).
Phase 2: Set the Route Metrics
Now, we will modify the network profiles to assign the desired priority metrics. We will use a low metric for LAN (preferred) and a high metric for Wi-Fi (backup).
Set the Metric for LAN (High Priority):
We assign a low value (e.g., 100) to the wired connection.
sudo nmcli connection modify "Wired connection 1" ipv4.route-metric 100
Set the Metric for USB Wi-Fi (Low Priority / Backup):
We assign a high value (e.g., 500) to the wireless connection.
sudo nmcli connection modify "Home-WiFi-USB" ipv4.route-metric 500
Notice that both connections are listed, but the system will always use the one with the metric of 100 (eth0) as long as it is connected to a network.
If you unplug the Ethernet cable, the eth0 route will disappear, and the system will instantly fall back to the available wlan0 route with the metric of 500.
Your Armbian server is now configured for automatic network failover, preferring your reliable wired connection while keeping the USB Wi-Fi ready as a seamless backup!
Command (note copy after $ )
$ sudo apt update
If USB WLAN not detect, upgrade Firmware Full - skip this if WI-FI already detect.
$ sudo apt install armbian-firmware-full
$ reboot
1. Start configuration, select WIFI SSID Password (Fast Setting)
$ sudo nmtui
2. List available Wi-Fi networks (Manual setting)
$ nmcli device wifi list
Connect to Wi-Fi network "YourSSID" using "YourPassword"
$ nmcli device wifi connect "YourSSID" password "YourPassword"
3. Checking Connections and Setting Priority
Check the Wi-Fi list, Armbian device connects to the Home Assistant (HA) SSID and LAN port
$ nmcli connection show
Supervisor eth0 xxxxxxxx-85e4-352a-xxxx-0b91d0d83330 ethernet eth0
HA xxxxxxxx-cbf5-4368-xxxx-3e4fbf77ed29 wifi wlan0
In Linux networking, a lower route metric indicates a higher preference or priority for that route
Priority 50 for LAN, 150 for WIFI.
$ sudo nmcli connection modify "Supervisor eth0" ipv4.route-metric 50
$ sudo nmcli connection modify "HA" ipv4.route-metric 150
Armbian Server connection works automatically between LAN and USB Wi-Fi can be turned into an informative article about setting up network failover or automatic switching on a small server.
Seamless Connectivity: Setting Up Automatic Network Switching on Your Armbian Server
For the Armbian server with the S905X2 chip, setting up the internal Wi-Fi may not be easy. The good news is that Wi-Fi can be enabled using a USB Wi-Fi dongle, specifically one with the MT7610 chipset, which is often detected automatically without any manual setup
Why Automate Your Network Connection?
The Armbian Solution: Network Manager and Metrics
Armbian, being a modern Linux distribution, typically uses the Network Manager utility to handle network configurations. The core concept behind achieving automatic switching is the use of Interface Metrics.
A metric is a numerical value assigned to a network interface (like eth0 for LAN or wlan0 for Wi-Fi). Lower metric values are preferred by the operating system.
How to Configure Automatic Failover:
Identify Your Interfaces:
LAN (Ethernet): Usually eth0.
USB Wi-Fi: Usually wlan0 or similar.
The Automatic Switch: When the server boots up, it will check the interfaces. As long as eth0 is connected and active, it will use the route with the metric of 100. If the Ethernet link goes down, the route disappears, and the system immediately switches its default gateway to the next best available route—the Wi-Fi connection with the metric of 500.
Implementation Tips (Using nmcli or nmtui)
For an Armbian server, the easiest way to manage this configuration is often through the command-line interface using nmcli (NetworkManager command-line tool) or nmtui (NetworkManager text user interface).
Phase 1: Identify Your Connections
First, you need to find the exact names of the Network Manager connection profiles for your LAN and Wi-Fi.
List all connections:
nmcli connection show
Look for the names in the first column (NAME) that correspond to your wired and wireless interfaces (e.g., eth0 and wlan0).
Phase 2: Set the Route Metrics
Now, we will modify the network profiles to assign the desired priority metrics. We will use a low metric for LAN (preferred) and a high metric for Wi-Fi (backup).
Set the Metric for LAN (High Priority):
We assign a low value (e.g., 100) to the wired connection.
sudo nmcli connection modify "Wired connection 1" ipv4.route-metric 100
Set the Metric for USB Wi-Fi (Low Priority / Backup):
We assign a high value (e.g., 500) to the wireless connection.
sudo nmcli connection modify "Home-WiFi-USB" ipv4.route-metric 500
Notice that both connections are listed, but the system will always use the one with the metric of 100 (eth0) as long as it is connected to a network.
If you unplug the Ethernet cable, the eth0 route will disappear, and the system will instantly fall back to the available wlan0 route with the metric of 500.
Your Armbian server is now configured for automatic network failover, preferring your reliable wired connection while keeping the USB Wi-Fi ready as a seamless backup!
