Intel's IWD Linux Wireless Daemon Continues Picking Up New Features

[Vistaus]

It's easier to work with if you are using it directly, and requires less babysitting as it is not stateless by design like wpa_supplicant.
(example: it will auto-reconnect to the wifi if for some reason the connection drops, with wpa_supplicant it's all on you to detect that there is no more connection, rescan and try to connect again)

But if you are using already a software frontend to it (NetworkManager or Connman, or whatever), you won't really notice much as this is just moving the leg work from one program to another.

Ah, thank you so much for the explanation! In that case there's no need to switch as I use NetworkManager.

[starshipeleven]

Good to hear! How does it compare to the current implementation? I have no issues at all with the current implementation, so what does IWD do better?

It's easier to work with if you are using it directly, and requires less babysitting as it is not stateless by design like wpa_supplicant.
(example: it will auto-reconnect to the wifi if for some reason the connection drops, with wpa_supplicant it's all on you to detect that there is no more connection, rescan and try to connect again)

But if you are using already a software frontend to it (NetworkManager or Connman, or whatever), you won't really notice much as this is just moving the leg work from one program to another.

[jwh7]

How does it compare to the current implementation? I have no issues at all with the current implementation, so what does IWD do better?

By "current implementation" do you mean versus wpa_supplicant? It is much simpler to use, faster, and for those who care*...smaller (iwd is 1.5 MB installed on arch, vs 4.1 plus at least 1.7+5.8 for deps). This article is a bit dated now (Nov 2018) with all the work done already this year, but a good summary of the development. I've had no issues using iwd with systemd-networkd on three machines (*including an old netbook running arch32). :-)

[Compartmentalisation]

After that, just enable iwd.service, restart NetworkManager.service, and I think it should work.

Oh I guess I didn't do that.. oops

[Apokalypz]

I use iwd with systemd-networkd and it's not flawless, but gets the job done. The only reoccurring problem is that WiFi doesn't always connect automatically at boot. A quick restart of iwd followed by networkd usually fixes the problem.

I should also mention that I haven't tested any advanced configurations (vlan, VPN, bridging, adhoc, etc.) but I don't suspect there would be any issues since networkd takes care of those and has nothing to do with WiFi (except for adhoc).

Thanks, this is good to know. I always tried the same, saw it not function and said "Ahh, try it next release then" but I think now there is just something wrong with the configuration of my system. Need to dig a bit deeper than, thanks a lot for the feedback!

Check the Arch Wiki, might be useful even for a different distro.

[Vistaus]

I've been using iwd since late 2018 on Arch Linux and haven't had any issues that I know about... it just works. At home, in coffee shops, airports, etc. It just works. Looking forward to IWD becoming the default soon.

Good to hear! How does it compare to the current implementation? I have no issues at all with the current implementation, so what does IWD do better?

[Britoid]

Be interesting if iwd + networkd becomes a replacement for NetworkManager + supplicant.

[pininety]

I'm pretty sure all I did was edit /etc/NetworkManager/NetworkManager.conf like so:

[device]
match-device=type:wifi
managed=1
wifi.backend=iwd

I found that systemd would sometimes rename my wireless device so I match the type instead of name. After that, just enable iwd.service, restart NetworkManager.service, and I think it should work.

Thanks, this is good to know. I always tried the same, saw it not function and said "Ahh, try it next release then" but I think now there is just something wrong with the configuration of my system. Need to dig a bit deeper than, thanks a lot for the feedback!

[aorth]

Interesting, have been trying to switch to IWD on arch a few times now but I always have the problem that it is not working with my NetworkManager for some reason. I can see networks but if I try to connect, it does not ask for a password. With wpa_supplicant, it works without a problem. No clue what is going wrong

I'm pretty sure all I did was edit /etc/NetworkManager/NetworkManager.conf like so:

[device]
match-device=type:wifi
managed=1
wifi.backend=iwd

I found that systemd would sometimes rename my wireless device so I match the type instead of name. After that, just enable iwd.service, restart NetworkManager.service, and I think it should work.