Like most computers, your Raspberry Pi works best and is most useful when connected to a network. Certainly there are uses for a Pi without a network connection, but most of the time, you’ll want to be connected.

If you followed the instructions in our other tutorials, your Pi is already connected to your WiFi network.

If you didn’t use the Basic Assembly Guide you need to get your Pi on WiFi, here is how to do so. Simply look in the upper right-hand corner of your Pi’s screen. There, you’ll see an icon to the left of the clock. This tells you your network status. If the icon looks like the one below, with a red line through it, then your WiFi is not turned on. Click on the icon and choose Turn On Wireless LAN.

Now the icon becomes the familiar wifi symbol, as seen below. Click on it to see a drop-down menu of networks to join. Select your WiFi network and enter your credentials as you would with any other device. Now you’re on!

Connecting Raspberry Pi with Ethernet

If you’d rather have a hard-line to your network, you can use your Pi’s ethernet connection instead. The ethernet jack is the large port to the left of your USB ports, as shown below. You’ll need to connect an ethernet cable from this port (as shown) to an ethernet port on your hub, router, or switch.

Can you connect to both ethernet and WiFi?

Yes, you can, but we don’t recommend it. Sometimes instabilities can result and you’ll end up with poorer performance. We recommend that you pick one.