Getting Started
Hardware
| Hardware | Pi 4b | Pi 5 | Required | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Raspberry Pi | Approved Resellers | Approved Resellers | Yes | |
| Power Supply | 15W | 15W or 27W | Yes | Third-party power supplies are not recommended. |
| MicroSD Card | Recommended | Recommended | Yes | Or use any you already own. Must have at least 16 Gb storage capacity. Prefer cards with at least "V30" and "A1" speeds. Beware of fake cards on Amazon and Alibaba. |
| Ethernet Cable | Recommended | Recommended | Yes | Or use any you already own. Prefer cables that are at least CAT 6, 6a, or higher. Beware of fake cables on Amazon and AliExpress. |
| Case | iUniker | Black or White | No | Optional. Metal cases are not recommended. The Pi 5 cases come with a fan and a single heatsink. |
| Cooling | 40mm case fan + heatsinks | Active Cooler | Only if overclocking | The Pi 4b case fan is too loud. |
- All links to recommended hardware are NOT sponsored, do NOT use affiliate links, and do NOT make me any money.
Additional Hardware
- To write Ubuntu Core to your MicroSD card:
- MicroSD card reader/writer (built in or via usb)
- To complete Ubuntu Core installation:
- USB keyboard
- Micro HDMI (pi) to standard HDMI (tv/monitor) cable. Tested with this.
- Monitor or television
Setup
Preparation
Antennas would ideally be installed on a dedicated Raspberry Pi. Why? Constrained computational resources aside, Antennas must change system firewall and networking rules in order to function. For example: we clear the firewall rules before setting a default drop policy and flush wlan0's ip addresses before adding some.
Ask yourself how will these side effects interact with any other firewall/networking snaps you have installed (if any). If you think it might then install Antennas on a separate MicroSD card.
Install Operating System
Ubuntu Core is officially supported. See the Common Questions for more information on supported devices and operating systems.
First, download an Operating System image:
- Ubuntu Core 24
- Our custom image - Same as above, but with Antennas preinstalled (you can skip step 2 below)
Then follow the official installation guide.
Install Antennas
Assume all commands from this point forward are run on the Raspberry Pi after SSH'ing into it.
sudo snap install antennas
All permissions should be granted automatically. Check with snap connections antennas. Otherwise, you can manually grant permissions.
Finish Setup
Setting a wifi password is the last step before Antennas is running. See the Configure section below for how to set a password.
After setting a password you should see a message that says "Enabled snap services". Congratulations Antennas is now running!
If you don't see that message after setting a password you can manually enable services with sudo snap start --enable antennas.
Configure
View all currently set or default options with sudo antennas.config get. Or get a single item with sudo antennas.config get wifi-channel.
Learn how to set options with sudo antennas.config set --help. You may change the default options. It is common to change the country, ssid, and passphrase:
sudo antennas.config set --country-code=us --wifi-ssid=Test --wifi-password
You will need to run sudo snap restart antennas if you want the config changes to take effect.