Raspberry Pi Disable Wi-Fi: 7 Ways You Can Turn Off Raspberry Pi Wi-Fi

There are several reasons you may want to deactivate wi-fi on your Raspberry Pi. You could not be using its connection hence no purpose in having it enabled on your Raspberry Pi. In addition, it might be consuming CPU power and memory, thus the need to minimize the system usage. If you aren’t using its connection, it is unnecessary having it linked to your Raspberry Pi. Therefore, we will cover a couple of straightforward processes for Raspberry Pi to disable wi-fi.  

Equipment List

• Wi-fi module or Ethernet Cable
• Micro SD Card
• Power Supply
• Raspberry Pi

Optional Equipment

• USB Keyboard
• Raspberry Pi Case
• Monitor
• HDMI wire
• USB Mouse

Raspberry pi single board 

Methods of Disabling your Raspberry Pi’s wi-fi

There are various methods used to turn off Raspberry Pi wi-fi. Here are seven simple ones that only involve a few clicks.  

1. Crontab

Crontab works as a device for configuring programmed functions. The first command with this method is that you need to disconnect your wi-fi interlinking temporarily.

To turn off the wi-fi at each reboots robotically, here is the procedure you will have to follow;

Open your Raspberry Pi OS terminal and then the edit mode on crontab.

Schedule the task, and this is what you will get;

Choose your preferred transcript editor. Afterward, click “enter” to remain with Nano.

Towards the completion part, put this line within the crontab folder.

Save and exit.

Now, you will be sure that you can apply Ethernet wire throughout. Furthermore, for every startup, the wi-fi will inevitably halt.

Apply the following method to transmit the built-in wi-fi briefly.

Additionally, you may set it up at every startup by removing the mark within the crontab.

Close-up of a Raspberry Pi 4 M

2. Config.txt

The config.txt process requires you to revise the Raspberry Pi OS alignment folder. Interestingly, you can turn off the Wi-fi hotspot straight away on a new Raspberry Pi OS SD board.

Here is the way it’s done;

Revise the folder on the Pi SD card right away from your PC. Additionally, open the monitor and then link through the SSH.

Use Nano to unlock the config.txt folder.

Get the following line:

Below that folder, add the following dualistic outlines.

Save and exit.

If you want to monitor whether the procedure is operating correctly, restart your Raspberry Pi OS.

Nevertheless, if your Raspberry Pi OS model is old, when beginning, add pi3 as follows:

3. Raspi Blacklist

Unlike other procedures, the Raspi blocklist is among the great methods for disabling the built-in Wi-fi interface on your Raspberry Pi.

Within the terminal, click on the following folder.

Since the folder is blank, insert the following lines:

Save and exit.

Next, while the Ethernet wire is still intact, restart the Raspberry Pi's wi-fi Module. During the subsequent startup, you will not see the wi-fi adapter anymore. In addition, to reactivate it, take away the two files from the active file.  

Raspberry pi single board credit card size computer

4. modprobe

modprobe is a temporary method even though it works almost similar to the blocklist solution. Apart from editing the config file, use modprobe as the command as an alternative.

When using Raspberry Pi OS Desktop, utilize this monitor as a command:

Besides, it will as well inevitably get rid of cfg80211 and brcmutil.

On the other hand, reinstalling the wi-fi converter will require the following command:

Nevertheless, if it doesn’t work in your case, apply for the same order in the crontab, and it will start up automatically.  

5. Systemctl

The system is another remote monitoring solution you apply when ending wired service. Most Linux supplies have Sudo Systemctl as the servicing manager that you can use. In addition, you may use it to regulate the state of service.  

A Bluetooth sensor in a breadboard

Disabling the servicing will require the following three orders.

Afterward, for the changes to be effective, restart the Pi. When using the wi-fi for a second time, utilize the “enable” order.  

6. RFKill

RFKill unblocks Wi-fi and is accessible on all Pi OS models openly. Besides disabling the wi-fi converter, it is an order-line device that disables, enables, and queries wireless connections on network interfaces.

You will need to do the following;

Begin by unlocking the terminal and then fill in this order;

That command will block Bluetooth cards and wi-fi right away.

With the subsequent rebooting, the block command will be insistent. Therefore, you will need to apply the following RFKill command to enable Bluetooth modems or wi-fi adapters.  

7. Raspberry Pi Os Desktop

There is a straightforward way of disabling the onboard wi-fi adapter if you have a Raspberry Pi OS Desktop.

Begin with finding the wi-fi symbol positioned within the clock bar. You will see a menu such as this displayed.  

There is no permanent process of disabling Raspberry Pi OS lite Desktop wi-fi. Therefore, you have to keep repeating this procedure after every reboot. Nevertheless, it’s that simple. To deactivate the wi-fi, click “Turn off wi-fi.”  

Tips To Improve Your Network Speed

In some cases, you may encounter network speed problems, including slow rapidity or interruptions, as you use wi-fi dongles on Raspberry Pi. Here are several tips to resolve such hitches.  

Raspberry Pi Disable Wi-Fi:  Modify the Cables of Your Ethernet

Fiber Optic cables connected to an optic port and Network cable

Perhaps you might have been using one Ethernet wire for so long. Replacing the wire with a fresh one will solve network issues such as disconnection and improve speed. The option may not be the most effective, but it’s the cheapest.  

Raspberry Pi Disable Wi-Fi:  Use An Enhanced Switch

Using an obsolete Ethernet to provide a link from your Raspberry Pi and the processor isn’t an efficient solution. Nevertheless, you can add a 1GB Ethernet port with a speedy switch to enhance the transmission tariff.  

Use A Raspberry Pi 4

Powered single-board microcomputer Raspberry Pi 4B

The majority of outdated Raspberry models don’t feature a gigabit Ethernet port. For instance, the Raspberry Pi 3B+ has a 300 MB limit on the maximum. Therefore, purchasing the Raspberry Pi4 modern version is vital since it allows you to enhance network speed.  

Summary

You have it; hopefully, you have found your most preferred and sustainable solution.  As it’s evident, you only need to follow a particular command and perform a few clicks, and just like that, you deactivate the wi-fi connection in your Raspberry Pi.