Guidance in migrating from Connman to iwd+impala for ethernet+wifi

Enrico1989 · 2026-06-11 14:48:46

Recently I've come back to a workstation (that one) which is normally connected to internet via ethernet, but also has WiFi, if need be. (And bluetooth as well, fwiw.)

I installed connman when I initially set up this system 8 years ago or so, and the service is enabled and therefore has been running everytime I used this system.

But I haven't used it to switch to WiFi for 7 years or so, and `connmanctl services` now only shows the wired connection (I did use WiFi some time at the beginning just to experiment, but then I didn't need it anymore).

Now that I'm using the workstation regularly again, and since it's summer and power outages are around the corner here in the south of Italy, I would like to be able to swtich to WiFi (using a phone as a router) when there's such a disgrace. And since I've made use of it on my laptop, I'd like to make use of impala for WiFi (just like I use bluetui for bluetooth).

On https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Network_configuration the table tells me I could actually get rid of connman and use iwd (which I use on the laptop), because iwd works for Ethernet as well (which I didn't know/remember).

So the idea is that I would like to manage WiFi with impala and Ethernet... with what? I've used iwctl on the laptop to scan for networks and switch among them, but I've never seen how it behaves when a ethernet cable is connected.

How can I go about it? From the various wiki pages, I suspect I should first disable and stop connman.service, then enable and start iwd.service, and then impala should work out of the box?

Last edited by Enrico1989 (2026-06-11 14:50:13)

V1del · 2026-06-11 15:08:49

Iwd doesn't do ethernet, you'd have to explicitly configure either another solution or just keep connman for the ethernet. Whatever you do care must be taken that no two daemons try to manage the same interface at the same time.

FWIW connman would be able to do both and you can configure connman to use iwd as it's wifi backend, would that not be an option? https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/ConnMa … supplicant

Enrico1989 · 2026-06-11 15:38:47

V1del wrote:

Iwd doesn't do ethernet, you'd have to explicitly configure either another solution or just keep connman for the ethernet.

What is the meaning of the green at (row=iwd, col=Ethernet) here, then?

V1del wrote:

FWIW connman would be able to do both and you can configure connman to use iwd as it's wifi backend, would that not be an option? https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/ConnMa … supplicant

As childish as it may sound, I like the idea of using impala for managing the wifi, and that builds on top of iwd, iiuc.

seth · 2026-06-11 15:53:51

As it says: "IEEE 802.1X" - not sure about the color but it won't manage any rj45 (or token ring ) connection.

Last edited by seth (2026-06-11 15:54:37)

Enrico1989 · 2026-06-15 05:15:34

V1del wrote:

FWIW connman would be able to do both and you can configure connman to use iwd as it's wifi backend, would that not be an option? https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/ConnMa … supplicant

At https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/ConnMa … supplicant the following is written:

Note that ConnMan is probably unnecessary for IWD users, as IWD can handle its own network configuration, in which case connmand should be stopped.

so I thought I could indeed do without ConnMan, but probably that statemente applies to WiFi-only users of ConnMan, and not to those like me that want to manage both WiFi and Eth?

seth wrote:

As it says: "IEEE 802.1X" - not sure about the color but it won't manage any rj45 (or token ring ) connection.

But somebody has made that cell green instead of red. And based on the rest of the table, it's hard to believe the author meant anything other than "you can manage ethernet with iwd, but not straightforwardly, so look at this link". Anyway, I tracked down the change in the history of the wiki: https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php?ti … did=786951, by user Nl6720. The description reads "explicitly mention 802.1X in the wpa_supplicant & iwd rows for Ethernet to avoid misunderstandings".

Should I "Add topic" under https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Talk:N … figuration and tell that those IEEE cells are unclear?

Last edited by Enrico1989 (2026-06-15 05:39:44)

seth · 2026-06-15 07:45:15

that statemente applies to WiFi-only users of ConnMan

it's hard to believe the author meant anything other than

wpa_supplicant is orthogonal to the other tools in that list, iwd is a hybrid.
Both provide ethernet connections in the sense that they provide you a wireless "cable" and they notably do *not* provide PPPoE or mobile broadband ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compariso … _standards )

tell that those IEEE cells are unclear?

description reads "explicitly mention 802.1X in the wpa_supplicant & iwd rows for Ethernet to avoid misunderstandings"

How would you make it anything more clear than that?

Maybe a problem is that "ethernet" is a soft term, ultimately a joke. It is not equivalent to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modular_connector#8P8C

Enrico1989 · 2026-06-19 13:12:47

seth wrote:

tell that those IEEE cells are unclear?
description reads "explicitly mention 802.1X in the wpa_supplicant & iwd rows for Ethernet to avoid misunderstandings"
How would you make it anything more clear than that?
Maybe a problem is that "ethernet" is a soft term, ultimately a joke. It is not equivalent to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modular_connector#8P8C

I don't think I'm in any way alone in not being expert of the topic. And yes, I was convinced that Ethernet meant that cable/connector.

I suppose a footnote on that cell would help, thought I wouldn't know what to write in it.

Putting it in other words, it would be a good thing to explain what's the difference between "Yes" and "IEEE 802.1X" in the first column for the user, who's not expert of networking.

The link to wikipedia is imho insufficient, as it would be only saying that "ethernet doesn't mean 8p8c".

Last edited by Enrico1989 (2026-06-19 13:14:17)

seth · 2026-06-19 13:33:23

Well, feel free to suggest the link text to be changed to "wireless" or "WiFi" or something else more colloquial.

Enrico1989 · 2026-06-22 05:18:01

seth wrote:

Well, feel free to suggest the link text to be changed

Done: https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Talk:N … _the_table?

seth wrote:

to "wireless" or "WiFi" or something else more colloquial.

Wait, are you telling me that the Yes under the "Ethernet" column means "you can connect to WiFi", and that it's telling me nothing about the 8P8C cable connection?

If that's the case, then what in that table tells me, for instance, that Connman can manage both my wireless and 8p8c-cable connections?

V1del wrote:

FWIW connman would be able to do both and you can configure connman to use iwd as it's wifi backend, would that not be an option? https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/ConnMa … supplicant

Does that mean that I could still use impala for Wifi, once I configure Connman to use iwd for WiFi, given that impala requires iwd?

Last edited by Enrico1989 (2026-06-22 05:18:50)

seth · 2026-06-22 06:12:49

Wait, are you telling me that the Yes under the "Ethernet" column means "you can connect to WiFi", and that it's telling me nothing about the 8P8C cable connection?

It tells you about "Ethernet" - "is this related to my LAN and not cellphones" and adds the caveat/hint that it (only) does wifi.

Does that mean that I could still use impala for Wifi, once I configure Connman to use iwd for WiFi, given that impala requires iwd?

You'll probably cause some conflictive configuration - "can you"? Yes. "Is that a good idea and things will for sure work afterwards?" No.

Arch Linux

#1 2026-06-11 14:48:46

Guidance in migrating from Connman to iwd+impala for ethernet+wifi

#2 2026-06-11 15:08:49

Re: Guidance in migrating from Connman to iwd+impala for ethernet+wifi

#3 2026-06-11 15:38:47

Re: Guidance in migrating from Connman to iwd+impala for ethernet+wifi

#4 2026-06-11 15:53:51

Re: Guidance in migrating from Connman to iwd+impala for ethernet+wifi

#5 2026-06-15 05:15:34

Re: Guidance in migrating from Connman to iwd+impala for ethernet+wifi

#6 2026-06-15 07:45:15

Re: Guidance in migrating from Connman to iwd+impala for ethernet+wifi

#7 2026-06-19 13:12:47

Re: Guidance in migrating from Connman to iwd+impala for ethernet+wifi

#8 2026-06-19 13:33:23

Re: Guidance in migrating from Connman to iwd+impala for ethernet+wifi

#9 2026-06-22 05:18:01

Re: Guidance in migrating from Connman to iwd+impala for ethernet+wifi

#10 2026-06-22 06:12:49

Re: Guidance in migrating from Connman to iwd+impala for ethernet+wifi

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