Sharing the Speedify Connection via Wi-Fi on Linux (Ubuntu, Raspberry Pi OS)

This article explains how to configure Speedify on Linux to share its VPN connection as a Wi-Fi hotspot, so that other devices on your network can connect through Speedify.

What You'll Need

• Speedify installed and running on your Linux device (Ubuntu or Raspberry Pi OS)
• A Wi-Fi adapter that supports Access Point (AP) mode (e.g., wlan0)
• Terminal access with sudo privileges
• Network Manager installed (required on Ubuntu; see the Troubleshooting section below if you're on Ubuntu Server)

Let's Get Started

Step 1

Open the Speedify configuration file in a text editor. The configuration file is located at /etc/speedify/speedify.conf . To edit it with nano, run the following command in your terminal:

sudo nano /etc/speedify/speedify.conf

Step 2

In the configuration file, find the sharing-related lines and uncomment them by removing the #  character at the start of each line. Then set the values to match your setup. To share over a Wi-Fi interface (typically wlan0 ), configure the following:

ENABLE_SHARE=1


SHARE_INTERFACE="wlan0"


WIFI_INTERFACE="wlan0"

WIFI_SSID="SpeedifyAP"

Replace SpeedifyAP  and password  with the network name (SSID) and password you want other devices to use when connecting to your hotspot.

Step 3

By default, Speedify creates a 2.4 GHz hotspot. If your Wi-Fi adapter supports 5 GHz, you can switch to it by setting the following in the configuration file:

WIFI_MODE="5"

To adjust the Wi-Fi channel, update this line. Speedify defaults to channel 1 for 2.4 GHz, or you can set channel 36 for 5 GHz:

WIFI_CHANNEL="1"

To set your country code for the Wi-Fi connection (required to comply with your local wireless regulations), add the following line:

WIFI_COUNTRY="US"

Replace US  with your two-letter country code.

Step 4

Save the configuration file. If you're using nano, press Ctrl+O and then Enter to save, then press Ctrl+X to exit. After saving, restart the Speedify sharing service by running:

sudo service speedify-sharing restart

The first time you run this after enabling sharing, it may take a few minutes while Speedify installs and configures the necessary packages. Subsequent restarts will be much faster.

Stopping Wi-Fi Sharing

To stop using your Wi-Fi connection as a hotspot, open /etc/speedify/speedify.conf  and set the following:

ENABLE_SHARE=0

Then restart the Speedify service for the change to take effect.

When sharing is enabled, Speedify automatically sets the SHARE_INTERFACE  to "Never" priority, so that Speedify won't try to use it as an internet connection. If you disable sharing and want Speedify to use that interface again as an internet connection, update its priority. For example, to set wlan0  back to "Always" priority, run:

/usr/share/speedify/speedify_cli adapter priority wlan0 always

Troubleshooting

Network Manager not installed (Ubuntu Server)

On Ubuntu, Speedify uses Network Manager to handle Wi-Fi sharing. Ubuntu Server does not include Network Manager by default, so you'll need to install it before the sharing feature will work. To install it, run:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install network-manager

Wi-Fi adapter is blocked

If the hotspot isn't starting, your Wi-Fi adapter may be blocked by rfkill. Check the status by running:

rfkill list all

If the Wi-Fi adapter is listed as blocked, unblock it with:

sudo rfkill unblock wifi

Country code mismatch (Raspberry Pi OS)

If you've set a country code in your Speedify configuration, make sure it matches the country code in your wpa_supplicant configuration. You can check the country set in wpa_supplicant by running:

grep country /etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.conf

For example, if hostapd.conf  has the country set to GB , the wpa_supplicant configuration should also use GB . On Raspberry Pi OS, you can set the wireless country through raspi-config  under the wireless options. See the Raspberry Pi wireless configuration documentation for details.