Hi,
I would like to know if it is possible to disable WIFI on a Raspberry 5 via Home Assistant OS. Since I do not use WIFI for Home Assistant but have connected the Raspberry via a network cable, the WIFI functionality can be disabled as far as I am concerned. I just cannot find on the internet how I can best approach this and whether this is even supported. If anyone has experience with this, I would like to hear it.
Method: Create a network configuration override
HAOS uses NetworkManager for networking. The cleanest way to disable Wi-Fi is via a configuration file.
SSH into your Home Assistant OS
You need to SSH into the OS-level (not the Home Assistant CLI). This requires the SSH & Web Terminal add-on configured with “Protection mode” disabled, or access to a screen and keyboard directly on the Pi.
Edit or create a configuration override:
Create the file at:
/etc/NetworkManager/conf.d/disable-wifi.conf
With the following content:
[device]
wifi.scan-rand-mac-address=no
[keyfile]
unmanaged-devices=interface-name:wlan0
This disables the wlan0 interface (the default for Raspberry Pi Wi-Fi).
Reboot the system:
reboot
After reboot:
Go to Settings > System > Network in the Home Assistant UI.
The Wi-Fi interface (wlan0) should no longer be listed or be marked as unmanaged.
Or SSH again and run:
nmcli device
It should show wlan0 as unmanaged or not listed.
Option 2: Hardware-level disable (via /boot/config.txt)
You can physically disable the Wi-Fi chip at the OS level via the boot configuration.
Steps:
Access the boot partition of your Raspberry Pi SD card or over SSH.
Edit /boot/config.txt and add this line:
dtoverlay=disable-wifi
Save and reboot:
`reboot`
Effect: The Raspberry Pi will no longer detect or initialize the Wi-Fi hardware. This is the most definitive method and ideal if you want to eliminate Wi-Fi power draw or RF emissions.