I am running a Raspberry Pi 3 Model B using a freshly installed Raspberry OS (Debian 12 (bookworm)) and want to use it to provide a WiFi hotspot. This should be possible according to a tutorial on the Raspberry Pi website¹. All that is needed is a single NetworkManager command:

```bash
# On Raspberry Pi:
sudo nmcli dev wifi hotspot ifname wlan0 ssid MyPiHotspot password MyVerySecurePassword
```

However, this does not work using the internal WiFi (`wlan0`). While the SSID is broadcast, connecting to it using any other device fails with a “wrong password” error and repeatedly asks for it. This happens regardless of whether I try to initiate the connection via GUI or nmcli. Here a quick capture of the failed connection attempt with `nmcli`.

```bash
# On my normal laptop:
sudo nmcli dev wifi connect MyPiHotspot --ask
```

```
Push of the WPS button on the router or a password is required to access the wireless network 'MyPiHotspot'.
Password (802-11-wireless-security.psk): ********************
Passwords or encryption keys are required to access the wireless network 'MyPiHotspot'.
Password (802-11-wireless-security.psk): ********************
Passwords or encryption keys are required to access the wireless network 'MyPiHotspot'.
Password (802-11-wireless-security.psk): ********************
Passwords or encryption keys are required to access the wireless network 'MyPiHotspot'.
Password (802-11-wireless-security.psk): ********************
Passwords or encryption keys are required to access the wireless network 'MyPiHotspot'.
Password (802-11-wireless-security.psk): ********************
Passwords or encryption keys are required to access the wireless network 'MyPiHotspot'.
Password (802-11-wireless-security.psk): 
```

**Everything, however, works flawlessly when I use an external WiFi dongle** (and replace the `wlan0` with `wlan1` in the command). Other than that, I did not change any settings whatsoever.

Contents of `/etc/NetworkManager/system-connections/Hotspot.nmconnection` (auto-generated by the `nmcli dev wifi hotspot ...` command):

```ini
[connection]
id=Hotspot
uuid=a58d13bb-4d84-4b20-8bea-7b061c73ed0c
type=wifi
autoconnect=false
interface-name=wlan1

[wifi]
mode=ap
ssid=MyPiHotspot

[wifi-security]
group=ccmp;
key-mgmt=wpa-psk
pairwise=ccmp;
proto=rsn;
psk=MyVerySecurePassword

[ipv4]
method=shared

[ipv6]
addr-gen-mode=default
method=ignore

[proxy]
```

As said, this works. Only when replacing this with `wlan0`, it doesn't work.

Using internal WiFi to connect to some other WiFi works flawlessly. So the internal WiFi is not (completely) broken.

`sudo journalctl -u NetworkManager -f` does not log anything at all when I try to connect to the WiFi, but that seems to be standard.

**What might cause this issue?** Is my WiFi chip partially broken on the hardware side and I should just give up? Or is this fixable (preferably using software)?

## Further reading

1. [Host a Wi-Fi hotspot with a Raspberry Pi · raspberrypi.com](https://www.raspberrypi.com/tutorials/host-a-hotel-wifi-hotspot/)
2. [Create wireless access point and share internet connection with nmcli · unix.stackexchange.com](https://unix.stackexchange.com/a/384513/246626): Five commenters mentioning that the `nmcli` command does not work for them, but for the majority it seems to work