Network

Network configuration using NetworkManager with iwd backend, systemd-resolved for DNS, and Tailscale for mesh networking.

Architecture

My setup:

• NetworkManager — Connection management
• iwd — WiFi backend (replaces wpa_supplicant)
• systemd-resolved — DNS resolution
• dhcpcd — Disabled (NetworkManager handles DHCP)

Disable dhcpcd

NetworkManager handles DHCP itself, so dhcpcd is not needed and can cause conflicts.

# Stop and disable dhcpcd
sudo systemctl stop dhcpcd
sudo systemctl disable dhcpcd
 
# Verify it's not running
systemctl status dhcpcd

If you had dhcpcd managing interfaces, NetworkManager will take over after a reboot.

NetworkManager + iwd

Using iwd as the WiFi backend provides better stability than wpa_supplicant, especially on Framework AMD with the MediaTek WiFi card.

Configure iwd backend

Create /etc/NetworkManager/conf.d/wifi-backend.conf:

[device]
wifi.backend=iwd

Enable services

sudo systemctl enable --now NetworkManager
sudo systemctl enable --now iwd

Disable wpa_supplicant (if installed)

sudo systemctl stop wpa_supplicant
sudo systemctl disable wpa_supplicant

DNS with systemd-resolved

I use systemd-resolved for DNS instead of letting NetworkManager write to /etc/resolv.conf directly.

Enable systemd-resolved

sudo systemctl enable --now systemd-resolved

Link resolv.conf

sudo ln -sf /run/systemd/resolve/stub-resolv.conf /etc/resolv.conf

Configure NetworkManager to use it

Create /etc/NetworkManager/conf.d/dns.conf:

[main]
dns=systemd-resolved

Verify

resolvectl status

WiFi Management

CLI (nmcli)

# List networks
nmcli device wifi list
 
# Connect
nmcli device wifi connect "SSID" password "password"
 
# Saved connections
nmcli connection show
 
# Disconnect
nmcli device disconnect wlan0
 
# Forget network
nmcli connection delete "SSID"

TUI (impala)

I use impala for interactive WiFi management — much nicer than iwctl:

impala

See impala for keybindings and configuration.

Tailscale

Tailscale creates a secure mesh network between all your devices.

Installation

curl -fsSL https://tailscale.com/install.sh | sh

Or via pacman:

sudo pacman -S tailscale

Setup

sudo systemctl enable --now tailscaled
sudo tailscale up

Follow the auth URL to connect to your tailnet.

Useful commands

tailscale status          # Show connected devices
tailscale ip              # Show Tailscale IP
tailscale ping <host>     # Ping another device
tailscale ssh <host>      # SSH to another device (if enabled)

Exit node (use another device as VPN)

# Enable exit node on a device
sudo tailscale up --advertise-exit-node
 
# Use an exit node
sudo tailscale up --exit-node=<hostname>

Complete Setup Summary

1. Disable dhcpcd
2. Enable NetworkManager + iwd
3. Disable wpa_supplicant
4. Enable systemd-resolved
5. Link resolv.conf
6. Install Tailscale
7. Install impala for WiFi TUI

Resources

• Arch Wiki: https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/NetworkManager#Using_iwd_as_the_Wi-Fi_backend
• Tailscale docs: https://tailscale.com/kb/