Get Available Wi-Fi Networks on Ubuntu

Ubuntu, being one of the most popular Linux distributions, offers a plethora of tools and commands to manage the system efficiently. Retrieving a list of available Wi-Fi networks is a basic but essential task for any Ubuntu user. This tutorial explains how to get available Wi-Fi networks on Ubuntu.

The nmcli is a command line tool for controlling network connections via NetworkManager. Run the following command to retrieve available Wi-Fi networks:

nmcli dev wifi

The list will include details such as the network SSID, signal strength, channel, security type, and more. Output example:

IN-USE  BSSID              SSID            MODE   CHAN  RATE        SIGNAL  BARS  SECURITY  
        7A:B2:A2:8D:10:78  --              Infra  2     270 Mbit/s  100     ▂▄▆█  WPA2      
        7A:B2:A2:8D:10:76  TP-LINK_7A01    Infra  2     270 Mbit/s  100     ▂▄▆█  WPA2      
*       63:B2:A2:8D:10:77  TP-LINK_7A01_5G Infra  36    540 Mbit/s  100     ▂▄▆█  WPA2      
        A0:A8:B3:11:C5:B2  TP-Link_B3B5_5G Infra  36    135 Mbit/s  85      ▂▄▆█  WPA2
.......