These questions comes back quite often: “How can I set the SSID (network name), change the Wi-Fi password, and/or safely shut down my Kiwix Hotspot?”

Let’s dive into these one at a time, shall we?

The SSID

The network name is set to Kiwix. It’s not currently configurable — so if you were hoping to rebrand your offline library as “FreeWifi_DoNotConnect,” you’ll have to wait. For most deployments (a classroom, a refugee center, a prison library) this is fine. Everyone quickly learns that “Kiwix” means knowledge, no login required.

Note: we do allow whitebranding for commercial partners.

The Wi-Fi password

This one you can change, and you should – if you decide to use one, though in an offline setting chances of unwanted visitors should be limited. The admin panel gives you full control over the Wi-Fi password (which is currently set to “admin-password”; there, we said it).

Log in, find the network settings, update it. Done. Useful if you want to restrict access, rotate credentials periodically, or simply replace the default with something your users will remember.

Shutting it down

Here’s where it gets counterintuitive.

You can just unplug it.

Yes, really. The Kiwix Hotspot runs on a Raspberry Pi, and while the instinct of any self-respecting Linux user is to never, ever yank the power without a proper shutdown sequence, the Hotspot is designed to handle exactly that. No graceful shutdown command needed. No SSH session. No crossed fingers.

Just unplug it. It’ll be fine.

This is intentional — the Hotspot is built for contexts where the person switching it off might be a teacher in rural Uganda, not a sysadmin in Zurich. It should just work, including when it stops. The Raspberry Pi 5 does include a shutdown button, so we guess they decided “counterintuituve” was not making people happy.