[[!meta title="Connecting to a network"]]

You can connect to a network using a wired, Wi-Fi, or mobile broadband
connection:

  - If a wired connection is detected, Tails automatically connects to it.

  - To connect to a Wi-Fi network:

    1. Open the system menu in the top-right corner.

    1. Choose <span class="guilabel">Wi-Fi</span> and then <span class="guilabel">Select Network</span>.

  - To connect to a mobile broadband network:

    1. Open the system menu in the top-right corner.

    1. Choose <span class="guilabel">Mobile Broadband</span>.

[[!img doc/first_steps/introduction_to_gnome_and_the_tails_desktop/system.png link="no"]]

To connect to Tor using bridges or configure a proxy to access the Internet,
you need to [[activate additional Tor configuration when starting Tails|first_steps/startup_options/network_configuration]].

After establishing a connection to a network:

  a. If you can already access the Internet, Tor is automatically started.

  b. If you need to log in to a captive portal before being granted access to
     the Internet, then [[see the corresponding documentation|unsafe_browser]].

To modify your network settings, for example to configure whether or not
to automatically connect to a Wi-Fi network, do the following:

1. Open the system menu in the top-right corner.

1. Click on the [[!img lib/preferences-system.png alt="System" class="symbolic" link="no"]] button to open the system settings.

1. Choose <span class="guilabel">Network</span>.

If you want to reuse your custom
configuration or the passwords of encrypted wireless connections across separate
working sessions, you can activate the [[<span class="guilabel">Network connections</span> persistence
feature|first_steps/persistence/configure#network_connections]].

If you are concerned about being identified as a Tails user on your
network, read our documentation about [[network
fingerprinting|doc/about/fingerprint]].

<div class="note">

<p>It is currently impossible to connect using:</p>

<ul>
<li>Dial-up modems, see [[!tails_ticket 5913]].</li>
<li>VPNs, see [[the corresponding FAQ|support/faq#vpn]].</li>
</ul>

</div>

For more information, open
<span class="application">[[GNOME Help|first_steps/introduction_to_gnome_and_the_tails_desktop#help]]</span>
and choose <span class="guilabel">Networking, web, email & chat</span>.
