Initial thoughts

The purpose of this setup is to be able to SSH into your Pi without needing to make your phone into a hotspot, which requires cellular service. I can confirm that I was able to succesfully SSH into a Raspberry Pi 4B over Bluetooth using the free Termius app and an iPhone (iOS 18), which had both cellular and wifi disabled.

Most of the info I could find on this setup seemed like it was either outdated or said the idea was impossible, which is an inaccurate statement in 2025. I also found another, hard-wired, solution in this YouTube video, but it requires a powered USB hub and more dongles, which isn't really ideal if you want to reduce your device footprint and cord clutter.

Step 1: Install the required programs

  1. Install blueman (Bluetooth manager) on the Raspberry Pi:

    sudo apt update

    sudo apt install bluez blueman bluez-tools

  2. Install dnsmasq (DHCP server):

    sudo apt install dnsmasq

  3. Install iptables (Firewall and routing tool):

    sudo apt install iptables

  4. Enable SSH on your Raspberry Pi (if you haven't already):

    sudo raspi-config

    Tip: Go to Interfacing Options > SSH > Enable.

Step 2: Pair Raspberry Pi with iPhone

  1. Open Blueman Manager on your Raspberry Pi.

    blueman-manager

  2. Enable Bluetooth on your iPhone and pair it with the Raspberry Pi by clicking Search in Blueman.
  3. Once paired, ensure the Bluetooth connection is active.

Step 3: Set up Network Access Point (NAP)

  1. In Blueman Manager, go to the View menu > Local Services > Network Settings.
  2. Under Services, check the Network Access Point (NAP) checkbox.
  3. Select dnsmasq as the DHCP server to assign IPs to the connected device.
  4. Set PAN support and DUN support to Network Manager.

Step 6: Reboot both devices

  1. Reboot the Raspberry Pi:

    2. sudo reboot

  2. Restart your iPhone and ensure it is still connected to the Pi via Bluetooth.

Step 7: Verify the network connection

  1. Check the IP address of the Pi's pan1 interface:

    2. ifconfig pan1

    Tip: You should see an IP like 192.168.1.10 or 10.0.63.1 (or similar).

Step 8: SSH into the Raspberry Pi from the iPhone

  1. On your iPhone, install an SSH client like Termius.
  2. In Termius, use the Pi's pan1 IP (from ifconfig) to connect to the Raspberry Pi:
    • Host: Enter the IP address of the Pi's pan1 interface.
    • Port: 22 (default SSH port).
    • Username: pi (or whichever user you use).
    • Password: Enter your Raspberry Pi password.
  3. Once connected, you should have full SSH access to the Raspberry Pi via Bluetooth PAN.