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Network manager, with nmtui and nm-applet.

Same here. NM worked flawlessly on my Sway setup, which is not i3, but Sway is very similar to i3 anyways.

nm-applet also, works fine

I use iwd and systemd-networkd. I don't use may applet or gui control. With my setup I just and up ignoring network configuration the majority of the time.

Edit: I've found iwd such a huge improvement over past wireless networking solutions. It's a big improvement.

Maybe iwctl would work for you?

Network-manager is the easiest transition