Use password authentication on Freenode

Some IRC channels on Freenode impose an authentication prior to joining. I have only observed this on Freenode, but I might be applicable for other IRC networks.

Luckily the Freenode IRC daemon supports communicating password during the connection.

This can be specified like this in your ~/.irssi/config

  {
    address = "irc.freenode.net";
    chatnet = "Freenode";
    port = "6667";
    autoconnect = "Yes";
    password = "secretpassword";
  },

According to the source listed below, you could also try with a longer delay for your NickServ authentication. I have not tried that out, please refer to the listed source.

References

• SuperUser.com