I've been a long time i3wm user, and I couldn't be happier with my workflow.
What network managers are people using together with i3? I've been using wicd for a while, however with Debian deprecating Python2 this won't be viable for long. I haven't found another lightweight GUI network manager which works well with i3. This might not be the perfect place to ask, however I don't use Reddit.
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.