Ubuntu WiFi Help
Your computer should be able to run Ubuntu without issue most of the time; however, not all wireless cards are supported under Ubuntu. When troubleshooting, first you'll need to check your wireless card to check that it's supported under Ubuntu. Furthermore, not all wireless card drivers install automatically. If you're having problems with a connection, it's quite likely that your wireless card needs a proprietary driver that cannot be installed during your initial Ubuntu installation.
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Supported Wireless Cards
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Ubuntu has a list of manufacturers whose wireless cards are properly supported, as well as which kind of connections are supported, i.e. PCMCIA, PCI or USB. Ubuntu has over 60 supported manufacturers, including cards from Dell, 3Com, Asus, Belkin, Cisco, Compaq and Netgear. Once you've checked if your card is supported on Ubuntu, you can find the right driver for your card and fix your WiFi issues. The full list of cards is available in the Ubuntu documentation.
Checking Your Wireless Hardware
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If you're unsure of what kind of wireless card you have installed in your computer, you can check in the command line entering "lshw -C network". The terminal will warn you that you should run the program as a super-user, but you don't need to in order to get your wireless information. Under "*-network" you'll see all the information about your device, including the manufacturer, model number and the version number for your device. Check this against the list of supported devices, and to help find the appropriate drivers for your device.
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Using Network Manager
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The network manager should run by default, displayed as a small radio icon in the upper right corner of the screen by the system panel. Click on the wireless icon to view your nearby wireless networks; you can also enable or disable wireless connectivity on your computer by selecting "Enable Wireless." If your wireless network does not broadcast, select "Connect to Hidden Wireless Network." You can also set up your network by opening the Ubuntu launcher and opening "Network Connections." Click "Wireless" and select "Add."
Detection Issues
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You can find out if your computer is seeing your wireless device by entering "iwconfig" into your terminal. If all the outputs read "no wireless extensions," Ubuntu does not see your wireless card. If your wireless card is recognized, you should see information about the connection under "wlan0." Check that your wireless is turned on. On most laptops you can toggle this by pressing "Fn+F2," while others have a physical switch located on the side of the computer. If you're using a desktop, make sure your wireless card is firmly seated in the computer, either on the motherboard or via USB. If you have another computer, test your adapter in another computer to check that the card itself is working.
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References
Resources
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