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Have been using ubuntu 10.10 with complete wifi access but recently when I upgraded it to 11.04 it shows no wifi.Please help.

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A compact diagnostic checklist for OP (upgrade 10.10 -> 11.04). is right to point at driver support. The usual culprits after an upgrade are the kernel not binding a module, missing firmware, or a soft/hard block. The commands below reveal which is happening without repeating the nm-tool suggestion already posted.

Commands to identify the card, bound driver, firmware errors and block state:

lspci -nnk | grep -iA2 net
lsusb
sudo lshw -C network
rfkill list
dmesg | egrep -i 'firmware|wlan|wifi|802.11|broadcom|rtl|brcm'

Interpretation and common fixes: if lspci/lshw show the device but no "Kernel driver in use", a driver must be installed. Broadcom chipsets were a frequent problem in 11.04 — the two typical remedies are the proprietary STA package or the b43 driver plus firmware. A wired Ethernet connection is usually required to fetch packages from the archive.

Example package and module actions (apply only when the chipset matches):

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install bcmwl-kernel-source
# or for b43 firmware extraction
sudo apt-get install b43-fwcutter

If there is a module conflict, unloading and loading modules can help:

sudo modprobe -r b43 ssb wl
sudo modprobe wl
sudo service network-manager restart

A few cautions and next steps: 11.04 is long out of support and lacks recent driver backports; upgrading to a supported release or a newer kernel often resolves stubborn hardware problems. When filing bug reports or seeking deeper help, include the outputs of lspci -nnk, lsusb, dmesg | tail -n 200, rfkill list and the contents of /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf.

Member Avatar for nonshatter

Make sure you have the relevant driver for your dongle/wifi card. Also make sure that the card manufacturer has driver support for your distro. You can usually find out on the manufacturers website.

Here are some helpful pointers:

With your computer turned off, insert your wireless adapter into a suitable port/slot.
Turn on your computer and log-in if/when prompted.
Open a terminal window and enter the following command:
nm-tool
This program will output the information Network Manager has collected about your card, much of which will assist in setting-up wireless networking .
If the output contains:
State: connected
(and you are not on a wired connection) then your wireless adpater is working and connected to a network.
Left-click on the panel applet (four vertical bars in 9.10 or older; 4 concentric arcs in 10.04). If you can see wireless networks, then your wireless works; you need to connect to a network. See below on network connection.
1.3. Troubleshooting Steps
Troubleshooting wireless networks in Ubuntu can be approached in three steps in order:

Check that your wireless adapter is enabled and that Ubuntu recognizes it: see Device Recognition and Operation.
Check if drivers are available for your wireless adapter; install them and check them: see Device Drivers.
Check your connection to the Internet: see Wireless Connections.
If it still does not work, ask a question at Launchpad, Ubuntu's official help: instructions.
Edited by nonshatter because: n/a
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