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In every other platform I use (Windows, OSX, Android) there's a simple GUI tool for choosing a WiFi network. You never have to enter an SSID, unless the network is hidden. Kind of essential feature if you're in a coffee shop and the barista is busy. Not seeing this in the Unity GUI. Am I missing something?

And yes, I did click on the network icon. So if that's where my WiFi networks are supposed to be, why aren't they? Can't detect the WiFi card? Other Linux distros don't have this problem with my Dell Lattitude D630 (kind of a common system).

It'd be nice if it said it couldn't find my WiFi card.

I did click on the network icon

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Isaac Rabinovitch
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    If it couldn't find a Wifi card, how should it know to say it couldn't? It's a perfectly legitimate use case where there is no Wifi card at all. – muru Oct 22 '14 at 19:16
  • @Isaac - you have a hardware detection issue - please look at this Q - create another question with details of your hardware - especially the wireless card you are using and any log information you can supply. This will help trying to find a suitable answer to why you are not seeing your wireless card. Thanks. http://askubuntu.com/questions/14008/i-have-a-hardware-detection-problem-what-logs-do-i-need-to-look-into – fossfreedom Oct 22 '14 at 19:58

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This is expected behavior when no WiFi driver has been installed. For whatever reason, the Ubuntu installer won't automatically install some drivers -- these must be installed by hand.

The first step is to identify the WiFi card. Open a terminal window and type

lspci -vvnn | grep Network

Then google for Ubuntu driver installation instructions for that card. This particular computer has a Broadcom card that's pretty common on older Dell computers. Refer to the Ubuntu Documentation for driver installation instructions.

Isaac Rabinovitch
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Wi-Fi is a basic feature. There is a network indicator icon in the Unity Bar. You simply click on it to select the Wi-Fi network you want to join. (Make sure Enable Networking and Enable Wi-Fi are selected, as shown).

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