Ubuntu Server 12.04, Wifi problems

Question

When I installed Ubuntu Server 12.04, I selected the ethernet adapter because I will use that most often; however, I would like to use wifi sometimes as well.

This is how far I've gotten with this problem.

lspci 
02:00.0 Network Controller: Intel Corporation PRO/Wireless 5100 AGN [Shiloh] Network Connection

iwconfig
wlan0  IEEE a/b/g/n  BSSID=off/any  Mode=Managed  Access Point=Not-Associated TX-Power=off  Retry Long Limit:7  RTS thr:off  Fragment thr:off  Power Management:off

I tried to do iwconfig wlan0 up but that doesn't work either. The error message said something along the lines of rfkill but I'm not connected to the Internet to download that particular program.

Any help here would be great

Answer 1

1. Switch on your WiFi switch

2. Enter the following command

   rfkill list all
   

3. You will get something like this

   0 : sony-wifi: Wireless LAN
   Soft blocked: no
   Hard blocked: no
   1: phy0: Wireless LAN
   Soft blocked: no
   Hard blocked: no
   

4. If any value (Highlighted above) is displaying yes

5. Enter the following command

   rfkill unblock all
   

6. Check your WiFi Status Again.

Answer 2

What I would suggest is making sure that the drivers for your wireless card are correctly installed. And having a good look through the wireless troubleshooting.

Check for device recognition Open a Terminal (Applications → Accessories → Terminal) and type the command: sudo lshw -C network

You should see an output, along with the words "CLAIMED, UNCLAIMED, ENABLED or DISABLED"

Claimed - this indicates a driver is loaded but not functioning, see the section called “Using Windows Wireless Drivers”

Unclaimed - there is no driver loaded, see the section called “Using Windows Wireless Drivers”.

Enabled - there is a driver loaded, see the section called “Check for a connection to the router”.

Disabled - see the section called “Check that the device is on”.

This is from the ubuntu troubleshooting section on wireless. Try the following command.

sudo lshw -C network

This should give you a better idea of what your wireless card is doing.