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I am trying to install a virtual linux, but the virtual OS only detects my ethernet card, my wifi card is nowhere to be found, no app or setting or terminal command shows any trace of it.

My card is broadcom 4352 and after doing some research, trying to install it should only work if it's listed under ifconfig or iwconfig or lspci, but none of those commands find my wifi card, so doing the installation steps I found on other links is pointless.

Anyone knows why my card is not detected at all, and if there's anything I can do?

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  • Is this a VM? The Ethernet connection you see on that is just a bridge to the physical adapters on your computer, whether they be Ethernet, WiFi or dialup.
    – TheWanderer
    Sep 14, 2016 at 23:38
  • yeah, i'm using the latest version of vmware.
    – ArbenM
    Sep 14, 2016 at 23:41

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The Ethernet connection you see in your virtual machine is not really a true Ethernet connection. That is, it's not a physical one.

It is a network adapter, and the VM sees it as one, but it is really more of a network bridge between the VM and the host. If you're using Windows, you'll see that your Network Connections window will have a VMNet adapter (one for each VM). This is the adapter that acts as the other end of the VM network bridge, allowing the virtual OS to access your physical network connections indirectly.

You don't see your WiFi adapter in your VM, but you don't see your Ethernet adapter either, as it is a virtual connection between host and VM. This bridge allows the VM to access the host's internet connection, which is over whichever network connection the host is using. As far as I know, you cannot add your WiFi adapter to the VM. If you can, then it most likely disables it for the host, which is the case for quite a few devices.

There should be no reason to use WiFi in a VM, and if there is a need, I recommend you actually install Ubuntu or use a Live Environment.

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  • I see, thanks for the explanation, I'm buying one of those tiny USB WIFi adapters for 2$, I believe it should be able to detect that one.
    – ArbenM
    Sep 15, 2016 at 0:58
  • @Legjendat maybe, but you will specifically need to tell VMWare to let the VM use it instead of the host. You should be able to add USB devices in the VM properties. You should make sure you're not getting a Realtek or Broadcom chipset if you can.
    – TheWanderer
    Sep 15, 2016 at 0:59

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