Ubuntu cannot activate network after each update. How to fix this?

Question

After I install updates via the software updater, I restart the computer, as suggested, however, after the restart I cannot find wireless networks and I cannot get the network interface to activate using

sudo wlan0 up

After a quick search on the web I found that I'm not the only one having this problem and a quick fix is to suspend and then get immediately back the session (ready: push the power button twice).

I encounter this problem only after updates, it is not that annoying however it should not happen. Does someone know how to fix it?

I'm using Ubuntu 16.04 LTS on a HP Pavilion laptop.

Thank you

Answer 1

since there is no wlan0 command you might wish to try sudo service network-manager restart or alternately,

$ sudo nmcli networking off
$ sudo nmcli networking on

Source: https://linuxconfig.org/how-to-restart-network-on-ubuntu-16-04-xenial-xerus-linux

Answer 2

If you are on an HP Pavilion, try blacklisting the following kernel modules:

acer-wmi

acer-wireless

Edit the /etc/modeprobe.d/blacklist file and add those to the list.

Run the following command if that doesn't work:

sudo systemctl restart NetworkManager.service