please help a newbie set up wifi

[dbaker]

I finally got my Linux-preloaded laptop today! ahhh, so exciting.

I'm trying to connect it to the internet and I found these instructions:
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=263136

I'm a little reluctant to follow them as they're so ancient, though. Will they still work, and if not, would anyone be able to walk me through the setup process? Since the VM connects to the wifi automatically, I've never had to deal with this on Linux before

[Snowhog]

Do you have a router or a dial-up modem?

[dbaker]

router.
oops, I probably should have also said I'm using Saucy!

[dequire]

It should "just work" out of the box. Have you tried it to see if the wifi sees your network?

[dbaker]

hmm, mysterious. I'm not even sure how to do that! In case it helps though, when I go to the network section of the system tray (which tells me I'm disconnected - fair enough), and click on the spanner icon, it shows 'networking enabled' with a checked box next to it, but 'wireless enabled' is unchecked and disabled (as in, I can't check it).

[dbaker]

UPDATE: I just remembered something: during the install, there was an option to set up wifi, which I didn't choose because I saw a name that confused me. In retrospect, I realise that was just the name of the network controller. Oops.
In any case, it was definitely just a case of postponing wifi setup, "configure later" or something like that.

If I'd known at the time what that confusing name was I definitely would have set it up then, as it would have downloaded all the 3rd-party software and device drivers automatically. I've just made things a lot harder for myself, d'oh. Help? :\

[sithlord48]

do you have a hardware switch for wifi ? if your using a laptop it could be a switch for a keycombo (like fn+F2) . be sure your wifi is turned on if you don't have a switch for the wifi its possible that you may need a properitary driver installed for your wifi to work . to fix this you will need to connect to a network (via cable) and use the hardware driver tool (jockey) to install the drivers.

edit: that tutorial is not helpful for you if you plan to use a GUI to run your computer.its old and wpa supplement works just fine using whatever network manager you DE is using. the lines added to your /etc/network/interfaces file may also be preventing you from using your wireless as well . you should undo what ever you did for that tutorial . before you attempt anything else.

[dbaker]

I haven't done anything at all yet for precisely that reason.

By the way, did you read my latest post? Don't you think the reason wifi isn't working is probably because I didn't set it up during install? I've emailed support to find out if it's meant to work out of the box. The dialogue during install seemed to be an option to say 'yes, use this network controller' (which I didn't realise at the time).
Surely everyone here has installed Kubuntu at some point and seen this particular dialogue I'm talking about. If not... what on earth is going on

[vinnywright]

Surely everyone here has installed Kubuntu at some point and seen this particular dialogue I'm talking about. If not... what on earth is going on

what is going on is that not all installs are the same ,,,,,,,it would depend on your hardware .

if you can plug in to your router with a hard wire and
,,,,,, post the output of

sudo lshw -class network

to start with ....
and then

ifconfig -a

it may help us help you

VINNY

[dbaker]

phew...I fixed it, guys! Turns out there WAS a hardware switch. I feel really silly for not having seen it D: Anyway, thanks for your help.

[sithlord48]

your welcome . i brought up the hardware switch because most people dont realize they have one .