wifi connection problem

[r_avital]

Hoping I can get some help on this.

My setup:
Router: Netgear ProSafe VPN Firewall FVS-338
Access-Point: Netgear ProSafe 802.11g model WG-102, connected to above router with network cable
Computer-A: Desktop, connected to router with network cable, no wifi involved.
Computer-B: Laptop connecting via wifi

Kubuntu 14.04 LTS 64Bit installed on an external HDD in USB-connected enclosure. Both computers have nVidia graphics on them, so both boot up without any issues from the same HDD.

On Computer-B, the laptop (which finally came back from repair today), I also have Ubuntu 13.10 64Bit (Gnome/Unity) installed on its own HDD.

Booting this laptop into the resident gnome/unity, it connects via wifi before I even have time to log-in. Flawless.

Booting the same into Kubuntu, it never connects. Going to the network icon in the tray (a wifi icon), it does find my access-point and the network I set up on it (along with those of practically everybody on my street). I verified the setup for my connection, Kubuntu knows the password for my encrypted wifi network. Attempting to connect, it keeps prompting me for a password repeatedly.

When I give up, I check the notifications, and it complains about missing a VPN plugin. I'm not sure why it would be looking for one, this is just the laptop in my home-office attempting a connection to the AP some 5 feet away. But then I remembered the "VPN" in the name of my router, got me thinking about a missing plugin, possibly? Not sure it makes sense, because from Kubuntu's perspective the router is behind the AP, and it never connects successfully to the AP.

I also ceated an open, non-encrypted, non-password-protected network on the same AP -- Kubuntu finds it, but again, fails to connect to it after I click on the Connect button.

Any ideas, anyone?

Update: I connected a USB wifi adapter. Now when I try to make a new connection, I have wlan0 (the one built-in on the laptop) and wlan1. Created a new connection pointing to the network defined by my AP, the secure/encrypted one, made sure to restrict it to device wlan1, attempted to connect, entered password when prompted, and voilà! Connected nice and pretty.

So it's not Kubuntu after all, but it is, because when booting into a gnome/unity session, or gnome/MATE session, the on-board wlan0 connects with no issues at all.

I suppose I could live with this for a while, but it would be a bit ridiculous to rely on an external wifi dongle just because the system uses Kubuntu.

If anyone could point me to somewhere on the system where I could look up differences between the two wlans and see what I could modify, that would be great.

Thanks in advance!

[Teunis]

Looks like a 'bad profile' sort of thing that is typically reset by purging the network manager and then reinstalling it.

But first, have you tried removing/deleting this particular connection from the network manager and then re-enabling it?

[r_avital]

Well, deleting the specific connection from network-manager and recreating it, resulted in the same problem.

Then I purged the network manager. When I went to reinstall it, of course, since there's no network manager, there's no network connectivity (probably because it was a purge rather than remove?) -- at any rate, I was not able to reinstall.

Tried my Trusty Tahr DVD, ran an installation, and expected to see a "repair" option, but I couldn't find it. By the time I tried to stop it, enough files had already been installed that it would simply do a new install of Trusty and I'd lose all my configurations.

No biggie, though, that's what that machine is for, testing.

[Teunis]

Ah OK, I thought you would know to hook up to a wired network, sorry for not warning.

Besides, it's reasonably easy to get a working WIFI connection without a network manager...

[r_avital]

Well sure, I could have hooked up a wired network, but in any case, the latest discovery is, it ain't Kubuntu's fault!

For grins, I started a clean install of plain ubuntu Trusty 14.04LTS 64Bit. Guess what? Even if you go to "try ubuntu" with that version, the built-in wifi on this laptop won't connect. Exact same symptoms -- It sees the networks available, prompts for password, and fails to connect.

And since (correct me if I'm wrong) Kubuntu depends on ubuntu, the same bugs that are in ubuntu would be in kubuntu as well, right?

Same machine. same built-in wifi. Same hardware. Connection happens quick and easy in 13.10, in 13.04, but not in 14.04. Oh, but checking for bugs and regressions is secondary to the all-important super-critical task of enforcing buttons on the left side of a window's titlebar...

[Teunis]

Yes, generally the underlying OS is the same Ubuntu.

Have you checked in System Settings/Driver Manager if there is a proprietary driver available?

In the past I've had WIFI problems that could be sorted by using the WICD manager utility.
In case you want to try it it is important that first the present network manager, including plasma stuff, is removed.

[r_avital]

If by removed you mean uninstalled completely, sure, I'll give it it a try. But as a safety measure, this time, I'll connect a network cable in case WICD fails, so I can issue "dhclient eth0" from a terminal so I'll have a broadband connection to be able to reinstall.

In any case, I'm still looking for reports on this bug with the wifi connection. Nothing exotic about my hardware, the wifi module on the laptop is a plain-vanilla Intel Wireless-N card.