Good morning! I'm new to this forum, and new to Linux, but I'm now beginning to realise just how grossly over-engineered and cumbersome Windows was!

Anyway, I have a question about WiFi in Ubuntu 11.10, and since I didn't understand any of the topic titles in the "Networking" board, I've posted here.

OK, I have two computers, a Compaq Presario CQ60-320SA and an old eMachines 730 pc. The laptop was running Vista Home Premium until the hard drive bit the dust. I put in a new OEM drive and decided to go down the Linux route on the recommendation of a friend, and it's awesome. I absolutely love it. Everything on the laptop is working nicely. WiFi web access is faster than a fast thing!

My problem is the pc. It was on Windows XP Pro with wireless internet running nicely via a little Realtek adapter, but since having Ubuntu on the laptop I decided to also put it on the pc. I managed to make a USB socket bootable using PLoP and installed Ubuntu 11.10 from a pendrive, deliberately erasing the hard drive in the process. ("Goodbye Windows! Don't let the door hit you on the @ss on the way out!")
Again, no probs with the install and everything's working fine, except wifi. Using network manager, I have everything set up EXACTLY as it is on the laptop. Passwords/passkeys are correct; it's seeing all available networks; it just won't connect.

I have no idea what to try. I really hope someone out there can help? But please be patient! To put my stupidity in context, only this morning I Googled "GUI" to find out what it was!

Many thanks in advance!
TFB

you can try to disable wireless encription, maybe it will solve the problem (but you will have security issue)

--------------------------------------------
4 ways to get wi-fi working on linux

Moved: This thread is more suitable in <Ubuntu> and has been moved accordingly to help your thread/question get the exposure it deserves.

Mods - Thanks for moving the thread, & apologies for posting in the wrong place!

Bit of a development.... If I switch the pc on and let it boot up WITHOUT the network adapter plugged in, and then, once it's up and running, plug in the adapter, it almost instantly connects to the router. Excellent signal strength and perfectly acceptable (for my purposes) speed of around 75mb/sec. However, it's not "seeing" the internet. Firefox can't connect to the internet, apparently. Again, I have the Firefox settings exactly the same as they are on the laptop which is working beautifully.

Any ideas on this one?

Many thanks!
TFB.

Hi,

Check your DNS in '/etc/resolv.conf' for proper DNS assignments from your ISP.

sample '/etc/resolv.conf';

Code:

 #search 192.168.0.1 #un-comment if this happens to be your DNS 
 nameserver xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx   #ISP DSN 'replace xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx
                              #with IP from your ISP
 nameserver 4.2.2.1           #Verizon third level DNS
 nameserver 4.2.2.2           #if needed
 nameserver 4.2.2.3
 nameserver 4.2.2.4

I use Verizon 3rd level as a fall over search.

Hi Onebuck,

How do I get into "/etc/resolv.conf"? I assume it's from a terminal window, but when I type that in (no quotes) I get permission denied....

Hi,
You can use a text editor of choice; nano,vi or even mcedit. You must be root to modify this file. You can use 'su -' or sudo to utilize the editor as root. Do a 'man su' & 'man sudo' to understand these commands. 'nano' would be the simplest while 'vi' can be found on most Gnu/Linux.