Check your hardware

Let's see if your computer recognizes your wireless adapter.

  1. Open a terminal window, and enter sudo lshw -C network.

    If you get no response, you may need to install the lshw program on your computer; you can install it by typing sudo apt-get install lshw in a terminal.

  2. Read the output from the command, and check for the Wireless interface section. If your wireless adapter is detected, the output should look similar to this:

    *-network
           description: Wireless interface
           product: PRO/Wireless 3945ABG [Golan] Network Connection
           vendor: Intel Corporation
           physical id: 0
           bus info: pci@0000:03:00.0
           logical name: wlan0
           version: 02
           serial: 00:1b:77:11:5a:a7
           width: 32 bits
           clock: 33MHz
           capabilities: pm msi pciexpress bus_master cap_list ethernet physical wireless
           configuration: broadcast=yes driver=iwl3945 driverversion=2.6.38.2-9.fc15.i686
           firmware=15.32.2.9 ip=192.168.1.42 latency=0 link=yes multicast=yes
           wireless=IEEE 802.11abg
           resources: irq:46 memory:edf00000-edf00fff

If a wireless device is listed, then continue to the Device Drivers page.

If a wireless device is not listed, the next steps will help you to locate the hardware information.

Further wireless hardware checks

Because your wireless adapter was not found with the previous command, you need to take further steps to make sure your computer recognizes your adapter.

The steps you take will depend on the type of device that you use. Refer to the section that is relevant to the type of wireless adapter that you use with your computer: PCI (internal), USB, or PCMCIA.

Internal PCI adapters are most common, and are found on laptops made within the past few years. PCMCIA adapters are external, card-style adapters, and are more common on older laptops.

Checking for a PCI (internal) device

To check if your computer can recognize your PCI wireless adapter, enter sudo lspci into a terminal window. The terminal will display a list of PCI devices that it has found on your computer.

Although this may be a bit difficult to read-through, look for the name and model number of your wireless adapter. Here is an example of what a PCI device listing may look like:

Network controller: Intel Corporation PRO/Wireless 3945ABG [Golan] Network Connection

If your device is recognized by the previous command, great! Proceed to the Device Drivers page. If the above command does not show any output related to your wireless adapter, see the instructions at the bottom of this page.

Checking for a USB device

To check if your computer recognizes your USB wireless adapter, enter sudo lsusb into a terminal window. The terminal will display a list of USB devices that it has found on your computer.

Although it may be difficult to read-through, look for the name and model number of your USB wireless adapter. Here is some sample output from the lsusb command:

Bus 005 Device 009: ID 12d1:140b Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. EC1260 Wireless Data Modem HSD USB Card

If your device is recognized by the previous command, great! Proceed to the Device Drivers page. If the above command does not show any output related to your wireless adapter, see the instructions at the bottom of this page.

Checking for a PCMCIA device

To check if your computer recognizes your PCMCIA adapter, complete the following steps:

  1. Start your computer without the wireless adapter plugged in.

  2. Log in when/if prompted.

  3. When the desktop loads, open a terminal window and type the following command:

    sudo tail -f /var/log/messages

  4. Insert your wireless adapter into an available slot.

  5. Repeat the command above, and note the difference between the two.

If your device is recognized by the previous command, great! Proceed to the Device Drivers page.

If your device is not recognized by any of the above commands, it may mean that your device is not working, or that your device is not supported by your operating system.

To get additional help, post a message to a user forum appropriate to your operating system (e.g., Fedora, OpenSUSE, or Ubuntu forums, etc.), or post a message to an appropriate mailing list.