Connecting Linux Mint to WiFi network

I just installed Linux Mint 17 (MATE) on an old laptop and everything works amazing, however I can’t seem to get it to connect to my WiFi network. All my other computers can get access, plus, before when the laptop has Windows XP, it could also find and connect. Is there a way to check if it’s even detecting the correct network? If so, how would I set up a proper connection to the network?

There is nothing wrong with my network nor the laptop, so it must be Mint’s fault.

Edit:
Output of iwconfig:

lo       no wireless extensions.

eth0     no wireless extensions.

Output of lspci -nn | grep 0280:

02:04.0 Network controller [0280]: Broadcom Corporation BCM4318 [AirForce One 54g] 802.11g Wireless LAN Controller [14e4:4318] (rev 02)

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Answers:

Method 1

Method 2

Method 3

Answers:

Thank you for visiting the Q&A section on Magenaut. Please note that all the answers may not help you solve the issue immediately. So please treat them as advisements. If you found the post helpful (or not), leave a comment & I’ll get back to you as soon as possible.

Method 1

This answer assumes that you can connect your machine to the network using a cable and so get internet access. If that assumption is wrong, let me know and I’ll modify this.

You need to install the driver for your wireless card. The driver support table of the Linux Wireless page lists it as supported so you should be able to get everything working by simply running:

sudo apt-get install firmware-b43-installer

If this does not work leave me a comment, you might need to tweak it a bit.

Method 2

Applies to: Linux Mint 17.3

Because of an apparent bug, if you’re using a Broadcom based WiFi card (such as BCM4321) on this edition of Mint, you need an internet connection already established, either from cable all by using an Atheros based USB Wifi dongle. (E.g. TP-722). At least this is so, if you attempt to install from a USB memory stick, made from an ISO using UNetbootin.

What should happen is that you get a screen under driver manager that look like the picture below, then you select the bcmwl-kernel-source and Mint should download and install the new kernel-driver from the USB memory and after reboot it should just work. This does not happen as the driver manager insists on network connection.

So instead find an alternative connection and install using driver manager.

In addition, please note that on some laptops (especially HP) there may be a manual WiFi switch. For some reason, even when on it is starting of as off, so you need to toggle that switch. You can check this status (if the drivers are properly installed) with:

# rfkill list
0: phy0: Wireless LAN
    Soft blocked: no
    Hard blocked: no
1: brcmwl-0: Wireless LAN
    Soft blocked: no
    Hard blocked: yes

Then, once you’ve toggled, you should get something like:

# rfkill list
0: phy0: Wireless LAN
    Soft blocked: no
    Hard blocked: no
1: brcmwl-0: Wireless LAN
    Soft blocked: no
    Hard blocked: no
2: hci0: Bluetooth
    Soft blocked: no
    Hard blocked: no

If for some reason, it would show as soft blocked, you can run:

$ sudo rfkill unblock 1
$ sudo /etc/init.d/networking restart

Method 3

Execute the following two on the command line:

sudo apt-get install b43-fwcutter firmware-b43-installer
reboot

All methods was sourced from stackoverflow.com or stackexchange.com, is licensed under cc by-sa 2.5, cc by-sa 3.0 and cc by-sa 4.0

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