No Wireless Ubuntu 12.04 Dell Inspiron 6400

[jz5168]

All I did is installed Ubuntu 12.04 (with Ethernet cable connected when installing), and I got no wireless connection when I remove the cable. I also ran this command:

sudo rfkill list all

and the output is:

dell-wifi: Wireless LAN
Soft blocked: no
Hard blocked: no

I disabled Fn+F2 at the boot level, so only wifi is on and bluetooth is off and Fn+F2 has no effect (so it is always on).

Please post the solution, I really need it, thanks

[chili555]

0b:00.0 Network controller [0280]: Broadcom Corporation BCM4311 802.11b/g WLAN [14e4:4311] (rev 01)

Please do:

sudo apt-get remove --purge bcmwl-kernel-source

It may or may not be there to be removed; that's fine, please continue.

sudo apt-get install linux-firmware-nonfree

Reboot and enjoy your wireless.

[ahallubuntu]

As an alternative: I should point out that I've upgraded the wireless cards in a couple of 6400's (same as E1505). My E1505 came with an Intel 3945ABG card that worked automatically in all the newer versions of Ubuntu, but I upgraded it to an Intel 5100 (full height not half height) card to get 802.11n speeds. There are some reports of issues with 802.11n with this card but I have never had a problem with Ubuntu running on this card at full speed.

You can buy a used Intel 5100 full height card for under $10 USD shipped on eBay. (Don't buy a "new" one shipped from Asia - I've had bad luck with those, seem to be a lot of engineering samples or something.) You don't have to get a "Dell" card, but make sure you DON'T get the HP or Lenovo version! It actually will work in Linux but not if you ever try to boot Windows again...

To replace the card, pop off the cover above the keyboard with a flat screwdriver and remove the keyboard - the card is in the upper right corner above the keyboard. Pop off the two antenna wires (carefully), replace the card and the wires and that's it.

[Raiyan Kamal]

I have the same machine and faced the same problem.
rfkill list all showed hard blocked: Yes.
I pressed Fn+F2 once, the small LED in the front that indicates wifi status blinked once.
I pressed Fn+F2 once again, the indicator LED stayed ON. I chekced with rfkill list all again, this time all the bloked were "no". Not sure why, but pressing Fn+F2 twice helped in my case.

[lavallie]

Please do:

sudo apt-get remove --purge bcmwl-kernel-source

It may or may not be there to be removed; that's fine, please continue.

sudo apt-get install linux-firmware-nonfree

Reboot and enjoy your wireless.

This did the trick for me!!! Thanks for your help.....