After changing my network settings to match the screenshots, disconnecting my ethernet cable, and running the cat command, I tried to connect to my wifi network, and the same problem persisted.
Here are the results of the cat command, for reference.
Code:
Apr 22 21:17:09 jacob-Inspiron-1545 NetworkManager[858]: <info> Policy set 'Wired connection 2' (usb0) as default for IPv4 routing and DNS.
Apr 22 21:17:09 jacob-Inspiron-1545 NetworkManager[858]: <info> Writing DNS information to /sbin/resolvconf
Apr 22 21:17:09 jacob-Inspiron-1545 NetworkManager[858]: <info> Activation (usb0) successful, device activated.
Apr 22 21:17:26 jacob-Inspiron-1545 NetworkManager[858]: <info> (usb0): IP6 addrconf timed out or failed.
Apr 22 21:17:26 jacob-Inspiron-1545 NetworkManager[858]: <info> Activation (usb0) Stage 4 of 5 (IPv6 Configure Timeout) scheduled...
Apr 22 21:17:26 jacob-Inspiron-1545 NetworkManager[858]: <info> Activation (usb0) Stage 4 of 5 (IPv6 Configure Timeout) started...
Apr 22 21:17:26 jacob-Inspiron-1545 NetworkManager[858]: <info> Activation (usb0) Stage 4 of 5 (IPv6 Configure Timeout) complete.
Apr 22 21:19:35 jacob-Inspiron-1545 dhclient: receive_packet failed on usb0: Network is down
Apr 22 21:19:35 jacob-Inspiron-1545 NetworkManager[858]: <info> (usb0): carrier now OFF (device state 100, deferring action for 4 seconds)
Apr 22 21:19:35 jacob-Inspiron-1545 NetworkManager[858]: <info> (usb0): device state change: activated -> unmanaged (reason 'removed') [100 10 36]
Apr 22 21:19:35 jacob-Inspiron-1545 NetworkManager[858]: <info> (usb0): deactivating device (reason 'removed') [36]
Apr 22 21:19:36 jacob-Inspiron-1545 NetworkManager[858]: <info> (usb0): canceled DHCP transaction, DHCP client pid 2781
Apr 22 21:19:36 jacob-Inspiron-1545 NetworkManager[858]: <warn> sysctl: failed to open '/proc/sys/net/ipv6/conf/usb0/accept_ra': (2) No such file or directory
Apr 22 21:19:36 jacob-Inspiron-1545 NetworkManager[858]: <warn> sysctl: failed to open '/proc/sys/net/ipv6/conf/usb0/use_tempaddr': (2) No such file or directory
Apr 22 21:19:36 jacob-Inspiron-1545 NetworkManager[858]: <warn> (6) failed to find interface name for index
Apr 22 21:19:36 jacob-Inspiron-1545 NetworkManager[858]: nm_system_iface_flush_routes: assertion 'iface != NULL' failed
Apr 22 21:19:36 jacob-Inspiron-1545 NetworkManager[858]: <warn> (6) failed to find interface name for index
Apr 22 21:19:36 jacob-Inspiron-1545 NetworkManager[858]: <warn> DNS: plugin dnsmasq update failed
Apr 22 21:19:36 jacob-Inspiron-1545 NetworkManager[858]: <info> Removing DNS information from /sbin/resolvconf
Apr 22 21:19:36 jacob-Inspiron-1545 NetworkManager[858]: <info> (usb0): cleaning up...
Apr 22 21:19:36 jacob-Inspiron-1545 NetworkManager[858]: <warn> (6) failed to find interface name for index
Apr 22 21:19:36 jacob-Inspiron-1545 NetworkManager[858]: (nm-system.c:766):nm_system_iface_get_flags: runtime check failed: (iface != NULL)
Apr 22 21:19:36 jacob-Inspiron-1545 NetworkManager[858]: <error> [1492913976.57221] [nm-system.c:768] nm_system_iface_get_flags(): (unknown): failed to get interface link object
Apr 22 21:19:36 jacob-Inspiron-1545 NetworkManager[858]: <info> Unmanaged Device found; state CONNECTED forced. (see http://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/191889)
Apr 22 21:19:36 jacob-Inspiron-1545 NetworkManager[858]: SCPlugin-Ifupdown: devices removed (path: /sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:1d.7/usb2/2-3/2-3:1.0/net/usb0, iface: usb0)
It is also worth noting that prior to this post I was using LXLE, but I wiped and performed a fresh install of Ubuntu 14.04 to a) better match the screenshots and b) see if maybe it would work after following your previous tips (unfortunately it did not). Should I upgrade to Ubuntu 16.04 and then try again? Or do I need to do something else entirely?