I am a relative Linux newbie and have installed Lubuntu 18.04 on a relatively old laptop. Generally works well, but neither internal WiFi (Intel Corporation PRO/Wireless 2200BG) nor the more recently purchased USB WiFi dongle (Ralink RT5370 Wireless Adapter) work. The system (via 'lspci' & 'lsusb') sees them both. I am currently using Ethernet, but would like to get the Ralink RT5370 working. The laptop has a WiFi on/off switch, but doesn't matter whether this is on or off, in Networking it still says'WiFi is disabled by hardware switch'. I have looked at previous similar queries and answers. There seem to be a variety of potential solutions, all of them leading nowhere. Does anyone have a simple, reliable solution?
42 Answers
Perhaps your wifi is software blocked. You can check that by typing this in terminal:
sudo rfkill list allIf it says soft blocked: yes, you can unblock it with the command:
sudo rfkill unblock <device name>Brilliant! Simple and effective. I removed the wireless PCI card & rebooted. Mousepad stopped working, but cured by reboot in recovery mode. Ralink USB WiFi adapter is now working. Many thanks!
