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I just installed Pinguy OS 11.04 (a derivative of Ubuntu) and I can't seem to get the wireless to work. I've tried everything on this question and a bunch of other stuff. I even reinstalled and that didn't solve anything.
What do I have to do so that I can browse the web wirelessly?
I had the same problem on my Dell Inspiron laptop. I got the internet AND wireless working by taking the following steps:
sudo apt-get install firmware-b43-installer
sudo modprobe -r b43
sudo modprobe -r ssb
(These remove the ssb driver that interferes (supposedly) with b43 function, though I later found that the b43 driver automatically loads ssb also, in my case)
sudo modprobe b44
(This enables my ethernet (wired) connection)
Then install proprietary wireless drivers and enable the sta wireless driver. Link is on desktop or through Control Center.
sudo apt-get remove firmware-b43-installer
sudo apt-get install firmware-b43-installer
(This then automatically loads the firmware files)
I don't know whether all these steps were required, but they sure helped me. So go ahead and give it a try.
It happened to my dell laptop and I just ran the first command then reboot, finally, the wireless device is back to work!
sudo apt-get install firmware-b43-installer
lspciin a terminal and post the relevant line (or all of them if you're unsure). Ubuntu has a large repository of documentation about wifi drivers. Sometimes the only option is to get the Windows driver and hook into it with ndiswrapper. – Gilles 'SO- stop being evil' Jul 2 '11 at 10:49