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How to know which network adapter I’m using?

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To know the manufacturer of the network adapter of your computer in Linux, type this command in terminal:

sudo lshw -C network

The output of the command may look something like this:

       *-network               
       description: Wireless interface
       product: BCM4313 802.11b/g/n Wireless LAN Controller
       vendor: Broadcom Corporation
       physical id: 0
       bus info: pci@0000:03:00.0
       logical name: wlan0
       version: 01
       serial: 70:f1:a1:c2:f2:e9
       width: 64 bits
       clock: 33MHz
       capabilities: pm msi pciexpress bus_master cap_list ethernet physical wireless
       configuration: broadcast=yes driver=brcm80211 driverversion=2.6.38-8-generic firmware=N/A ip=172.17.4.253 latency=0 link=yes multicast=yes wireless=IEEE 802.11bgn
       resources: irq:17 memory:f0500000-f0503fff
  *-network
       description: Ethernet interface
       product: AR8152 v1.1 Fast Ethernet
       vendor: Atheros Communications
       physical id: 0
       bus info: pci@0000:04:00.0
       logical name: eth0
       version: c1
       serial: b8:ac:6f:67:11:46
       capacity: 100Mbit/s
       width: 64 bits
       clock: 33MHz
       capabilities: pm msi pciexpress vpd bus_master cap_list ethernet physical tp 10bt 10bt-fd 100bt 100bt-fd autonegotiation
       configuration: autonegotiation=on broadcast=yes driver=atl1c driverversion=1.0.1.0-NAPI firmware=N/A latency=0 link=no multicast=yes port=twisted pair
       resources: irq:43 memory:f0400000-f043ffff ioport:2000(size=128)

Check the output closely. It gives information about both Wired and Wireless Network Adapter. No need to specify that one with Wireless Interface describes wireless adapter and one with Ethernet Interface describes Wired Network Adapter. As you can see in the output, I have Broadcom’s wireless adapter and Atheros Ethernet (wired) adapter.

Questions, suggestions and feedbacks are welcomed. If you liked the post then please acknowledge it by liking/voting/commenting on the post. Enjoy :)

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  • mary

    I have the BCM4306 802.11b/g Wireless Lan Controller, does anyone know which program I have to install to work my internet connection??

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  • TheFlying DutchMan

    Plz help me—-
    I m new in linux and i tried as u said
    i used the command sudo lshw -C network
    but it only shows ethernet interface…
    plz help me how can i solve it

    • http://computerandu.wordpress.com Abhishek Prakash Chaturvedi

      In my opinion, your wireless adapter has not at all recognized. Could you please paste the output of command: iwconfig

      • abso moha

        lo no wireless extensions
        eth0 no wireless extensions

  • Assur

    Damn, wrong tab. could someone delete the above post? It was supposed to appear somewhere else. (and subsequently this one) Thanks!

    • http://computerandu.wordpress.com Abhishek Prakash Chaturvedi

      Never mind…it happens ..:)

  • Assur

    Thanks for your solution, it works perfectly, but I have some trouble in understanding how to make the changes permanent.
    “sudo rfkill list” states the following output, after I unblocked with the command “sudo rfkill unblock all”

    1: tpacpi_bluetooth_sw: Bluetooth
    Soft blocked: no
    Hard blocked: yes
    2: phy0: Wireless LAN
    Soft blocked: no
    Hard blocked: no
    6: hci0: Bluetooth
    Soft blocked: no
    Hard blocked: no

    What do I have to add to the blacklist? I tried
    echo “blacklist phy0-wmi” >> /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf
    echo “blacklist tpacpi_bluetooth_sw-wmi” >> /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf
    echo “blacklist Wireless LAN-wmi” >> /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf
    echo “blacklist wmi” >> /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf

    None of those gave the desired result. Not to be missunderstood: I can bring wifi to work, if I enter “sudo rfkill unblock all” after every restart, but somehow I have no clue on what to add to the blacklist.conf to make the changes permanent.

    PS: Just for being sure, I do have a Centrino 1000 n, at least thats what “sudo lshw -C network” states.

    description: Wireless interface
    product: Centrino Wireless-N 1000
    vendor: Intel Corporation
    physical id: 0
    bus info: pci@0000:02:00.0
    logical name: wlan0
    version: 00
    serial: 74:e5:0b:03:8a:9a
    width: 64 bits
    clock: 33MHz
    capabilities: pm msi pciexpress bus_master cap_list ethernet physical wireless
    configuration: broadcast=yes driver=iwlagn driverversion=2.6.38-10-generic firmware=128.50.3.1 build 13488 ip=192.168.1.55 latency=0 link=yes multicast=yes wireless=IEEE 802.11bgn
    resources: irq:42 memory:e1600000-e1601fff

  • Kelley

    I too am having wireless problems.

    sudo rfkill list

    0: hci0: Bluetooth
    Soft blocked: no
    Hard blocked: no
    1: phy0: Wireless LAN
    Soft blocked: no
    Hard blocked: no

    sudo lshw -C network

    *-network
    description: Network controller
    product: BCM4318 [AirForce 54g] 802.11a/b/g PCI Express Transceiver
    vendor: Broadcom Corporation
    physical id: 3
    bus info: pci@0000:03:03.0
    version: 02
    width: 32 bits
    clock: 33MHz
    capabilities: bus_master
    configuration: driver=b43-pci-bridge latency=64
    resources: irq:17 memory:dfbfe000-dfbfffff
    *-network DISABLED
    description: Wireless interface
    physical id: 2
    logical name: wlan0
    serial: 00:14:a5:57:b9:26
    capabilities: ethernet physical wireless
    configuration: broadcast=yes driver=b43 driverversion=2.6.38-8-generic firmware=N/A link=no multicast=yes wireless=IEEE 802.11bg

    • http://computerandu.wordpress.com Abhishek Prakash Chaturvedi

      Did you try the steps mentioned in my other post on wireless troubleshooting for Broadcom adapters? Please try that and if it doesn’t work, we can try other solutions to fix it.

      • Kelley

        I looked under your posts and did not see that one.

      • Kelley
      • Kelley

        Thank you for your help. When I went to install bcmwl-kernel-source_5.+bdcom-0ubuntu5_i386.deb I had a pop-up that a newer version was in the repos, so I installed that and SHAZAM! Wireless now works!

        • http://computerandu.wordpress.com Abhishek Prakash Chaturvedi

          Glad that you have wi-fi now..

  • .sekar7 Ashok Sekar

    I was trying to enable my wireless. i tried all the method you said in the article “How to solve: No wireless networks in ubuntu 11.04” but it didn’t work. I am commenting on this article because. when i type in my terminal i get a similar message except i see “network disabled” for my wireless. is there anyway i can enable it?

    *-network DISABLED
    description: Wireless interface
    product: BCM4313 802.11b/g/n Wireless LAN Controller
    vendor: Broadcom Corporation
    physical id: 0
    bus info: pci@0000:04:00.0
    logical name: wlan0
    version: 01
    serial: 00:26:82:98:83:c0
    width: 64 bits
    clock: 33MHz
    capabilities: pm msi pciexpress bus_master cap_list ethernet physical wireless
    configuration: broadcast=yes driver=brcm80211 driverversion=2.6.38-8-generic firmware=N/A latency=0 link=no multicast=yes wireless=IEEE 802.11bgn
    resources: irq:17 memory:f2500000-f2503fff

    • http://computerandu.wordpress.com Abhishek Prakash Chaturvedi

      What is the output of this command:

      sudo rfkill list

      • .sekar7 Ashok Sekar

        0: ideapad_wlan: Wireless LAN
        Soft blocked: yes
        Hard blocked: no
        1: ideapad_bluetooth: Bluetooth
        Soft blocked: no
        Hard blocked: no
        2: acer-wireless: Wireless LAN
        Soft blocked: yes
        Hard blocked: no
        3: phy0: Wireless LAN
        Soft blocked: yes
        Hard blocked: no
        4: hci0: Bluetooth
        Soft blocked: no
        Hard blocked: no

      • .sekar7 Ashok Sekar

        Thanks for helping me out man.. appreciate it!!

        • http://computerandu.wordpress.com Abhishek Prakash Chaturvedi

          You are welcome..

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