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There is a similar question to my question, but the answers were more specific to that situation.

I am running Ubuntu 21.04 on a Raspberry Pi 4b. I do not see any WiFi networks in the GUI WiFi pane, even though my phone can see multiple WiFi networks and my phone is also activating a hotspot.

What is a standard way to investigate why this would be? Assuming my Pi's hardware is not broken, what factors would cause a Pi, or a computer in general, not to see any WiFi networks?

Dirk
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Julius Hamilton
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1 Answers1

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In your comment, you said:

the problem might be on the Ubuntu level actually. So I posted my question to Ask Ubuntu

I feel certain you're correct. While Ubuntu and RPi OS are both Debian derivatives, there are substantial differences between the two distributions. In particular, network management might be considered "completely different" - at least in terms of their default network toolsets :

  • Ubuntu relies mostly on NetworkManager for network configuration and device management.

  • RPi OS is more de-centralized, using dhcpcd, wpa-supplicant (for example), and other legacy tools to accomplish the same objectives.

For this reason, your decision to post on Ask Ubuntu is a sound choice. I might go so far as to say that all networking questions for users of Ubuntu on the RPi platform should be considered "off-topic". But I've digressed with that opinion - question closures will likely continue to be determined in ad hoc fashion as they are now.

Seamus
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