Old Computer no wifi, no bluetooth Redux

I found and read an old thread on this same topic. I just want to make sure I got the point.

I’ve got an old emachine from 2010. I loaded it up with Lubuntu 4.15.0-20 After doing that, I found there was no wifi or bluetooth.

I just wrote lshw into the terminal and found an Ethernet controller only. I then tried lscpi and found the name of the ethernet controller (Realtek).

I remember years ago when I used this computer I had to use a USB toggle to receive a wifi signal. Of course, I can’t find the thing and it probably wouldn’t work with linux anyway. What I want to know is: do I need to get a linux compatible USB toggle (or whatever you call them) to receive wifi into this thing? The old thread on a similar subject went through a long process, but the most I could glean was that if there was no wifi or bluetooth in the old computer, one needed to run it using an ethernet cable. True? False?

Any info appreciated.

Hey @famcoll!

I don’t think they even make a WiFi Dongle specifically for Linux. You should be able to use any dongle you can get your hands on as long as its relatively new.

Also, keep in mind that while an ethernet connection is less mobile, it is more stable and a lot faster than WiFi.

Hey there, @famcoll!
There are always solutions! I’ve found that quite a few WiFi dongles do work. However, for powerful signals or more Linux oriented, you might want to check this area:
https://www.addictivetips.com/ubuntu-linux-tips/usb-wifi-adapter-linux/
Some of them though look like they can be bigger than your laptop!

Furthermore, there are some in the link below (Amazon, I know…) - that are smaller.

https://www.amazon.com/linux-wifi-dongle/s?k=linux+wifi+dongle

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Thanks, SBHX. As soon as I can convince my husband to take up golf and go to Scotland to practice, I’m going to disconnect everything in the house and slam the ethernet cable into this computer to see how well it works. In the meantime, I’ll work on the other computers that were just delivered (with great sighs of relief) to my house from relatives who were thrilled to clean out their closets!

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Thanks, Vasileios. I’ll check the adapter you mentioned. Appreciate the suggestion.

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My pleasure, @famcoll, as always! :wink: