Zorin Lite 16 cannot connect to home network

Hello! I recently installed Zorin Lite onto an old HP Pavilion. However, it cannot detect my home network. Other networks do show up, so the Wifi adapter is working, but my specific home network isn't showing up. Also, I attempted to add it as a hidden network, which also didn't work. Additional drivers failed to find anything either. However, it does connect over wired. I'm hoping to get it to connect wirelessly, so any assistance would be appreciated. Thank you in advance!

Hi, and welcome!

Are you able to connect to another Wi-Fi network? Perhaps from a neighbor (ask for permission), your smartphone's hotspot or somewhere public?

Can you please post the output of

sudo lshw -C network

Please check if ipv6 is enabled; if so, disable it.

If your drivers are good and ipv6 is disabled, you may need to check your Router Settings. With other networks showing up, this implies that your PC network card is working properly and that there is something inhibiting your local network.

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How old? :thinking:

I would be interested to know if you enabled any 'legacy' WiFi settings in your router if that would help, being aged. Encryption type may be something to check also; WPA3 is pretty new. Only a handful of my devices can use it. Also frequency bands - 2.4GHz uses 20HMz to 40MHz, 5GHz uses 20MHz to 160MHz.. Plus, 802.11a/b/g/n and now AC with 5GHz WiFi - it may be a 'g' only network device, which wouldn't pick up an 'n' network.

A few variables with that, I think it's safe to say the driver is okay since you're picking up your neighbors routers, heh. You may have to play with a few of the settings in the router to see if anything works; encryption or band frequency, channel, etc.. If it is something with any legacy settings, that may hinder other device speeds - maybe. Not always true but, is a factor with that being enabled on most routers..

sudo lshw -C network gives the following (i'm typing this out instead of pasting it, so there may be some formatting issues)

*-network
description: Ethernet Interface
product: RTL810xE PCI Express Fast Ethernet controller
vendor: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd.
physical id: 0
bus info: pci@0000:03:00.0
logical name: enp3s0
version: 05
serial: 70:54:d2:1c:80:21
capacity: 100Mbit/s
width: 64 bits
clock: 33MHz
capabilities: pm msi pciexpress msix vpd bus_master cap_list ethernet physical tp mii 10bt 10bt-fd 100bt 100bt-fd autonegotiation
configuration: autonegotiation=on broadcast=yes driver=r8169 driverversion=5.15.0-88-generic firmware=rtl_nic/rtl8105e-1.fw latency=0 link=no multicast=yes port=twisted pair
resources: irq:16 ioport:e000(size=256) memory:d0004000-d0004fff memory:d0000000-d0003fff

*-network
description: Wireless Interface
product: RT5390R 802.11bgn PCIe Wireless Network Adapter
vendor: Ralink corp.
physical id: 0
bus info: pci@0000:04:00.0
logical name: wlp4s0
version: 00
serial: a4:17:31:2d:dd:90
width: 32 bits
clock: 33MHz
capabilities: pm msi pciexpress bus_master cap_list ethernet physical wireless
configuration: broadcast=yes driver=rt2800pci driverversion=5.15.0-88-generic firmware=0.40 latency=0 link=no multicast=yes wireless=IEEE 802.11
resources: irq:17 memory:fea00000-fea0ffff

IPv6 is default enabled when I try to add the network, and when I disable it and force IPv4 and try to connect again, it seems to fail, but I don't know if I'm doing it correctly.

I think the year is either 2012 or 2013, but possibly earlier. No earlier than 2011 though.
The device seems to support 802.11b/g/n and the router states that it supports all protocols except 802.11a. The protocol that's set on my 2.4ghz channel is 802.11 g/n/ax and WPA3, neither of which I can change.

I would say that is partly the issue - WPA3 is just now (2023) being rolled out on most devices. It may be a firmware kinda thing as well - none of my older devices can use WPA3... which sucks that you can't change it..

Is that like a hotspot / Uverse router? If it is, that may not be configurable as you stated.. and definitely don't know about any firmware updates for it, or OpenWRT status - if any are available for it.

That spectrum 'bgn' is pretty dated - not saying anything bad about it, at all. Just, likely another part of the issue.. Do you have any devices you can create a shared connection / hotspot? With that, you should be able to set WPA2 encryption. Spectrum options might be up to the card being used for the hotspot - 2.4/5GHz, WPA/2/3, or AES/TKIP, if available. Shared WiFi from a PC is kind hit or miss though.. Just an option to try if able to.