Ubuntu: Up and Running

Basic Networking

There’s a lot more about networking in Chapter 10, but for now you’ll just want to ensure your new Ubuntu installation is able to reach the network in your own home or office, and from there the Internet. To find out if that’s the case, double-click on the Firefox icon right next to the system menu at the top left of the screen, or select Applications → Internet → Firefox Web Browser. When the browser opens, it should display the default Google/Ubuntu home page, as shown in Figure 3-28.

If the home page doesn’t open and you get an error such as “Offline Mode, This document cannot be displayed while offline…”, then you need to check your network configuration options.

To see what might be the problem, take a look at Figure 3-29. You can call up this menu by clicking on the network settings icon at the top right of the desktop. The icon will usually look like a pair of plugs connecting to each other diagonally or, as in this case because a wireless network is connected, a set of signal strength bars.

Normally you will see “Auto eth0” under Wired Network if you have an Ethernet cable plugged into the computer. Furthermore, if your machine has a wireless card and there’s a wireless hub within range, you’ll see the name of the network to which you are connected under Wireless Networks. In this case, my computer isn’t plugged into a wired network, but it is connected to a wireless network called The Dunes. If you’re not connected to either type of network, or wish to connect ...