How do I connect to wifi? Dell Latitude E6400

After two days of trying to install any kind of Linux, Mate is finally installed on my Dell Latitude E6400, hopefully a dual boot but I'm not entirely sure I didn't accidentally wipe out Windows 7 in the process. I have opened Mate to set it up but I cannot get connected to the internet by wifi - and do not see anywhere that shows a list of available networks from which to choose. I tried to manually add a network but I do not understand what all the fields and options mean (in relation to the two pieces of information I have for ATT Uverse). After adding it manually I do not see anywhere to turn on wife and connect. ( I followed the instructions in the manual to click on the network icon and then click on the SSID - however, there is no SSID list to choose from.) Help is appreciated!

I have two older Dell Latitudes running Ubuntu Mate and put it on a third Latitude for a friend that all started life with Win7. None showed the WIFI networks after the install.
Check your bios and see if WIFI is enabled. On my Dells if they are without power for any length of time (no battery, dead battery or not plugged in) they lose your bios settings (I had never seen this before on other brands). That means WIFI is not enabled and then Ubuntu Mate cannot find the WIFI card to find the WIFI networks.
If that does not solve your problem list your WIFI card so others can help you find and install the correct drivers.
The easiest way to do that is put the laptop on a wire, install hardinfo (sudo apt-get install hardinfo) and then look at "System Tools>System Profiler and Benchmark> PCI devices>Network Controller".
If you prefer you can open a terminal and use this command for PCI devices to list your wireless card.

lspci -tv

i.e Intel Corporation Wireless-AC 9462 (this is not the Latitude card but another laptop)

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Thank you! Wireless is enabled in the bios (all 3 options: wi-fi catcher, wireless switch and wireless devices). I also booted up in windows and the wireless works fine. Wasn't sure how to go about installing in MATE (where do I type in the "sudo...." command to install hardinfo?) so I checked the card while in windows 7 - it is called Dell Wireless 1510 Wireless-N WLAN Mini-Card. The driver (I assume this is installed only in Windows?) shows as 4.176.75.21, the manufacturer is Broadcom and the location is shown as PCI bus 12, device 0, function 0.

Thank you!!

You open a terminal and type the sudo command.
I would encourage you to install synaptic. It is a very good apt GUI. It tells you about the programs and can update, upgrade, install, uninstall and fix some broken packages.

Open a terminal (System Tools> Mate Terminal>) and type <sudo apt-get update> then <sudo apt-get install synaptic>
Synaptic will appear under System>Adminstration>Synaptic Package Manager

Here is another post about the Broadcom drivers available. This shows the Broadcom drivers available in the Ubuntu Mate repository. Beyond that you may need to contact the manufacturer to get the correct driver. My card is an "Intel Corporation Centrino Advanced-N 6205[Taylor Peak] (rev34)" and the driver installed during Ubuntu Mate Installation. I have had previous Broadcom drivers and just installed all the software available and it worked, but I had two occasion were a kernel update did not work and I had to use the old kernel until the next upgrade for the Broadcom card to work again. I know it is not ideal, but you could try a linux supported WIFI dongle too.

Thank you! I downloaded synaptic (did a search for broadcom and saw the ones you posted, checked them all and installed). Now wireless networks are showing up in networking icon menu list! What a relief :). I so appreciate your help.

Just mark your solution button and I am happy your laptop is working. I am no expert and can't help a lot of people, but I try to when I can.

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Please click on the search icon and type Broadcom. There should be a old post of mine that explains the problem and displays places to go to find more information.

Edit: See Broadcom wireless tip in Tricks and tutorials.

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