Hi

I have a old Sony VAIO laptop (VPCEH26EN) dual booting with linux and windows 7
The hardware wifi switch is broken on the laptop meaning I have to hold it in the on position forcibly to keep the wifi signal on
As a workaround I found a Belkin N150 F6D4050 v1 adapter and this has been working very well on Windows

Issues
1. Ubuntu 20.04 network manager detects both the wifi chips
the inbuilt Atheros chip and the Belkin adapter. However all the options are disabled
2. For this to work i have to switch the hardware wifi switch on and it immediately detects the wifi and connects

Questions

1. Why is it dependent on the hardware switch in Lunux while it is working correctly on Windows (the hardware switch is off) and still connects to internet
2. I have tried this on Debian Stretch and have the same issues. Stretch being a older version I thought the Ubuntu 20.04 would have the required configurations and would connect
3. Puppy linux Slacko detects and configures everything correctly

Thanks
Ninad

I don't know the box, but a hardware switch can't usually be fiddled with by software. It probably saves power in the unit - laptops are power conscious. Would just bridging the switch solve your issues? Why not leave it on?