Network Manager Doesn't Display Available Networks

The current version of the network manager applet will sometimes fail to display available networks (wireless or wired), instead only showing:

Enable Networking
Enable Wireless
Connection Information
Edit Connections...

This problem can be corrected by modifying /etc/xdg/autostart/nm-applet.desktop

sudo nano /etc/xdg/autostart/nm-applet.desktop

Change the line that reads

Exec=nm-applet

so that it reads

Exec=sh -c "sleep 10; nm-applet" &

Save the changes (Ctrl-O, Ctrl-X in nano) and reboot the system.

This modification introduces a delay to the startup of the network manager applet that alleviates a race condition, and as a result this will cause a delay in the appearance of the network manager applet in the panel.

If the issue is not resolved then repeat the process, incrementing the value following "sleep" from 15 to 20. If this still does not solve the problem try incrementing it again. Unless it is an exceptionally slow or abused system it should not be necessary to increase the value above 30, and there may be another issue present if the problem persists even with a higher sleep time.

We should also try to identify and document other work-arounds for this as it may be difficult to advise Tech Support callers on performing these modifications.

The one other currently known work-around is to connect/disconnect an ethernet cable and then disconnect/reconnect it again, forcing an update to the list of available networks. This fix only lasts until the next time the system is rebooted.

This is a known and to-be-patched bug: Launchpad Bug 965895