How to refresh available wireless network list in Ubuntu?

Introduction

There are too many graphical wireless network configuration programs for Ubuntu Community.

But if you don't want to use cammand lines( recommanded ), you are in right place.

Scan

Type following command lines in terminal to scan available/open networks.
Type ifconfig in terminal to know your wifi interface.It should be like wlan0 or something.

sudo iwlist [wifi interface] scan

Note: In tests this command only worked with Atheros cards.

Results should look like following.

wlan0 Scan completed :
Cell 01 - Address: 00:04:E2:D0:D1:96
ESSID:"SMC"
Mode:Master
Channel:6
Frequency:2.437 GHz
Quality=78/100 Signal level=-56 dBm Noise level=-127 dBm
Encryption key:off
Bit Rates:1 Mb/s; 2 Mb/s; 5.5 Mb/s; 11 Mb/s; 6 Mb/s
9 Mb/s; 12 Mb/s; 18 Mb/s; 24 Mb/s; 36 Mb/s
48 Mb/s; 54 Mb/s
Extra:tsf=00000039cdb32ac3

The ESSID, Frequency and Address are the most important labels here (quality may also factor into your decision, too... higher is better).

If you are using newer version of Ubuntu, you can simply use this following command without knowing your wifi interface.

sudo iwlist scan

Note: Without using sudo (non-root) will only give you the list of known networks.It won't refresh.

References:

• https://help.ubuntu.com/community/WifiDocs/Scan_for_Wireless_Network
• http://askubuntu.com/questions/23581/refreshing-the-wireless-network-list