On ThinkPad E14 Gen 7 systems running Pop!_OS 24.04 LTS, Wi-Fi might not detect any networks right after installation. This happens because the Intel Wi-Fi 7 (BE200) firmware is missing, even though the Linux kernel fully supports the hardware.

System Environment

• Laptop: ThinkPad E14 Gen 7

• OS: Pop!_OS 24.04 LTS

• Kernel: 6.17.x-generic

• Wi-Fi Chipset: Intel BE200 (Wi-Fi 7)

• Driver: iwlwifi

Root Cause

Pop!_OS 24.04 does not include the latest Intel BE200 firmware. The kernel and driver load correctly, but Wi-Fi doesn't work because the .ucode firmware files are missing.

Diagnosis

Identify the Wi-Fi Device

lspci | grep -i network

Check Kernel Version

uname -r

Check Firmware Errors

dmesg | grep -i firmware | grep iwl

Solution

Install Prerequisites

sudo apt update
sudo apt install git

Clone Firmware Repository

cd /tmp
git clone --depth=1 https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/firmware/linux-firmware.git

Locate Required Firmware

cd /tmp/linux-firmware
find . -name "iwlwifi-bz-b0-gf-a0*"

Install Firmware

sudo cp /tmp/linux-firmware/intel/iwlwifi/iwlwifi-bz-b0-gf-a0-* /lib/firmware/

Reload Driver

sudo modprobe -r iwlwifi
sudo modprobe iwlwifi

Verification

dmesg | grep iwlwifi
nmcli device
nmcli dev wifi list

Optional Optimization

sudo tee /etc/modprobe.d/iwlwifi.conf <<EOF
options iwlwifi power_save=0
EOF
sudo reboot

Conclusion

This issue is caused by a firmware packaging gap. Installing the correct Intel BE200 firmware fully restores Wi-Fi functionality.