Linux

If you're saying you started on Gnome, then dropped in another DE, you need to switch to an agnostic network manager if you were relying on Gnome's Desktop Network manager implementation probably.

If you're saying you booted a clean Fedora Cosmic LiveUSB and couldn't get WiFi working, you need to look at logs or run through some cli debugging to see what's up. Probably just Cosmic issues.

Edit: forgot about nmtui. You can use this to debug issues from the clinpretty simply if the desktop tools are failing.

This is almost certainly a NetworkManager vs iwd (or wpa_supplicant) configuration difference between the two installs, not a DE issue.

Here is how to debug it:

1. Check which WiFi backend each install uses:

   # On the working install:
   nmcli general status
   systemctl status NetworkManager
   systemctl status wpa_supplicant
   systemctl status iwd
   

   Do the same on the broken one and compare.

2. Check if the WiFi adapter is even detected:

   ip link show
   rfkill list
   

   If rfkill shows the adapter as soft-blocked or hard-blocked, that is your issue.

3. Check firmware:

   dmesg | grep -i firmware
   dmesg | grep -i wifi
   dmesg | grep -i iwl  # if Intel
   

   Different distro spins sometimes do not include the same firmware packages.

4. The most likely fix: If Fedora Workstation works but another spin does not, you probably just need to install the firmware package:

   sudo dnf install linux-firmware
   

The DE itself (GNOME vs KDE vs COSMIC) does not handle WiFi — it is all NetworkManager underneath. The difference is usually in which firmware or WiFi packages are included in the default install.

Fedora desktop (any DE, and most desktop distros, for that matter) uses networkmanager to configure networks, because it is powerful and offers an API for DEs to configure networks, so as long as you have the drivers, networking will work the same. However, If I recall correctly, Gnome and KDE use the same frontend library for networkmanager, just with different GUIs, so they really are going to be the same, and they have for many years. Cosmic being new and rust based might have rolled its own frontend or used a different library, and it might not be as mature as what the other DEs use.

Try configuring your WiFi manually, editing networkmanager's config files directly, instead of the gui. And see if that work. I would even suggest straight up copying the config files produced by gnome or KDE.

Cosmic can feel pretty immature still.

I’ve had to write some of my own widgets and I mostly deal with settings through terminal controls unfortunately (e.g. Bluetooth pairing hangs if a device needs a password).

While I had no issues with my network, if it’s “unique” in some way it might have bugs still, and the terminal tools would be better.

I’m new to Linux and I haven’t really had to deal with this, so I can’t say what the right way is.