Sifting through logs I just found out that it may be related to bug #191889, at least this bug is reported in syslog:
<info> Unmanaged Device found; state CONNECTED forced. (see http://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/191889) ** Attachment added: "syslog.20120503" https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/network-manager-applet/+bug/993964/+attachment/3127729/+files/syslog.20120503 -- You received this bug notification because you are a member of Ubuntu Bugs, which is subscribed to Ubuntu. https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/993964 Title: network-manager-applet: missing network connections in menu. To manage notifications about this bug go to: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/network-manager-applet/+bug/993964/+subscriptions -- ubuntu-bugs mailing list ubuntu-bugs@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-bugs