WiFi Broadcom 4311-4312-4313-4321-4322

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Instructions for the Systems with Kernel 3.2.0 or Newer

Adapter

If you do not know the exact model of your WiFi adapter, execute the following command to determine it: 

lspci -vnn -d 14e4:

The command will output something like this: 

02:00.0 Network controller [0280]: Broadcom Corporation BCM4322 802.11a/b/g/n Wireless LAN Controller [14e4:432b] (rev 01)

BCMxxxx (BCM4322 in this case) is the model of your WiFi adapter.

Drivers

Most often, one of the following drivers is used for Broadcom WiFi adapters:

  • b43 - open source driver, provided by default;
  • brcmsmac - open source driver, provided by default;
  • wl (a.k.a. broadcom-wl, a.k.a. - broadcom-sta) - proprietary driver by Broadcom.

If the WiFi adapter is supported by one of the open source drivers mentioned above, the OS will load the needed driver automatically.

BCM4311, BCM4312, BCM4321, BCM4322, etc.

Generally, for BCM4311, BCM4312, BCM4321, BCM4322 and some other models (see a more detailed although a bit obsolete list here), b43 driver is used.

For it to work correctly, it needs firmware from the proprietary driver (the proprietary driver itself is not installed and not used).

If the system has a wired network connection, it is enough to install b43-firmware-install package. Everything needed for b43 will be installed automatically this way. Reboot. WiFi should work then.

If WiFi is working OK in a system with b43 driver, it is not recommended to install and use the proprietary driver instead.

BCM4313, etc.

Generally, for BCM4313 and some other models (see a more detailed although a bit obsolete list here), brcmsmac driver is used.

Usually, WiFi works fine out-of-the box on such systems, no manual intervention needed.

For some systems with BCM4313 adapter and brcmsmac driver, there were problems with not all access points visible, signal too weak, etc. Installing the proprietary driver may help in this case. Install dkms-broadcom-wl package and reboot.

If WiFi works OK in a system with brcmsmac driver, it is not recommended to install and use the proprietary driver instead.

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