Getting a 5GHz wifi to work on 18.04 LTS with Broadcom wireless card

Question

I would like to connect to a 5GHz wifi with my broadcom wireless adapter [14e4:43a0] (Ubuntu 18.04 LTS). I feel like I tried all the options google had for me. At some point I had the wifi working for 2.4GHz in one session but after rebooting it was gone. I am beginning to doubt that this is achievable.

Currently the proprietary bcmwl drivers (tried install both with the GUI and apt-get) are not loaded correctly (at least that is what I think UNCLAIMED means):

sudo lshw -C network shows me:

 *-network UNCLAIMED       
       description: Network controller
       product: BCM4360 802.11ac Wireless Network Adapter
       vendor: Broadcom Inc. and subsidiaries
       physical id: 0
       bus info: pci@0000:06:00.0
       version: 03
       width: 64 bits
       clock: 33MHz
       capabilities: pm msi pciexpress bus_master cap_list
       configuration: latency=0
       resources: memory:f9400000-f9407fff memory:f9200000-f93fffff

card details:

lspci -knn | grep -A4 -i "Network controller"

06:00.0 Network controller [0280]: Broadcom Inc. and subsidiaries BCM4360 802.11ac Wireless Network Adapter [14e4:43a0] (rev 03)
    Subsystem: Broadcom Inc. and subsidiaries BCM4360 802.11ac Wireless Network Adapter [14e4:0619]
    Kernel modules: bcma, wl
07:00.0 PCI bridge [0604]: PLX Technology, Inc. PEX 8747 48-Lane, 5-Port PCI Express Gen 3 (8.0 GT/s) Switch [10b5:8747] (rev ca)
    Kernel driver in use: pcieport

wl shows up when I call lsmod and I blacklisted bcma in /etc/modprobe/blacklist.config

If you think that I will not be able to achieve my goal with this card: Can you point me to another card that works? I can not change the channel on the router.

EDIT 1:

sudo modprobe wl gives no output

EDIT 2:

 dmesg | grep wl
[    5.877439] wl: module license 'MIXED/Proprietary' taints kernel.
[    5.887137] wl 0000:06:00.0: enabling device (0100 -> 0102)
[    5.904976] Modules linked in: kvm_intel(+) kvm snd_hda_codec_realtek irqbypass wl(POE+) snd_hda_codec_generic ledtrig_audio hid_generic(+) snd_hda_intel snd_intel_nhlt usbhid snd_hda_codec drm_kms_helper hid snd_hda_core drm snd_hwdep snd_pcm ipmi_devintf ipmi_msghandler snd_seq_midi fb_sys_fops snd_seq_midi_event eeepc_wmi syscopyarea crct10dif_pclmul crc32_pclmul asus_wmi snd_rawmidi sysfillrect ghash_clmulni_intel sparse_keymap sysimgblt cfg80211(OE) aesni_intel snd_seq compat(OE) video aes_x86_64 wmi_bmof intel_wmi_thunderbolt snd_seq_device mxm_wmi crypto_simd cryptd glue_helper snd_timer intel_cstate mei_me snd intel_rapl_perf mei soundcore lpc_ich mac_hid sch_fq_codel parport_pc ppdev lp parport ip_tables x_tables autofs4 igb e1000e i2c_algo_bit dca ahci libahci wmi
[    5.905063]  wl_cfg80211_attach+0xed/0x6d0 [wl]
[    5.905092]  ? wl_cfg80211_attach+0xed/0x6d0 [wl]
[    5.905102]  wl_pci_probe+0x476/0xf75 [wl]
[    5.905132] Modules linked in: kvm_intel(+) kvm snd_hda_codec_realtek irqbypass wl(POE+) snd_hda_codec_generic ledtrig_audio hid_generic(+) snd_hda_intel snd_intel_nhlt usbhid snd_hda_codec drm_kms_helper hid snd_hda_core drm snd_hwdep snd_pcm ipmi_devintf ipmi_msghandler snd_seq_midi fb_sys_fops snd_seq_midi_event eeepc_wmi syscopyarea crct10dif_pclmul crc32_pclmul asus_wmi snd_rawmidi sysfillrect ghash_clmulni_intel sparse_keymap sysimgblt cfg80211(OE) aesni_intel snd_seq compat(OE) video aes_x86_64 wmi_bmof intel_wmi_thunderbolt snd_seq_device mxm_wmi crypto_simd cryptd glue_helper snd_timer intel_cstate mei_me snd intel_rapl_perf mei soundcore lpc_ich mac_hid sch_fq_codel parport_pc ppdev lp parport ip_tables x_tables autofs4 igb e1000e i2c_algo_bit dca ahci libahci wmi
[    5.905191]  wl_cfg80211_attach+0xed/0x6d0 [wl]
[    5.905219]  ? wl_cfg80211_attach+0xed/0x6d0 [wl]
[    5.905228]  wl_pci_probe+0x476/0xf75 [wl]
[    5.905244] ERROR @wl_alloc_wdev : 
[    5.905277] ERROR @wl_cfg80211_detach : 
[    5.905277] NULL ndev->ieee80211ptr, unable to deref wl
[    5.905285] Modules linked in: kvm_intel(+) kvm snd_hda_codec_realtek irqbypass wl(POE+) snd_hda_codec_generic ledtrig_audio hid_generic(+) snd_hda_intel snd_intel_nhlt usbhid snd_hda_codec drm_kms_helper hid snd_hda_core drm snd_hwdep snd_pcm ipmi_devintf ipmi_msghandler snd_seq_midi fb_sys_fops snd_seq_midi_event eeepc_wmi syscopyarea crct10dif_pclmul crc32_pclmul asus_wmi snd_rawmidi sysfillrect ghash_clmulni_intel sparse_keymap sysimgblt cfg80211(OE) aesni_intel snd_seq compat(OE) video aes_x86_64 wmi_bmof intel_wmi_thunderbolt snd_seq_device mxm_wmi crypto_simd cryptd glue_helper snd_timer intel_cstate mei_me snd intel_rapl_perf mei soundcore lpc_ich mac_hid sch_fq_codel parport_pc ppdev lp parport ip_tables x_tables autofs4 igb e1000e i2c_algo_bit dca ahci libahci wmi
[    5.905336]  wl_free+0xcb/0x280 [wl]
[    5.905367]  ? wl_cfg80211_attach+0x47d/0x6d0 [wl]
[    5.905376]  wl_pci_probe+0x648/0xf75 [wl]

Does this answer your question? Installing Broadcom Wireless Drivers — Pilot6, Mar 21 '20 at 09:58
I actually followed this post to install the bcmwl drivers as specified for my card. — MaxJ, Mar 21 '20 at 10:01
And still lspci -knn | grep Net -A3 doesn't show that wl is in use? How did you install bcmwl-kernel-source? — Pilot6, Mar 21 '20 at 10:08
This is a bug in the driver. What is the kernel version uname -a? — Pilot6, Mar 21 '20 at 10:15
Linux fatmax 5.3.0-42-generic #34~18.04.1-Ubuntu SMP Fri Feb 28 13:42:26 UTC 2020 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux — MaxJ, Mar 21 '20 at 10:17
This is some bug with the driver. You can report it by running ubuntu-bug bcmwl-kernel-source. Also you can try to boot with a previous kernel using advanced options in grub menu. — Pilot6, Mar 21 '20 at 10:18
OK. Can you suggest any combination of hardware+drivers that will enable to get into that wifi? I also tried with a TP-Link dongle, to no avail. — MaxJ, Mar 21 '20 at 10:24
To be more specific: The dongle did not allow 5 GHz so I did not post the question. Do you think it is possible with the broadcom card? — MaxJ, Mar 21 '20 at 10:29
I have no idea if your dongle supports 5 GHz. BCM4360 does support it. — Pilot6, Mar 21 '20 at 10:34
Good. Then which distro/kernel/driver combination would allow me to use the wifi? — MaxJ, Mar 21 '20 at 10:40

SevenC · Answer 1 · 2020-03-22T07:16:29.510

I have BCM4360 operating on 5Ghz but with some caveats.

lspci -knn | grep -A4 -i "Network controller"
04:00.0 Network controller [0280]: Broadcom Inc. and subsidiaries BCM4360 802.11ac Wireless Network Adapter [14e4:43a0] (rev 03)
    Subsystem: Broadcom Inc. and subsidiaries BCM4360 802.11ac Wireless Network Adapter [14e4:0619]
    Kernel driver in use: wl
    Kernel modules: bcma, wl

uname -a
Linux hostname 5.3.0-42-generic #34~18.04.1-Ubuntu SMP Fri Feb 28 13:42:26 UTC 2020 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux

Note the PCI device ID here as the BCM4360 has two variants and there is no linux driver for the other one that I know of.

There is a current bug with the driver that make 5Ghz channels above 48 inoperable so lock your router to one of the channels 48 and below. My router will not connect with channel width other than 20 or 40Mhz so don't go locking yours to 80 or something and hoping it'll connect. I also stick to wireless N only on the router as AC seems to have some issues too. All things considered I'm ok with the results:

iperf3 -c 10.0.0.222
Connecting to host 10.0.0.222, port 5201
[  4] local 10.0.0.146 port 46570 connected to 10.0.0.222 port 5201
[ ID] Interval           Transfer     Bandwidth       Retr  Cwnd
[  4]   0.00-1.00   sec  17.2 MBytes   145 Mbits/sec    0    267 KBytes       
[  4]   1.00-2.00   sec  17.8 MBytes   150 Mbits/sec    0    332 KBytes       
[  4]   2.00-3.00   sec  17.0 MBytes   143 Mbits/sec    0    351 KBytes       
[  4]   3.00-4.00   sec  16.8 MBytes   141 Mbits/sec    0    372 KBytes       
[  4]   4.00-5.00   sec  17.5 MBytes   147 Mbits/sec    0    392 KBytes       
[  4]   5.00-6.00   sec  16.8 MBytes   141 Mbits/sec    0    413 KBytes       
[  4]   6.00-7.00   sec  14.9 MBytes   125 Mbits/sec    0    413 KBytes       
[  4]   7.00-8.00   sec  16.7 MBytes   140 Mbits/sec    0    434 KBytes       
[  4]   8.00-9.00   sec  17.4 MBytes   146 Mbits/sec    0    434 KBytes       
[  4]   9.00-10.00  sec  17.2 MBytes   144 Mbits/sec    0    437 KBytes       
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
[ ID] Interval           Transfer     Bandwidth       Retr
[  4]   0.00-10.00  sec   169 MBytes   142 Mbits/sec    0             sender
[  4]   0.00-10.00  sec   167 MBytes   140 Mbits/sec                  receiver

Which beats out my usb 2.4GHz only dongle by about a factor of 3. Hopefully the drivers will keep improving and we can do better later on.

FYI my dmesg shows something different upon enabling.

dmesg | grep wl
[    3.075673] wl: loading out-of-tree module taints kernel.
[    3.075675] wl: module license 'MIXED/Proprietary' taints kernel.
[    3.094410] wl: module verification failed: signature and/or required key missing - tainting kernel
[    3.095637] wl 0000:04:00.0: enabling device (0000 -> 0002)
[    3.164364] wlan0: Broadcom BCM43a0 802.11 Hybrid Wireless Controller 6.30.223.271 (r587334)
[    3.193075] wl 0000:04:00.0 wlp4s0: renamed from wlan0
[    3.202615] rtl8192cu 1-3:1.0 wlxblahblah: renamed from wlan1

Sounds also like - because of the multiple drivers/versions available - that people mistakenly have blacklisted, or installed packages that have blacklisted the working driver.

Perhaps examine:

cat /usr/lib/modprobe.d/broadcom-wl.conf

It looks like OP has an unsupported variant – Pilot6 Mar 22 '20 at 07:48 — Pilot6, Mar 22 '20 at 07:48

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Mar 31 '20 at 08:55

0

I think Pilot6 was right and the card was unsupported. I bought this one from amazon and had no problems in connecting to 5GHz: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07FSG5W9Q/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

answered Mar 31 '20 at 08:55

MaxJ

85

Getting a 5GHz wifi to work on 18.04 LTS with Broadcom wireless card

2 Answers2