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Broadcom BCM4320 devices (rndis_wlan)

This page describes how to enable support for WiFi devices based on the Broadcom BCM4320 chipset on Debian systems.

rndis_wlan is a driver supporting wireless RNDIS¹ chipsets, the Broadcom BCM4320 is the only one known at this time. Supported devices are listed at the end of this page.

This driver was introduced in Linux 2.6.25 and no firmware from userspace is required.

Installation

1. Install the wireless-tools package:

   # aptitude install wireless-tools

2. Connect the device to your system. The rndis_wlan kernel module is automatically loaded for supported devices.

3. Verify your device has an available interface:

   # iwconfig

4. Configure your wireless interface as appropriate.

Troubleshooting

• This driver does not support connections to hidden WPA networks at this time.

• If you are attempting to use a Belkin F5D7051 v1000 device (USB ID 050D:7051), blacklist the rt2500usb module and execute modprobe -r rt2500usb to unload it.

• Some devices might display very poor scan results (resolved since Linux 2.6.38), making NetworkManager and similar programs take a long, long time to detect a given network. A possible workaround to improve the time to configure the device at boot-time is to pre-configure the connection manually on the /etc/init.d/networking file. For example:

  case "$1" in
  start) 
          process_options
  
          log_action_begin_msg "Configuring network interfaces"
          #workaround WUSB54GS's low performance on scan
          iwconfig wlan0 essid MYESSID
          iwconfig wlan0 key MYKEY
          iwconfig wlan0 channel NN
          dhclient wlan0 &
          if ifup -a; then
              log_action_end_msg $?
  (...)

  NetworkManager will then see the network's beacon much quicker and will be able to configure the device appropriately afterwards.

• Known problems with this driver are documented on its homepage.

Supported Devices

The page HowToIdentifyADevice/USB explains how to identify a USB device.

The following list is based on the alias fields of modinfo rndis_wlan in Debian 2.6.32 (2.6.32-41) kernel images.

• USB: *:* (Vendor name unknown) (Device name unknown)
  USB: 0411:004B BUFFALO INC. (formerly MelCo., Inc.) WLI-USB-G54 802.11g Adapter [Broadcom 4320 USB]
  USB: 0411:00BC BUFFALO INC. (formerly MelCo., Inc.) WLI-U2-KG125S 802.11g Adapter [Broadcom 4320 USB]
  USB: 050D:011B Belkin Components (Device name unknown)
  USB: 0A5C:D11B Broadcom Corp. Eminent EM4045 [Broadcom 4320 USB]
  USB: 0B05:1717 ASUSTek Computer, Inc. WL169gE 802.11g Adapter [Broadcom 4320 USB]
  USB: 0BAF:0111 U.S. Robotics USR5420 802.11g Adapter [Broadcom 4320 USB]
  USB: 0BAF:011B U.S. Robotics Wireless MAXg Adapter [Broadcom 4320]
  USB: 13B1:000E Linksys WUSB54GS v1 802.11g Adapter [Broadcom 4320 USB]
  USB: 13B1:0014 Linksys WUSB54GS v2 802.11g Adapter [Broadcom 4320 USB]
  USB: 13B1:0026 Linksys WUSB54GSC v1 802.11g Adapter [Broadcom 4320 USB]
  USB: 1690:0715 Askey Computer Corp. [hex] Name: Voyager 1055 Laptop 802.11g Adapter [Broadcom 4320]
  USB: 1799:011B Belkin Components (Device name unknown)

Unsupported Devices

rndis_wlan can autodetect newer RNDIS devices not listed above.

• Belkin F5D7051 v3000 (USB ID 4317:0711)

• Linksys WUSB54GSC v2 (USB ID 1737:0075, Broadcom BCM4326U)

• TiVo Wireless G USB Adapter (USB ID 0A5C:BD11)

Support for these devices may be possible using NDISwrapper.

See Also

• How to use a WiFi interface

External Links

• http://wireless.kernel.org/en/users/Drivers/rndis_wlan

CategoryHardware | CategoryWireless