Broadcom BCM43520 and BCM43428 Wi-Fi adapters on OpenWRT?

Installing and Using OpenWrt
1

Hello everyone,

I’m working on integrating Broadcom BCM43520 and BCM43428 Wi-Fi adapters on an ARM device running OpenWRT. However, I’m experiencing limitations in performance and compatibility. Specifically, I’m struggling to enable 40 MHz channel width and can’t seem to achieve speeds above 11 Mbps.

I have a few questions for the community:

  1. Has anyone managed to get stable support for these Broadcom chipsets on OpenWRT?
  2. Are there any patches or driver modifications available that allow higher data rates and support for 40 MHz channel width?
  3. If anyone has experience with these adapters on OpenWRT or has found alternative solutions, any guidance or advice would be greatly appreciated.

I'm currently using OpenWRT version 22.03.5 - bcm53xx-generic-meraki_mr32-squashfs.sysupgrade.bin, which is the last supported version for the Cisco Meraki MR32. Newer versions won’t boot on this device.

Thank you in advance for any assistance!

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  1. there is no redistributable firmware fro broadcom adapters and the drivers offer bare minimum functionality
  2. YMMV see (1)
  3. Anything non-broadcom will work better, like mediatek, qualcommax

Latest version is 23.05.5 though dont expect revolutonary enhancement.

3

https://openwrt.org/meta/infobox/broadcom_wifi

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4

Broadcom wifi will not work well in OpenWRT due to Broadcom policy.

5

What you can try is to find firmware blobs in android aosp or dd-wrt or raspbian and document if any works better. They are not redistributable, but b43-fwcutter style explanation is welcome.

6

"Thanks for the advice! I tried b43-fwcutter, but unfortunately, it didn’t work. With the current speed around 11 Mbps, the device is hard to use for more advanced purposes. The hardware has good potential, but without a stable driver for Broadcom, the WiFi functionality remains very limited.

I hope someone in the community will eventually find a solution to unlock the full capabilities of this chipset. For now, I’ll keep an eye on developments and hope for a more stable option to emerge."

7

That is not going to happen, hasn't within the last 20 years, won't within the next 20 years either.

8

I was just alluding to other (non-redist, still usable and installable by end user) firmware sources for your future research.
cutter just unpacks firmware blobs from window driver etc.

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