Got this working with ndiswrapper 0.7 source code (ndiswrapper.sourceforge.net); using the bcmwl5a.inf file for the Windows driver. I followed the instructions in the ndiswrapper INSTALL text file included.

I ran into some problems, partly due to being new to compiling source under Linux. Firstly I had to install the source for my kernel (got an rpm which made things easier, or otherwise setup symbolic links for the kernel directories).

Once 'make install' was compiling successfully, the next snag in following the INSTALL file was the Linux distro specific part for setting up the wireless network device wlan0. For RedHat (9), the tool is '/usr/bin/redhat-config-network', also in the System Settings GNOME menu. I had already done the iwconfig stuff setting the SSID and encryption, but I had to do the 'ndiswrapper -m' automation before the redhat tool would list ndiswrapper as a new network device. I then entered the SSID and encryption again in the RedHat dialog. This was when I first got the card working.

On rebooting I ran into my last problem, which is that my system brings up the wireless card (wlan0) before PCMCIA is started; hence the card is unpowered - no networking! To manually get the card working, run:
/sbin/modprobe -r ndiswrapper
/sbin/modprobe ndiswrapper

This should repower the card now that PCMCIA is up again, networking then should work. I haven't found a neat fix for this yet, but a (slightly messy) workaround is to append those two lines to /etc/rc.d/rc.local - this runs the card reprobing straight after the system is booted.

N.B. For the Hex SSID my network uses 64 bit WEP encryption (ndiswrapper only mentions 40 or 128 bit) which works fine with ndiswrapper. I used a proprietary utility to tell me the 0x Hex code generated from text as my network administrator only told me the text.

Now available for purchase at walmart for 25$, not a sale!
Works 100% with ndiswrapper, easy to configure with suse using yast.
Card does not work with updated drivers on website.

I have compaq presario 2232us laptop that came with a broadcom 4306 internal wlan. I been trying like hell to get it to work, updating ndiswrapper, different kernals to no avail.

So compusa flier had alot of networkinf stuff for like $10 to $8 each after rebate and so I decided to give it a try, hell it was dirt cheap after rebate,can always use the faster speed and AHEM,, in windows!

So I had MEPIS 3.3 up and going, already got all the drivers from before still installed from the internal non-functioning wlan (of the same chipset as the new pcmcia carddus wlan card from motorola model WN825G - chipset broadcom 4306 or so lspci says...)

LOW and behold, plug this thing in and it saw it using the ifconfig -a command. gave it a static ip (it saw an ip close to the wireless router but not quite) and tried to ping to no avail (had another hard wired PC to the router to verify ip addresses, settings, etc)

so figure I would reboot the laptop, and after the reboot I was able to hit the router setup htpp addy, and also ping the other PC. SO it works now! Basically right out of the box.

I can't believe the internal one with same chipset did not work, and to think it was a compaq AKA hp part (I thought hp was supportive of linux to a certain extent?)

so the $10 (after rebate) purchase paid for for this linux distro. Am sure it will now work on SUSE, KNOPPIX and even BUFFALO.

It seems I had some problems at each step along the way, but here are the highlights:
I installed ndiswrapper using YUM. There are plenty of notes on ndiswrapper around here, but it was slightly non-intuitive for me because even though I have the *81 kernel installed, my gru default was *80, and ndiswrapper installs in a directory that is tied to a kernel version. So, it took some time to figure that out, but after I changed my grub defaults, ndiswrapper worked great.

Then, once I got this card, the driver CD didn't come with it! So it took me another evening of scouring the internet to find the correct driver. I had to use the BCMWL5A driver (I kept thinking that the L was a 1, that through me off!

Using the wireless-tools package made this pretty easy, but once I established a connection, I still couldn't get an IP! I was staring at my screen, after spending like 2 weeks getting this wo work, kwifi is light up like a Christmas tree and I couldn't get an IP. It was the worst. A little more searching, and it turns out that a nifty little Red Hat tool called system-config-network was the answer. Activate wlan0 and good to go!

These is not a HOWTO, but it does include all the information that I didn't find in all my other searches. FYI I got this card for cheap on ebay and I love it.

Great general purpose card. I have installed under ndiswrapper on my IBM Thinkpad T23. Took some time to figure out how to get ndiswrapper to start up the card on system boot but now it's a charm