You probably also had to run (as root) sh /etc/rc.d./rc.wicd start

You can probably add that to one of the other scripts, either in rc.inet1 or maybe in rc.local. For me, rc.wicd needed to be running before starting the wireless connection in X (kde).

ok this is what I did (unconventional)
I have a hp pavilion6607rs amd tk-55 x2 thingy with a broadcom 4311 v2
I blacklisted my b43 and ssb modules (/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist)
took the bcmwl5.inf and bcmwl5.sys from the mepis cdrom (i know very bad). I noticed the inf is saved in binary format although it is a text file. I compiled the current 1.50 ndiswrapper and the utils and did a ndiswrapper -i. works at full speed no problems. the b43 driver was shaky and only connected at 1mb/s if at all, sometimes had to try 20 or more times.

I used newer b43 driver that I compiled with 2.6.25.16 kernel. I don't think it is running slow. I only have a 200kb/s connection so I could be wrong. Also, the newer b43 drivers come stock I think in the 2.6.26.3 kernel. I'm using it now and working fine.

No criticism for ndiswrapper. I used it on a different usb wireless NIC and it worked well. I wanted to try something different this time and found a pretty cheap board. I was hoping to get away from firmware but it was required after all.