Bcm4318 card will use the bcm43xx kernel module, or in newer kernels the b43 kernel module. In addition to that kernel module it requires some "firmware files" to be cut off a Windows driver using fwcutter, because the manufacturer of the card has not released drivers for Linux.
To see that the kernel module is loaded (it should be):
If it prints a line about b43 module, it's loaded all right.
You can see if /lib/firmware/[kernel-version] directory has the firmware files. Probably yes, if the card seems to function and allows you to try to connect..
You can easily test if the card itself works by running this command:
Depending on how your system named your wireless card you may need to change wlan0 to eth1 instead (eth0 would be your wired connection if you have one). For non-wireless or non-working interfaces that should print "interface doesn't support scanning", but for your wireless card it should instead print any networks it can "see". If you get some output ("Cell 01 - Address:" etc. etc.), the card itself works, and the problem is probably in the passphrase or encryption being used. The b43 kernel module (and the card) does support WPA encryption so that shouldn't be a problem.
If you can, try setting the encryption on the access point to WEP or even non-secure for a short moment and see if you can then connect. Then turn stronger encryption back on; you should be able to connect at least without encryption.
It is also possible that the connection itself worked but for some reason you can't browse, for example you don't get proper DNS resolution for names. See
and check that your wireless device (eth1 or wlan0, whatever it is) has an ip address set (probably 192.168.something if you are on a normal LAN). If you have an address, you are connected, and the problem is in name resolution, or then your connection stops at the access point and goes no further. If there is no ip address, it probably means that the card isn't connected to the access point.
If there was ip address, try pinging some addresses by their name and/or IP. For example this LinuxQuestions site (you can get the IP address from any machine that is on the net by running ping command)
Code:
ping www.linuxquestions.org
see if you can get a response by IP address or by name.
You can also try to re-run dhcp client on your wireless interface, if it helped at all:
Code:
dhcpcd wlan0
dhclient wlan0
depending which client you have installed (usually either one of those two). Use verbose switch to get more verbose output if you want.
Hopefully you'll get it running. Broadcom4318 used to be a somewhat "notorious" card, but I don't consider it a bad case anymore; the b43 kernel module works like a charm, and nowadays some distributions even get the needed pieces from a Windows driver automatically (though getting the files manually isn't difficult either), so it's as close to an easy card as it's possible taking into account that it doesn't have a "full" opensource driver.
Thanks! Got it to work!
