BWI(4)

BWI(4) | Device Drivers Manual | BWI(4)

# NAME

`bwi` — Broadcom BCM430x/4318 IEEE 802.11b/g wireless network driver

# SYNOPSIS

`bwi* at pci? dev ? function ?`
`bwi* at cardbus? function ?`
`bwi* at sdmmc?`

# DESCRIPTION

The `bwi` driver provides support for Broadcom BCM430x/4318 wireless network adapters. For more information on configuring this device, see ifconfig(8).

## MIB Variables

The following per-interface variables are implemented in the hw.bwi X branch of the sysctl(3) MIB.

debug
  Debug flags.
dwell_time
  Channel dwell time during scan (msec).
fw_version
  Firmware version.
led_idle
  Number of ticks before LED enters idle state.
led_blink
  Allow LED to blink.
txpwr_calib
  Enable software TX power calibration.

# HARDWARE

The following cards are among those supported by the `bwi` driver:

Card | Chip | Bus | Standard
Apple AirPort Extreme |  |  | b/g
Buffalo WLI-CB-G54 | BCM4306 | CardBus | b/g
Buffalo WLI3-CB-G54L | BCM4318 | CardBus | b/g
Buffalo WLI-PCI-G54S | BCM4306 | PCI | b/g
Dell Wireless 1370 | BCM4318 | Mini PCI | b/g
Dell Wireless 1470 | BCM4318 | Mini PCI | b/g
Dell Truemobile 1400 | BCM4309 | Mini PCI | b/g
Dell Latitude D505 | BCM4306 | PCI | b/g
Nintendo Wii WLAN | BCM4318 | SDIO | b/g

# FILES

The firmware for the adapter is not shipped with NetBSD and must be obtained separately. An archive with firmware files that are known to work can be found at:

    http://leaf.dragonflybsd.org/~sephe/bwi/v3.tbz

The firmware files conventionally reside in /libdata/firmware/bwi and will be loaded when the interface is brought up. Note: the v3 subdirectory in the above firmware archive should exist in the firmware folder. The full list of paths checked for firmware can be found in the hw.firmware.path sysctl(3) node.

# SEE ALSO

arp(4), cardbus(4), ifmedia(4), pci(4), ifconfig(8), sysctl(8), wiconfig(8), wpa_supplicant(8)

# HISTORY

The `bwi` driver first appeared in NetBSD 6.0.

# AUTHORS

The `bwi` driver was written by Sepherosa Ziehau for Dragonfly BSD. It was ported to NetBSD by Taylor R. Campbell <riastradh@NetBSD.org>.

The hardware specification was reverse engineered by the people at https://bcm-specs.sipsolutions.net/. Thanks go also to johill and mb on the #bcm-specs channel.

# BUGS

BCM4306 and BCM4309 chips do not work properly on channel 1, 2, and 3.

January 18, 2025 | NetBSD 11.0