How to fix Broadcom 43xx

Some people have problems with having their system recognizing their Broadcom 43xx cards. Here is a summary of many blog posts I have read to fix the problem.

NOTE: You need to be connected to the internet.

Check if your system recognizes the card
Type in a Terminal window:

lspci -nn | grep 02[80]0 | grep "Broadcom Corporation"

You should see a section with the text “Broadcom Corporation”. Remember the card number (should be something like: BCM43XX).

If you don’t see the text “Broadcom Corporation” (without quotes), your system does not recognize your Network card, and there is very little you can do about it.

Install the firmware/driver packages
BEFORE YOU CONTINUE:
Type in a Terminal window:

sudo apt-get purge bcmwl*
sudo apt-get install bcmwl*

Then reboot, and see if it works.
If it doesn’t work, read below.
If your card number is any of these:

BCM4306/3
BCM4311
BCM4318
BCM4321
BCM4322

Type in a Terminal window:

sudo apt-get purge b43-fwcutter firmware-b43-installer firmware-b43-lpphy-installer firmware-b43legacy-installer bcmwl*
sudo apt-get install b43-fwcutter firmware-b43-installer bcmwl*

Then reboot

If your card number is: BCM4312, then type in a Terminal window:

sudo apt-get purge b43-fwcutter firmware-b43-installer firmware-b43-lpphy-installer firmware-b43legacy-installer bcmwl*
sudo apt-get install b43-fwcutter firmware-b43-lpphy-installer bcmwl*

Then reboot

If your card number is any of these:

BCM4301
BCM4303
BCM4306/2
BCM4306

Type in a Terminal window:

sudo apt-get purge b43-fwcutter firmware-b43-installer firmware-b43-lpphy-installer firmware-b43legacy-installer bcmwl*
sudo apt-get install b43-fwcutter firmware-b43legacy-installer bcmwl*

Then reboot

Edit: Credit to j bech in the comments, if it doesn’t work after a reboot, run this:

echo "b43" | sudo tee -a /etc/modules

If you had any problems with this post, feel free to leave a comment!