Broadcom BCM4352 BCM94352HMB ?

There is only 2 wireless cards available for laptops that supports wireless-AC, one is Intel's 7260, and it has allot of stability issues, the other is Broadcom BCM4352 ( BCM94352HMB ) .

Why no one tried it yet ?
Why no mention for its stability or performance ?

 

So far the only person who did report back on the Broadcom wasn't pleased at all with it. (the post is burred somewhere in 7260 thread though)

 

I have an "Broadcom BCM4352HMB 802.11ac 2x2 Wi-Fi Adapter" in my HP Rove, so it`s AC compatible i did not know that, I suppose "802.11 ac" is a giveaway.

John.

 

My experience with Broadcom at 5 Ghz is that it has less range than Intel cards due to lower transmit power. In terms of upload throughput, Intel 7260 is superior but the download throughput is the same as Intel 7260.

On 5 GHz band, another difference is that Intel will always connect at short GI if router supports it while Broadcom will only use short GI if the MCS index is at highest index it can support.

For example, Intel 7260 can establish a connection at MCS index 7, short GI which is 72.2 * 4.5 (80 MHz width) * 2 (streams) =~ 650 Mbps while Broadcom will only do 65 (normal GI) * 4.5 (80 MHz) * 2 (streams) = 585 Mbps

It is only at MCS index 9 or highest MCS index of the router which Broadcom will use Short GI.

Therefore, in longer range and maybe close range, Intel will outperform Broadcom. However, the benefit of not using short GI at lower MCS index is stability of connection (less likely to get ping spikes, dropped packes, etc)

 

Any stability issues at 2.4ghz ?


I think that some drivers might just label it:
"Broadcom 802.11ac Network Adapter"

 

It's stable overall and it doesn't have the Intel 7260 bug (on some laptops/router configurations) where download and upload speeds drop down to 2 - 11 Mbps and never gets back to 144 or 300 Mbps.

Actually, the naming of Broadcom on Device Manager depends on which drivers are installed. If you download the "Dell wireless" drivers, the Broadcom will be named "Dell Wireless 1550 802.11ac" or if you load the ASUS drivers, the broadcom will be named "ASUS PCE-AC56 802.11ac Network Adapter". I like the ASUS driver since it has TurboQAM that Dell and generic Broadcom drivers don't have. In addition, ASUS driver has the "802.11ac VHT mode" option in the advanced settings. In all of the drivers, the transmit power is the same. (based on the RSSI and signal quality reported by windows and "netsh wlan show interfaces" cmd command.

The only way for broadcom to get long range is to buy the actual ASUS PCE-AC68 desktop card since ASUS tweaked the firmware to have very high TX power in addition to high gain antennas.

 

Do you have a link to that ASUS driver since it has TurboQAM and VHT mode , I would like to give it a try.

Thanks

John.

 

ASUS is using the Broadcom BCM4360KMLG in the PCE-AC66

The PCE-AC68 has the BCM4709 chipset

http://www.asus.com/Networking/PCEAC68/HelpDesk_Download/

Here's the link to the utility with driver

Setup allows for only the driver installation or driver and utility.

I found this also showing the software setup
http://www.7tutorials.com/reviewing-asus-pce-ac68-pci-express-wireless-adapter-pcs

Disclaimer:I don't have a Broadcom device and haven't tested any of this

 

Like whatsthepoint posted, just download the utility since it'll install the drivers as well.

Here's how to make it work:

Remove all of the generic broadcom drivers so that when you restart the PC, it'll look for drivers but fails.

Then install the drivers through running the setup file. Then your BCM3452 becomes ASUS PCE-AC56 802.11ac Network Adapter. You don't need the utility so you can hide it in the program files folder. Test TurboQAM using a AC1900 router at 2.4 GHz with little to no co-channel and overlapping channel interference.

New options is "802.11ac VHT mode" (set this to "3"). TurboQAM is not shown but supported when AC1900 router is used. Also, default driver settings is optimized for wide channel width and "minimum power saving" disabled by default.

 

OK, the driver installed "ASUS PCE-AC56 802.11ac Network Adapter" the control center app does not work, I cannot find the TurboQAM setting in the driver settings, but i dont have an AC router yet just my ISP 2.4ghz only free one at the moment, I am a slightly faster connection speed.

VT Mode is showing and is set to 3 by default.

Until i get an AC router i cannot really do anything at least the driver installs.

Thanks

John.

 

That's great. I just don't get how the other drivers (dell and generic broadcom) don't have the 802.11ac VHT mode. Here's what I think about TurboQAM and the ASUS exclusive "802.11ac VHT mode": Mode 3 = AC + TurboQAM enabled. Mode 2 = AC + TurboQAM disabled. Mode 1 = AC disabled and TurboQAM disabled (aka N mode only). Mode 0 = disable N + disable AC

That comes from Intel 7260's own HT mode where VHT mode = AC + N, HT mode = disable AC (N mode only), Disabled = N and AC are both disabled.

I don't have an AC1900 router but since ASUS promises that the "actual" ASUS PCE-AC56 desktop PCIE-x1 WiFi card has TurboQAM support. It's highly implied that the BCM4352 also has it since after all, both actual ASUS WiFi card and the BCM4352 half mini card have exact same chipset which is BCM4352.

 

Just picked up this Broadcom BCM4352HMB 802.11ac 2x2 Wi-Fi Adapter (HP 724935-001 or HP 724527-001) for $35.

HP Envy Rove AIO 20 K014US Series Wi Fi Wireless Card 724935 001 724527 001 | eBay

I tried it in my HP ProBook 6475b (Windows 7 Pro 64-bit) but it didn't work. My 6475b uses a Broadcom PCIe network adapter and a separate Bluetooth device. The Broadcom BCM4352HMB 802.11ac 2x2 Wi-Fi Adapter Bluetooth device wasn't even detected in the device manager, and the network device was but even after installing the corresponding HP drivers the network device could not be turned ON. I think this is an issue with my 6475b, not the card.

I will test it in another HP notebook soon.

 

A little correction though:

according to this:
https://wikidevi.com/wiki/ASUS_PCE-AC68
the PCE-AC68 have the Broadcom BCM4360 chip

And i think the BCM4709 is a processor/switch, not a wireless chip
https://wikidevi.com/wiki/Netgear_R7000

 

You are correct.

The site I got the info from had it wrong

 

Had the same issue with HP Pavilion laptop with this same card where the WiFi/ac part was getting automatically detected in Windows 8.1 whereas the bluetooth was not showing up at all. The reason is that some vendors like HP, DELL keep a whitelist in their BIOS which only allows a certain models/brand/vendor-id of Wifi/bluetooth/combo PCI-E cards in them. In this case, there are two options - to find a modded BIOS for the laptop which is difficult, as in my case the Insyde BIOS is encrypted and very difficult to do .
The other simple hack is to put a small insulation tape over certain pins which is used by the software to disable the wifi and/or Bluetooth functionality.
- To enable Wi-Fi if white-list disabled, put a tape over pin #20
- To enable Bluetooth if white-list disabled, put a tape over ping #51
and on reboot, you will see the bluetooth as an undetected device. Use the appropriate driver ( google for it , i used a Dell one ) and you are ready. Remember doing this tape method, will not allow you to switch off the Bluetooth using Control panel. You might be able to switch on/off if you laptop has a hardware keyboard hotkey - not guaranteed though.
Hope these vendors stop this practice of white-list or black-listing in their BIOS.

See attached pics - for more details :