set up wifi connection using Broadcom BCM4360

[bomberdile]

Hello proxmox-forum,
im trying to run my server (Dell Optiplex 7060) using wifi (Broadcom BCM4360) only because i dont want it running in my living room. I know its not the best option (https://pve.proxmox.com/wiki/WLAN). Im new to Proxmox and Debian.
These are useful resources i found to get it working but i ran into issues:

Guide to get it working: https://forum.proxmox.com/threads/howto-proxmox-ve-8-1-2-wifi-w-snat.142831/
I followed the installation until step 5.

dmesg | grep -i wlp

didnt not provide any output for me.

So i tried to identify the wifi device name: https://www.cyberciti.biz/faq/linux-list-network-interfaces-names-command/

root@pve:~# sudo lshw -C network -short
H/W path       Device      Class          Description
=====================================================
/0/100/1d/0                network        BCM4360 802.11ac Wireless Network Adapter
/0/100/1f.6    eno1        network        Ethernet Connection (7) I219-LM

It seems like my BCM4360 (ASUS PCE-AC68) Card is not set up correctly because the device name is missing.


i tried to install driver for BCM4360: https://wiki.debian.org/wl I Installed linux-image-amd64, linux-headers-amd64 and broadcom-sta-dkms. in step 4 it is recommend to check the DKMS kernel modules, but:

root@pve:~# apt-get install -f
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree... Done
Reading state information... Done
0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 94 not upgraded.
root@pve:~# dpkg-reconfigure broadcom-sta-dkms
Deleting module broadcom-sta-6.30.223.271 completely from the DKMS tree.
Loading new broadcom-sta-6.30.223.271 DKMS files...
Building for 6.8.4-2-pve
Module build for kernel 6.8.4-2-pve was skipped since the
kernel headers for this kernel do not seem to be installed.
root@pve:~# find /lib/modules/$(uname -r)/updates
find: ‘/lib/modules/6.8.4-2-pve/updates’: No such file or directory
root@pve:~# modprobe -r b44 b43 b43legacy ssb brcmsmac bcma
root@pve:~# modprobe wl
modprobe: FATAL: Module wl not found in directory /lib/modules/6.8.4-2-pve

Do you know how to get the BCM4360 running under proxmox? Is there something i did wrong?

Thanks for your help.

 

[Pifouney]

Better (simple) solution:
Create a dedicated VM for wifi-connexion.
Passthourg your wf adapter on it ( DELETE all reference to this card before in your network/interface, "inet manual" declaration too.

AFter, make a small network tuning for your pve host call it's vm for gateway.

 

[bomberdile]

Thank you. I created a Windows 10 VM and was able to get the wifi connection running in there.

Spoiler: set up windows 10 VM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6c-6xBkD2J4
Add BCM4360 PCIE as Raw Device to VM
(optional)install asus drivers https://www.asus.com/de/networking-.../pceac68/helpdesk_download?model2Name=PCEAC68

So if i understood you correctly i will only access the management layer over some (windows) VM. I will pass the PCIE card as raw device to every VM i create and hope to get it running there if i want to access the VM directly over the web.

 

[Pifouney]

Thank you. I created a Windows 10 VM and was able to get the wifi connection running in there.

Spoiler: set up windows 10 VM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6c-6xBkD2J4
Add BCM4360 PCIE as Raw Device to VM
(optional)install asus drivers https://www.asus.com/de/networking-.../pceac68/helpdesk_download?model2Name=PCEAC68

So if i understood you correctly i will only access the management layer over some (windows) VM. I will pass the PCIE card as raw device to every VM i create and hope to get it running there if i want to access the VM directly over the web.

it's a solution, but you can too have a dedicated VM with the raw device, and then share his connexion for other VMs. But this solution need a network knowledge

 

[bomberdile]

thanks for your reply. I believe i have to set up the windows vm as a switch with a static ip so i can route other VMs network traffic to it. Im still looking for good documentation and will update this post if i find any and get it running.

 

[Sideflare]

WIN!!! ​

think i got it figured out!!! heres my notes. probably dont need some of the steps like pve headers and dkms. not certain but i think wireless-tools is a dependency for the broadcom-sta-dkms so you need it but you may be able to forgo wireless-tools-iw. also you may not need the non free on the first three sourced but definately need to add the debian source listed at the bottom of the sources list here. use the one for your version of prox obviously if you have something before or after bookworm.

hardware this is a mac pro 5, 1 upgraded with bcm4360

Project - Get Wifi Working as a failover

update /etc/apt/sources.list with non-free-firmware at the end of each line
deb http://deb.debian.org/debian bookworm main contrib non-free-firmware
deb http://deb.debian.org/debian bookworm-updates main contrib non-free-firmware
deb http://security.debian.org/debian-security bookworm-security main contrib non-free-firmware
Add
deb http://ftp.de.debian.org/debian bookworm main non-free

apt-get update
apt install pve-headers
apt install dkms
apt install wireless-tools
apt install wireless-tools iw
sudo apt install broadcom-sta-dkms
sudo iwlist wls5 scanning #SSIDs APPEAR!!!
apt install network-manager
nmcli device wifi list #network manager list is cleaner!
nmcli device status #find out wireless interface name
nmcli device wifi connect "<SSID>" password "<your_password>" ifname <interface_name>
like this
nmcli device wifi connect "TheGayClam" password "HiFromTheFBI469" ifname wls5
nmcli connection modify "TheGayClam" connection.autoconnect yes #verify set to persist reboots


EDIT: BETTER WAY (do this instead and your device will show up under networking in the web ui!)

update /etc/apt/sources.list with

deb http://ftp.de.debian.org/debian bookworm main non-free

apt-get update && apt install wireless-tools && apt install wireless-tools iw && apt install wireless-tools wpasupplicant

wpa_passphrase "TheGayClam" "HiFromTheFBI469" > /etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant-wls5.conf

add the following to nano /etc/network/interfaces

auto wls5

iface wls5 inet dhcp

wpa-conf /etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant-wls5.conf #put 4 spaces before this line

#now save your config then run the following to enable start service

systemctl enable wpa_supplicant@wls5 && systemctl start wpa_supplicant@wls5

#TEST!

ifdown wls5 && ifup wls5 && iw dev wls5 link && ip a show dev wls5


EDIT:
You may need to do this too
fixing boot delay issues
Problem
The system is using bcma, which does not support BCM4360.
The correct driver, wl, is installed and loaded, but not attached.
Therefore, wls5 does not exist at boot, and systemd waits for it, causing the delay.
Solution
We need to disable conflicting drivers (bcma, b43, brcmsmac) and force the system to use wl.

echo "blacklist bcma" >> /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-broadcom.conf
echo "blacklist b43" >> /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-broadcom.conf
echo "blacklist brcmsmac" >> /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-broadcom.conf
update-initramfs -u -k all
reboot