Dennis HilkLinux diagnosticsDE

Wi-Fi adapters

Broadcom BCM4356 PCIe FullMAC family

A PCIe Broadcom FullMAC family with a checked firmware basename and a separate CLM regulatory-data declaration.

Editorial source review: Share public profileOpen in the identification tool
On this page
  1. Overview & identity
  2. Driver & binding
  3. Firmware
  4. Read-only diagnostics
  5. Limitations & related issues
  6. References

Overview & identity

14e4:43ec is the BCM4356 PCIe table identity. It does not identify an exact combo module or imply that Bluetooth uses this PCI function.

Curated identifiers
pci 14e4:43ec

A numeric match establishes a candidate family within the reviewed evidence. Marketing names, board variants, subsystem conditions and successful operation remain separate questions.

Driver & binding

brcmfmac has a BCM4356 PCIe firmware mapping. The source declares a CLM blob separately and uses board-aware NVRAM selection; distinguish those requests in the log.

  • brcmfmac — kernel driver/module candidate

Detected, bound, operational: learn the difference

Firmware

Host-loaded firmware required

The firmware mapping is chip-specific. Board NVRAM and optional regulatory data, where listed, depend on the detected platform and loader result.

Checked examples or filename branches, not a complete installation list:

  • brcm/brcmfmac4356-pcie.bin
  • brcm/brcmfmac4356-pcie*.txt
  • brcm/brcmfmac4356-pcie.clm_blob

Inspect firmware packaging on your distribution

Read-only diagnostics

Run one displayed command at a time. Replace uppercase placeholders with the affected device, interface or module from your own output. Commands are never executed here. Read-only output can still contain private identifiers.

Read the selected PCI function

lspci -nnk -s BDF

Replace BDF with the address from your report. Compare Kernel driver in use with Kernel modules; only the former records binding. This ordinary query normally needs no root privileges.

Read firmware metadata

modinfo -F firmware MODULE

Replace MODULE with brcmfmac or the actual candidate module in your report. Metadata lists declared filenames; it does not prove a file was loaded. This query needs no root privileges.

Read existing Wi-Fi association

iw dev INTERFACE link

Replace INTERFACE with the wireless interface from iw dev. Association and rate are observations, not a throughput or firmware test. This query normally needs no root privileges.

Limitations & related issues

Regulatory-data availability and NVRAM choice can be platform specific. A missing optional file and a fatal firmware failure are not automatically the same outcome.

These guides are linked for relevant observations, not as known defects of every device in this family.

Choose a hardware diagnostic workflow · Inspect a log excerpt in Fix Lab

References

Source review records a checked implementation or document, not a reproduced hardware test. Version-specific tables do not establish a minimum kernel or guaranteed operation.