802.11n WiFi driver for BCM4329 chip?

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colorado_al

Senior Member
Aug 4, 2008
605
125
Looking through the teardown from iFixit.com, the EVO has the same Wifi/Bluetooth chip as the Nexus 1 and Droid Incredible: BCM4329

http://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/HTC-Evo-4G-Teardown/2979/2
http://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Nexus-One-Teardown/1654/2
http://www.broadcom.com/products/Bluetooth/Bluetooth-RF-Silicon-and-Software-Solutions/BCM4329

Anyone with the skills to get an 802.11n driver hacked in?

Saw this Android Open Source :
http://www.mail-archive.com/bcm43xx-dev@lists.berlios.de/msg09253.html
Linux WLAN driver for BCM4329 - Low-Power 802.11n with Bluetooth(R)
2.1+ EDR and FM (Tx and Rx)

And this from Android open source project:
http://android.git.kernel.org/?p=pl...c;hb=f427424c414886903e4ad654c143c8ce6ec10e3c
 
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sm_x

Senior Member
Nov 8, 2009
126
26
Froyo has it, Nexus one users who updated to froyo already enjoy N although some say the difference in speed is very minimal.
 

timothydonohue

Senior Member
Oct 2, 2007
1,583
128
Portland, Maine
if you are anywhere near your router, wireless g is tons faster than your router-net connection will be, most likely. so, going faster to the router isn't going to make much difference if it bottlenecks at the router.

where you may see increases would be in a WLAN, if everything is configured to N-band. otherwise, if you are accessing a 802.11g device on your network, that's the slow man in your transmission, and it won't matter, again.
 

laydros

Senior Member
Jun 5, 2010
483
40
What about range (which is a problem for the EVO)

It may only be that the router is better, or it may be that 5GHz is better (I know the new iphone only does N on 2.4Ghz, I'm not sure about the EVO) but I know with my airport extreme the range is better to my MacBook, and that in general other N routers have better range to N devices.
 

SteelH

Senior Member
Jun 12, 2010
3,120
2,965
This should answer your questions:

BCM4329 - Low-Power 802.11n with Bluetooth® 2.1 + EDR and FM (Tx and Rx)

The Broadcom BCM4329 integrates a complete IEEE 802.11 a/b/g/n system (MAC/baseband/radio) with Bluetooth® 2.1 + EDR (Enhanced Data Rate), and FM radio receiver and transmitter. In addition to bringing greater Wi-Fi throughput and coverage to mobile consumer electronics, the BCM4329 is Broadcom's smallest and lowest cost dual-band 802.11n solution. It features integrated 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz WLAN CMOS power amplifiers, which reduce BoM costs while maintaining superior performance. The BCM4329 also utilizes advanced design techniques and process technologies to reduce active and idle power consumption and extend battery life.

With wifi-N working, you will get the benefits of dual band.