Wii Hardware/BCM4318: Difference between revisions

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The [[Wii]] features a Wi-Fi chipset from Broadcom, specifically the Broadcom 4318.  This Wi-Fi adapter is unfortunately heavily constrained due to how it's connected, however.  You may have noticed that the Wii's Wi-Fi speeds are quite lacking for a device released in 2006, and you would be correct.  The Wi-Fi module is connected over Sonics Silicon Backplace (SSB), connected over SDIO, on the [[Hollywood]] chipset.  Unfortunately, this was not designed with speed in mind.  The overhead of TCP/IP, over 802.11 Wi-Fi, over Broadcom's Wi-Fi interface, over SSB, over the 1-bit SDIO protocol, is simply too much for the Wii's mediocre CPU to handle.
The [[Wii]] and [[Wii U]] features a Wi-Fi chipset from Broadcom, specifically the Broadcom 4318.   


This Wi-Fi adapter is unfortunately heavily constrained due to it's connection,  it's connected over Sonics Silicon Backplace (SSB), connected over SDIO on OHCI1 port 1, on the [[Hollywood]]/[[Wii U Hardware/Latte|Latte]] chipset. The overhead of interfacing with this Wi-Fi card along with various standard network protocols are very taxing for the Wii's CPU.
== Compatibility ==
[[Wii-Linux]] has included support for the Wi-Fi chipset since at least MIKEp5{{check}}.  [[Upstream Linux]] also has drivers for all components of the Wi-Fi stack available, although they don't seem to function on the Wii.  It's unsure if this is known about by the upstream maintainers, but it seems to have been broken since at least Linux 5.0.
[[Wii-Linux]] has included support for the Wi-Fi chipset since at least MIKEp5{{check}}.  [[Upstream Linux]] also has drivers for all components of the Wi-Fi stack available, although they don't seem to function on the Wii.  It's unsure if this is known about by the upstream maintainers, but it seems to have been broken since at least Linux 5.0.

Revision as of 22:25, 29 July 2026

The Wii and Wii U features a Wi-Fi chipset from Broadcom, specifically the Broadcom 4318.

This Wi-Fi adapter is unfortunately heavily constrained due to it's connection, it's connected over Sonics Silicon Backplace (SSB), connected over SDIO on OHCI1 port 1, on the Hollywood/Latte chipset. The overhead of interfacing with this Wi-Fi card along with various standard network protocols are very taxing for the Wii's CPU.

Compatibility

Wii-Linux has included support for the Wi-Fi chipset since at least MIKEp5[check]. Upstream Linux also has drivers for all components of the Wi-Fi stack available, although they don't seem to function on the Wii. It's unsure if this is known about by the upstream maintainers, but it seems to have been broken since at least Linux 5.0.