How To Install bcmwl-kernel-source on Ubuntu 18.04

In this tutorial we learn how to install bcmwl-kernel-source on Ubuntu 18.04. bcmwl-kernel-source is Broadcom 802.11 Linux STA wireless driver source

Introduction

In this tutorial we learn how to install bcmwl-kernel-source on Ubuntu 18.04.

What is bcmwl-kernel-source

bcmwl-kernel-source is:

This package contains Broadcom 802.11 Linux STA wireless driver for use with Broadcom’s BCM4311-, BCM4312-, BCM4313-, BCM4321-, BCM4322-, BCM43224-, and BCM43225-, BCM43227- and BCM43228-based hardware.

There are three methods to install bcmwl-kernel-source on Ubuntu 18.04. We can use apt-get, apt and aptitude. In the following sections we will describe each method. You can choose one of them.

Install bcmwl-kernel-source Using apt-get

Update apt database with apt-get using the following command.

sudo apt-get update

After updating apt database, We can install bcmwl-kernel-source using apt-get by running the following command:

sudo apt-get -y install bcmwl-kernel-source

Install bcmwl-kernel-source Using apt

Update apt database with apt using the following command.

sudo apt update

After updating apt database, We can install bcmwl-kernel-source using apt by running the following command:

sudo apt -y install bcmwl-kernel-source

Install bcmwl-kernel-source Using aptitude

If you want to follow this method, you might need to install aptitude first since aptitude is usually not installed by default on Ubuntu. Update apt database with aptitude using the following command.

sudo aptitude update

After updating apt database, We can install bcmwl-kernel-source using aptitude by running the following command:

sudo aptitude -y install bcmwl-kernel-source

How To Uninstall bcmwl-kernel-source on Ubuntu 18.04

To uninstall only the bcmwl-kernel-source package we can use the following command:

sudo apt-get remove bcmwl-kernel-source

Uninstall bcmwl-kernel-source And Its Dependencies

To uninstall bcmwl-kernel-source and its dependencies that are no longer needed by Ubuntu 18.04, we can use the command below:

sudo apt-get -y autoremove bcmwl-kernel-source

Remove bcmwl-kernel-source Configurations and Data

To remove bcmwl-kernel-source configuration and data from Ubuntu 18.04 we can use the following command:

sudo apt-get -y purge bcmwl-kernel-source

Remove bcmwl-kernel-source configuration, data, and all of its dependencies

We can use the following command to remove bcmwl-kernel-source configurations, data and all of its dependencies, we can use the following command:

sudo apt-get -y autoremove --purge bcmwl-kernel-source

References

Summary

In this tutorial we learn how to install bcmwl-kernel-source package on Ubuntu 18.04 using different package management tools: apt, apt-get and aptitude.