The carl firmware at https://github.com/chunkeey/carl9170fw should put that argument to rest. That is Wifi firmware source code for the Wifi I currently use.
Easily changed likely means there's a physical knob somewhere that you could accidentially poke as a layperson.
Not that you get a three year CS education, figure out how your distribution packages dependencies, install the correct embedded toolchain (good luck), find out exactly which chip is in your device, fetch the proper firmware source code in the right version, build the thing, figure out how to flash the result onto the chip / read the Linux kernel sources to figure out the filename inside /lib/firmware. That's not easy.
Please note that the Debian firmware-linux-free package does not build carl9170fw from source. There is proper packaging (source package called carl9170fw, binary package will be firmware-carl9170) being worked on but it isn't completed yet:
