On Mon, 2006-01-30 at 23:28 +1030, Tim wrote:
> On Sun, 2006-01-29 at 18:40 -0500, Neil Cherry wrote:
> > Wireless is the one area that hits Linux (and I guess any of the OSS)
> > pretty hard. It has to do with the fact that the consumer wireless
> > stuff doesn't need a license at least up to certain power level. Once
> > you surpass that power level licenses are required. Most chips have
> > software controlled power levels and the the FCC has mandated that no
> > consumer can have control of a software controlled power. That could
> > let them use the consumer product where a license is required. I would
> > guess the the EU has the same problem.
> I see you've mentioned something outside of the US (the EU), but I
> wonder if buying an international product would be the answer? Although
> most things here have their FCC information in the manual, the FCC has
> no jurisdiction in my country, so different standards could apply.
Different standards for power and frequency, maybe. But that doesn't
mean that a manufacturer is going to provide that information if he also
has the US as part of his market and he wants to maintain his product as
compliant with FCC standards. The FCC may not have jurisdiction in your
country over you but it may still have defacto jurisdiction over that
manufacturer if they (the manufacturer) wants certification in the US
for any of their products. Wouldn't even need to be the same product or
equipment. You don't want to go piss'n off the FCC on one hand while
trying to get a certification on something else.
> I'd be surprised if most devices could generate enough power to be a
> problem. And even if they couldn't, external amplifiers or better
> antennas can increase their output beyond whatever software limits might
> exist.
I've heard it stated on one of the Linksys forums (might have been up
at Sveasoft or LinksysInfo) that, if you take the Linksys WRT54G{S,L}
and put the Sveasoft firmware (or one of its derivatives) on it and
boost the power output (I think you can go as high as a couple hundred
milliwatts) with the high gain antennas and add one of the range
extenders, you'll end up outside the FCC limits for a "Part 15"
unlicensed device. I haven't confirmed that myself.
But there is also the problem with frequencies. In the US, we've got
11 channels to play with (some of which overlap with licensed Amateur
channels). Other parts of the world have access to all 13 channels.
Some (Japan?) only a couple of channels. I've seen frequency control
cited more often than power limits as the reason. After all, you can
tack on an amplifier, range extenders (repeaters) or high gain antenna's
(for cards which accept external antenna) for more ERP (Effective
Radiated Power).
Mike
--
Michael H. Warfield (AI4NB) | (770) 985-6132 | mhw@xxxxxxxxxxxx
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