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  • By BatCruRon5 - edited: August 14, 2012

    Where would I find an up to date 5 GHz Wi-Fi channel map?  None of the tables, charts, or maps I can find online seem to agree.  Like can you use channel 165 in the US?  And I know part of the band was expanded a while back...

  • This wikipedia article is what I often use:
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_WLAN_channels

    --
    @@ron

  • By BatCruRon5 - edited: August 14, 2012

    Yeah, but you cannot rely on Wikipedia.

  • Since when?  It's not a reliable source for a formal research paper, but it's one of the best resources for practical use.  A wiki is as reliable as you make it.  If you find a problem on the page, you fix it -- that's the beauty of a wiki.

    I've used this channel list page for a while, and I've found that it's more  accurate and up to date than any other page I've seen.  Anything printed is soon obsolete.  The only other option is to wade through all the latest FCC rulings (and international committee rulings) and create your own table.

    Anyway, you asked for a reliable resource -- that's the one I've found to be most helpful and reliable.  Best of luck --

    --
    @@ron

  • I'd say it is fairly reliable, although personally I would disagree with its recommendation for using other than channels 1, 6, and 11 for OFDM.   We could have a whole other discussion on that topic.

    For a device manufacturers point of view, the Wiki is lacking quite a few details.   Although a manufacturer may not worry about day-to-day network administration, they do have legal responsiblities.  

    These can be enforced right at a countries point of entry, and the last thing you want to have happen is to have your shipment impounded at the border.  In addition to frequency violations, something as simple as not having a Users manual written in the native language, could get your shipment held.

    Also, from a marketting POV, it may not make sense to enable/configure your device for some place you will only ever sell half a dozen units.   It's often easier, and safer,  just not to sell there at all.

    Many countries are currently in the process of updating their EMC compliance and import documentation requirements.   This has made/is making it very costly to sell, or continue to sell, in some markets.     Conducting the worldwide launch of a single new product could easily cost more than $300k in Compliance fees alone.

    One of the simplest ways to keep track of country requirements, is to make up a matrix by country/region, and cross reference it with your product's features.    But as @@ron says, such a list is quickly obsolete - which means the list itself is time consuming and expensive to maintain.

    Unfortunately, there are only a few generalities you can make about any list.
           1) channels 52 thru 140 have DFS considerations imposed on them, if allowed at all, and
           2) channel 14 is legally only allowed in Japan.   

    Nonetheless, I often find channel 14 being used here in the states - go figure.

  • Not sure if these help but I've written a couple of blogs about 5GHz in the UK. I would imagine some stuff is relevant to the US :)

    http://darrengauntlett.com/a-quick-guide-to-5ghz-part-1/

    http://darrengauntlett.com/a-quick-guide-to-5ghz-part-2/

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