Re: [tlug] Importing WiFi equipment

[Dan Burrowes <danburrowes@example.com>]

First things first:
What country are you bringing the equipment from?
Which 802.11 spec (and thus frequency) are you using?



Short answer:
It *might* "technically" work (see below).  But as Keith said, legally,
unless the equipment has been OK'ed by the Japanese government, then no,
it is not allowed (strictly said).



Long answer:
I'm going to assume you're coming from North America, because I'm a
biased North American pig.

If you're using 802.11b/g/n (2.4GHz):
While the frequency range allocated by the government in Japan is the
same as other countries, Japan utilizes a 14-channel model, while in
North America, only channels 1-12 are used.

This means that North American 802.11b/g/n equipment will work in Japan.
 You'd be all set, good to go, and you'll never experience weirdness.
If you buy 802.11b/g/n equipment in Japan, and bring it to North
America, however, there is the chance that you could inadvertently
configure it to use channels 13 or 14, which is not allowed in North
America according to the American FCC.  Just to be anal-retentive, even
channel 14 is restricted in Japan -- it's only supposed to be used for
802.11b, not 802.11g.  Also, even North American 802.11b/g/n equipment
can technically be configured to use channels 13 and 14, although you
need access to the driver to set it.

If you're using 802.11a/n (5 GHz):
As long as you're using 40/20 MHz bands, then generally, the channels
match up, but again, both North America and Japan allow some "extra"
channels that the other area does not.  If you're using 10 Mhz bands,
then no -- the channels do not match up.

If you want a nice breakdown of all of this, check Wikipedia:
http://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/List_of_WLAN_channels

--dan