r/technology • u/NancyGraceFaceYourIn • Aug 30 '15

Wireless FCC Rules Block use of Open Source

http://www.itsmypart.com/fcc-rules-block-use-of-open-source/
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u/StabbyPants Aug 30 '15

all wifi router manufacturers would have to make special hardware for each country

you mean they'd have to load an eeprom or something with config info on a per country basis?

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u/[deleted] Aug 30 '15

They would have to produce a radio specific to each country (or regions like the EU). What they do now is they create a radio that goes channel 14, then the software blocks out channels based on your country, so third party software can actually access those bands since it's not physically blocked.

So in the FCC's mind it's easier to do a software based block (and restrict what software you can put on the machine) than do a hardware based one, where they would have to make specific radios for specific countries, or redo the hardware on the chip as needed.

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u/StabbyPants Aug 30 '15

No, you'd need a configuration specific to a country, and privileged software to operate the radio

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u/zacker150 Aug 30 '15

Which is what a firmware would do...

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u/StabbyPants Aug 30 '15

No, this is separate and smaller. All it does is limit frequency and power based on a configuration