Beyond the Spec: What you need to know when buying/deploying Access Point

When shopping for Wireless Access Points, the first thing our client asks is its bandwidth capability, A/B/G/N/AC etc. Next, they will turn their attention to its transmit power, coverage, maximum supported user, and interfaces. Then if the price is right, they will make the purchase.

However, that’s not all. Unlike a wired device, for example a router, or a switch, Wireless Access Points transmits its connection through the public space — air. Thus, the behavior of the access points: its broadcasting frequency is governed by the government to avoid collision with public/critical social infrastructure such as military radio communication, civilian radio communication, etc. Furthermore, EACH country have its own set of rules, so it is pertinent to purchase the rightly configured/manufactured access point for the right place.

At Myriad Supply, we serve not only customers in the United States, we have a large amount of international clients, and to further complicate the matter, many corporations/client also have branch offices in different parts of the world so we have to make sure that the Access Point we send to our clients conform to the applicable local laws.

Some Wireless AP Vendors provide APs with programmable frequency, however all Cisco APs are not programmable and come with a fixed frequency range that are tuned for different regions of the world. You can find Cisco AP’s regulatory compliance status here.

In addition to regulatory compliance of the hardware, some countries such as Brazil regulates the installation of APs and restricts enterprise level APs to be installed only by professionals. For example, Meraki APs have the disclaimer that:

This equipment must be installed and configured by professional networking personnel only. Network clients or users are not intended to install, configure, or operate the equipment directly.

Ignoring these regulatory laws can lead to the delay of the equipment installation and can at times even result in fines. Therefore it is important and best practice to survey the installation site ahead of time to make sure that the equipment arriving at the site conforms to the local law, and everything after follows the right procedure.