Jack,
One thing that is undisputable, is that Manufacturers have been given the
power to make their list of equivellent products that would be certified and
now its super cheap for them to do it with the relaxed rules. I agree, the
best method to solve this problem is to encourage our manufacturers to
certiy more antennas, or authorize their use as acceptible equivellent
replacements.
I also believe educating the public on the best way to certify is a great
idea, and one that has been around for a few years but not yet followed
through on.
Tom DeReggi
RapidDSL & Wireless, Inc
IntAirNet- Fixed Wireless Broadband
----- Original Message -----
From: "Jack Unger" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: "WISPA General List" <[email protected]>
Sent: Friday, August 18, 2006 5:35 PM
Subject: Re: [WISPA] roll your own radios..
Matt,
I agree with John's suggestion that we need to push manufacturers to
certify. We could request that manufacturers indicate the certification
status of their equipment on their websites, their spec sheets, and their
advertising material. We could even create the artwork and make available
to the industry a "Part 15 FCC-Certified Equipment" logo at no charge.
You ask - "Why would we need to push manufacturers when a WISP could just
NOT buy a non-certified product"? Because half of the WISPs out there
don't even realize that certification is required by law. WISPA can
perform a valuable public service by simply providing knowledge and
education for the WISP community and also by facilitating the means for
manufacturers to get the certification accomplished (publishing the list
of certification labs).
The alternative is for each of us to completely ignore the issue, which is
the same as us saying (pick your favorite, vote for all the apply)
1. "Laws are made to be broken"
2. "Laws are made to be ignored"
2. "Laws are for other people, not for me"
3. "Ignorance of the law is my excuse for breaking the law"
4. "If nobody enforces it, it's not a law"
5. "Jack, Joe, John, Jim, James, and Jean aren't following the law so why
should I"
6. <Add your own favorite excuse here>.
Our role is not enforcement, but education and leadership. By our actions,
we can benefit WISPs, manufacturers, and WISP customers. By playing this
role responsibly, our industry gains not just greater freedom from
interference but greater credibility with the public, the Congress, the
news media, and the FCC.
jack
Matt Liotta wrote:
No need to push manufactures when you can just not buy their product. Why
would you want to take the business risk of not buying a certified radio?
I mean Trango sells radios plenty cheap and they're certified. Canopy is
also cheap and also certified.
-Matt
John Scrivner wrote:
This sounds like a good idea. I am sure we could add a link to a listing
of certification labs. We also need to push manufacturers to certify.
Without some pressure from us the certification will just look like more
cost with little to gain to manufacturers. Pressure from customers would
make this more of a requirement than what it seems to be now. If we all
insist on certs then the overall cost for this would be negligible.
Scriv
Jack Unger wrote:
John,
Should WISPA consider publishing on our website a list of certification
labs? It seems that our industry needs someone to step up and take on a
leadership role and WISPA seems (to me anyway) to be the perfect
organization to perform this role.
We could start by simply polling our list members to see which labs
anyone has used and been satisfied with.
OK, speak up guys (and gals). What lab or labs have you researched or
used?
jack
John Scrivner wrote:
The rules state that any radio / antenna combination has to either be
a certified system or that a substitute antenna used would have to
meet the same specs as one used for certification in a system. Many
think that this means "anything goes". The truth is that there are
almost certainly a good bit of installed systems which would not pass
FCC enforcement inspection. Many believe that following maximum EIRP
rules is the only requirement. This is not so. It is a good practice
if you are not following the rules but that does not mean it is legal.
Another common belief is that "anything goes" is the rule of thumb due
to the general lack of enforcement in unlicensed bands. This is
unfortunate and further illustrates the need for our industry to
mature.
Part of this maturity process should start by operators demanding to
see FCC certifications for the systems they buy. It is tough for
operators to remain compliant when so few systems are certified.
Another step should be that manufacturers certify their systems with
commonly used antenna / radio configurations every time they release a
product. Finally, distributors need to demand that all systems they
sell meet certification requirements. The fact is that certification
is not terribly costly or complicated and should be a step taken by
all manufacturers and eventually all of us. If anyone here represents
manufacturers who certify all their systems then now would be a good
time to toot your horn.
I believe the day will likely come that the FCC will inspect WISP
systems. It took them about 20 years to start cracking down on the
cable television industry for signal leakage and other infractions.
Something tells me this industry will not have to wait that long. Of
course the decision to follow the rules is inevitably up to each
person. I would like to think we all will be compliant in the future
but this is an unrealistic goal I am sure if manufacturers do not take
a leadership role in this effort. WISPA stops short of demanding that
members do anything but I will say, as President of WISPA, we should
all try to follow the law regarding this industry. No industry
association could expect to have impact in policy and legislative
efforts if they took the stand that shirking the law is a correct
course of action.
Scriv
chris cooper wrote:
It sounds like several of you here build your own radios and use off
the shelf antennas. So if I buy a board, cards and an antenna what
are my obligations to FCC as far as having a certified system in
production? Thanks for the education
Chris
--
Jack Unger ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) - President, Ask-Wi.Com, Inc.
Serving the License-Free Wireless Industry Since 1993
Author of the WISP Handbook - "Deploying License-Free Wireless WANs"
True Vendor-Neutral WISP Consulting-Training-Troubleshooting
Newsletters Downloadable from http://ask-wi.com/newsletters.html
Phone (VoIP Over Broadband Wireless) 818-227-4220 www.ask-wi.com
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