In article ,
Mike Coslo wrote:

Some members of our club have been discussing this very thing. Some
say it is just plain illegal.

On the other hand, I am not at all sure.

1.It is not illegal to put a wirelss router on my Cable modem.

2. If there is a bad spot in my yard, I can say install a better
antenna on the router. (if indeed those commercial units do anything.

3. If I have a big yard, or say if I had a farm and wanted to get
some internet access from one of my outbuildings, is it okay if I put a
little yagi setup, esp if I am a Ham?

4. Now if I am wanting internet access at a mountaintop station that
doesn't have access otherwise, is it illegal to do the same thing as in
step 3?

One thing to be aware of: the FCC requires that Part 15 radios and
their antennas be certificated as a complete system.

If you substitute a different antenna (other than one which the
radio's manufacturer has actually tested and certificated with the
radio), then the original certification of the Part 15 equipment is
voided, and it becomes (technically) illegal to use the radio to
transmit until you have it re-tested for compliance at a properly
equipped test facility.

This means that, if one wants to pick nits, most people who install
higher-gain aftermarket antennas on their 802.11 access points /
routers / cards may very well be operating illegally. I've only ever
heard of one case of a company fined for doing this (and they were
also operating with an illegally-high-powered amplifier)... I doubt
it's an issue that's on the FCC's radar, unless somebody files a
formal complaint about a specific situation.

These Part 15 rules don't apply if you're using the system within your
ham Part 97 privileges... but you then have to honor _all_ of the
rules for Part 97 use. You can't pick and choose (e.g. put on a
high-gain antenna and an amplifier under Part 97, and then use the
system on Part-15-only frequencies with encryption turned on and for
running a business). If you want to stay fully legal, you have to do
it one way or the other... within Part 15, or within Part 97.

My rationale is that I have paid for the service. As long as I am
not doing anything that was illegal at the cable drop already, such as
providing other people service, I am not doing anything that a wireless
router does. I'm only giving it an antenna with a bit more punch.

Unfortunately, modifications to the antenna itself are probably
outside of what Part 15 allows, unless you use an antenna that the
AP's manufacturer has actually certificated with that particular AP.

Sticking a passive reflector being the antenna, for a few dB of gain,
might not count as a modification to the actual antenna, and might
thus be legal.

The issue of whether it's OK to allow other people to use your home
wireless network, on a cable or DSL line, would be a contractual issue
between you and your ISP... I don't think it's an FCC issue at all.

--
Dave Platt AE6EO
Friends of Jade Warrior home page: http://www.radagast.org/jade-warrior
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