Controllerless Networks

I was able to obtain a 802.11ax access point (HPE | Q9H62A | Aruba AP-515 (RW)) for relatively cheap. I'm now realizing why it was cheap, being it's a "Rest of World" AP and I'm located in the United States (as was the seller). Since selecting "US" isn't available when setting up the IAP, I was wondering if selecting a US owned territory will inadvertendly make it be in the US domain.

Ex: Guam, US Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico etc.

After doing some digging I found on a Cisco website that Puerto Rico is in the same regulatory domain as the United States, which is now "-B" (used to be "-A"). Does setting my IAP 515-RW to the "PR" country code essentially achieve the same thing as setting it to "US"? Would I later be able to join my converted "Rest of World" AP set with the "PR" country code to a "US" based controller?

Thanks in advance for your time and any help you can provide, I appreciate it.

Here is the `show ap allowed-channels` output after I set my IAP 515-RW to "PR". If someone has the IAP 515-US model (or any similar ones) could you kindly see if it matches my output:

Allowed Channels for AP Type 515 Country Code PR
------------------------------------------------
PHY Type Allowed Channels
-------- ----------------
802.11g (indoor) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
802.11a (indoor) 36 40 44 48 52 56 60 64 100 104 108 112 116 120 124 128 132 136 140 144 149 153 157 161 165
802.11g (outdoor) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
802.11a (outdoor) 52 56 60 64 100 104 108 112 116 120 124 128 132 136 140 144 149 153 157 161 165
802.11g 40MHz (indoor) 1-5 2-6 3-7 4-8 5-9 6-10 7-11
802.11a 40MHz (indoor) 36-40 44-48 52-56 60-64 100-104 108-112 116-120 124-128 132-136 140-144 149-153 157-161
802.11g 40MHz (outdoor) 1-5 2-6 3-7 4-8 5-9 6-10 7-11
802.11a 40MHz (outdoor) 52-56 60-64 100-104 108-112 116-120 124-128 132-136 140-144 149-153 157-161
802.11a 80MHz (indoor) 36-48 52-64 100-112 116-128 132-144 149-161
802.11a 80MHz (outdoor) 52-64 100-112 116-128 132-144 149-161
802.11a 160MHz (indoor) 36-64 100-128
802.11a 160MHz (outdoor) 100-128
802.11a (DFS) 52 56 60 64 100 104 108 112 116 120 124 128 132 136 140 144

Unfortunately, it is forbidden to operate non-US coded wireless transmitting devices in the US regulatory domain.

You would actually be liable to prosecution. Sounds harsh but the FCC is quite strict about that. That's why any wireless vendor needs to build dedicated HW for the US regulatory domain only and that includes Aruba. You are not even allowed to handle this in SW only.

As long as your are using it as Instant, where the controller is the AP itself, you are not allowed to operate an RW model in the US, independent from the regulatory domain profile you choose.

@owehrli

Thanks for your reply.

While it's forbidden to operate instant / standalone RW AP devices in the US, if I'm transmitting / locking my device to a US regulatory domain or one that's identical to it like PR, how would anyone (besides myself) ever know?

At this moment I only plan to have 1 AP in a home set to a max transmit power of 9dBm (essentially no signal outside).

My intention is certainly not to break any laws, but if I could ideally avoid having to re-sell this AP by only ever transmitting on the country's legal bands that would be great.

Or is the risk not worth it? Let me know your thoughts. I'm assuming I can't just open a ticket with Aruba and have them exchange a RW to US device without a valid service contract.

Thanks in advance for your time.

The risk is solely assumed by you. Aruba's supply chain is such that we won't ship RW to a US customer/address. And Aruba cannot advocate that type of installation (RW AP in US, even if you manually configure it to be US only). 

Aruba cannot speak to, advocate for it's use, etc outside of its regulatory restrictions. 

Hope that helps

The fact that the HW could transmit based on other regulatory domain profiles (since it is RoW) is already sufficient. As mentioned it's not allowed to just restrict that in software.

@owehrli

"As long as your are using it as Instant, where the controller is the AP itself, you are not allowed to operate an RW model in the US, independent from the regulatory domain profile you choose."

I'm assuming with what you said above that it would be OK to use if it's *not* in instant mode (connected to a US controller).

"The fact that the HW could transmit based on other regulatory domain profiles (since it is RoW) is already sufficient. As mentioned it's not allowed to just restrict that in software."

I'm confused as to how converting a RoW device from IAP to AP is legal as long as the controller is US (a software change), but setting the IAP to a US domain to operate under the same frequencies is not (also a software change).

Am I not understanding what the regulatory domain profiles do? Don't they dictate how the device must operate? I apologize for my ignorance, I'm just trying to fully understand.

Either way, I appreciate both of your time and explanation @owehrli & 

@jhoward; I have learned a lot. I have already contacted the seller and will be returning.

IAPs that are convertible to APs under a controller are able to do so because the IAPs sold are country restricted and when on a controller they assume the regulatory of the controller. APs (as Campus APs that cannot become instant) are (well, were) sold without any regulatory permissions and required a controller.

Now and in the future, all APs are 'Universal' and are all country restricted. So since all will be sold with regulatory specific classifications, we should no longer hit these kinds of problems. 

And yes, the seller should not have sold that to you, but it's common on the reseller market as not many/any are aware of compliance with regulatory bodies. 

Well, I've fought with the seller and didn't have luck with a return (they wanted to charge a ridiculous "re-stocking fee" >$75), but thankfully the Aruba support team is going to help with an exchange of my Q9H62A (RW) for a Q9H63A (US). So far the Aruba support is absolutely fantastic from this forum board & the support center.

While waiting for the case to progress, I did more digging and was able to answer my own original question (regarding matching regulatory domain).

I was able to obtain the output of a AP-515-US Model and unfortunately it does not match 1:1 the Puerto Rico (PR) domain:

Allowed Channels for AP Type 515 Country Code US
------------------------------------------------
PHY Type                   Allowed Channels
--------                   ----------------
802.11g (indoor)           1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
802.11a (indoor)           36 40 44 48 52 56 60 64 100 104 108 112 116 120 124 128 132 136 140 144 149 153 157 161 165
802.11g (outdoor)          1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
802.11a (outdoor)          36 40 44 48 52 56 60 64 100 104 108 112 116 120 124 128 132 136 140 144 149 153 157 161 165
802.11g 40MHz (indoor)     1-5 2-6 3-7 4-8 5-9 6-10 7-11
802.11a 40MHz (indoor)     36-40 44-48 52-56 60-64 100-104 108-112 116-120 124-128 132-136 140-144 149-153 157-161
802.11g 40MHz (outdoor)    1-5 2-6 3-7 4-8 5-9 6-10 7-11
802.11a 40MHz (outdoor)    36-40 44-48 52-56 60-64 100-104 108-112 116-120 124-128 132-136 140-144 149-153 157-161
802.11a 80MHz (indoor)     36-48 52-64 100-112 116-128 132-144 149-161
802.11a 80MHz (outdoor)    36-48 52-64 100-112 116-128 132-144 149-161
802.11a 160MHz (indoor)    36-64 100-128
802.11a 160MHz (outdoor)   36-64 100-128
802.11a (DFS)              52 56 60 64 100 104 108 112 116 120 124 128 132 136 140 144

However, the US Virgin Islands domain (VI) does:

Allowed Channels for AP Type 515 Country Code VI
------------------------------------------------
PHY Type                   Allowed Channels
--------                   ----------------
802.11g (indoor)           1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
802.11a (indoor)           36 40 44 48 52 56 60 64 100 104 108 112 116 120 124 128 132 136 140 144 149 153 157 161 165
802.11g (outdoor)          1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
802.11a (outdoor)          36 40 44 48 52 56 60 64 100 104 108 112 116 120 124 128 132 136 140 144 149 153 157 161 165
802.11g 40MHz (indoor)     1-5 2-6 3-7 4-8 5-9 6-10 7-11
802.11a 40MHz (indoor)     36-40 44-48 52-56 60-64 100-104 108-112 116-120 124-128 132-136 140-144 149-153 157-161
802.11g 40MHz (outdoor)    1-5 2-6 3-7 4-8 5-9 6-10 7-11
802.11a 40MHz (outdoor)    36-40 44-48 52-56 60-64 100-104 108-112 116-120 124-128 132-136 140-144 149-153 157-161
802.11a 80MHz (indoor)     36-48 52-64 100-112 116-128 132-144 149-161
802.11a 80MHz (outdoor)    36-48 52-64 100-112 116-128 132-144 149-161
802.11a 160MHz (indoor)    36-64 100-128
802.11a 160MHz (outdoor)   36-64 100-128
802.11a (DFS)              52 56 60 64 100 104 108 112 116 120 124 128 132 136 140 144

I'm sure there are more countries that match in the `show country-codes` command output list, but that's as far as I went.

So if you're stuck in a similar situation and willing to take the risk of possible prosecution from the FCC (albeit extremely unlikely), the commands below will change your IAP to match the US regulatory domain. Please do keep in mind that as @jhoward mentioned, this is not condoned or suggested by Aruba and any risk involved falls fully on you.

configure
virtual-controller-country VI
exit
commit apply