Wireless Access

We have had multiple complaints from users who have experienced signal strength issues in the last week. We have since found out that when a 500 series AP broadcasts on 5GHz, within the UNII-3 band (149-161) the transmit power is limited to 14dbm. I have tested this with an AP-504 and saw a difference of 20dbm between 2.4GHz channel 11 (-47dBm) and 5GHz channel 157 (-66dBm). I was less than 5m away from the AP with no obstructions, so deployments across our campus will be suffering from this feature. 

Is this restriction imposed within any other band within the 5GHz range? 

Does this only affect 504/5 or the entire 500 series range of access points? Also, are any other AP series affected by similar restrictions? 

Thanks, Adam 

What's the country of operation for the AP? Regulatory restrictions may be responsible for this, in combination with up to 8dB more pathloss for the higher 5GHz channels compared to 2.4GHz, and a difference in antenna gain/pattern.

GB - University of Cambridge. 

Is there a solution to this? And does this affect any other model or band within the 5GHz range? 

OK, makes sense then. Due to regulatory restrictions, EIRP power limits on the U-NII-3 channels can be ~7dB lower than what they are in 2.4GHz.

Only solution if that's causing issues is to disable those channels.

Note that a client device should be smart enough to avoid channels if power is unacceptably low. The AP has limited control.