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What are band1 channels?

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sirwifi

Regular Contributor
Under the 5Ghz WiFi settings on the RT-AC68U there's an option next to the Control Channel setting:

[]Auto select channel including band1 channels

What are band1 channels? Should this be enabled in the US?

Iz346lq.jpg
 
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What router?
 
Thanks. So is "band1" the same as Band A UNII-1 Lower (Channels 36 – 48)? Or is it the entire Band A? Perhaps the string in the Merlin firmware could be changed to something more standard rather than the confusing "band1" that doesn't lead to any good search hits.

I didn't put that there, it's from Asus.
 
I didn't put that there, it's from Asus.

Not blaming you in any way :) Just trying to understand what it really means and whether the Merlin firmware could use an alternate string that better explains what it means.
 
Not blaming you in any way :) Just trying to understand what it really means and whether the Merlin firmware could use an alternate string that better explains what it means.

I rarely modify actual strings, as it would be a neverending task just trying to correct the numerous translation issues all over the firmware, in addition to making things more difficult for me when merging new releases. The more changes I make, the harder it becomes to automatically merge future GPL releases.

I already suggested to Asus that they have their English (and other language) strings revised by a native English speaker, rather than by a Chinese user who speaks English. No idea if anything will come out of it.

At least, we are no longer being "logined out" :)
 
Now that I have your attention ... any idea what enabling "band1" really does or means?
 
I think it means 'include DFS channels'

Not been worded correctly, translation error maybe?
 
I think it means 'include DFS channels'

Not been worded correctly, translation error maybe?

I assume that's what it means. As I said I didn't add this, so I don't know for sure.
 
When this option is enabled it simply means router auto selection would to take into account channel 36-48, if not enabled it will select from 149-165

Do note channel 36-48 reduce transmit power in compare to 149-165. Also none of these channels are DFS, DFS channel are from 52-140.

Note 1: there are additional regional variations for countries including Australia, Brazil, China, Israel, Korea, Singapore, South Africa, Turkey, etc. Additionally Japan has access to some channels below 5180 MHz.

Note 2: DFS = Dynamic Frequency Selection; TPC = Transmit Power Control; SRD = Short Range Devices 25 mW max power.
 

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Is there a way there you can get an option to choose whether you want extended channels or not in all FW
 
Is there a way there you can get an option to choose whether you want extended channels or not in all FW
No, it cannot be changed. It is hard coded in boot loader of router. I should add few version back you could override, however not anymore.
 
Interestingly, my RT-AC68U shows correct string (FW: Merlin 378.54_2)
 

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EU vs US router? Different rules/options depending on where your are.

How does the firmware know where the router is? It's the same firmware. Is the info stored somewhere in the bootloader?
 
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Mine is probably EU one, picked it up from local Computer store and I live in EU, so... :)

EDIT: Definately EU.


Code:
etz@Kari-AP:/tmp/home/root# nvram get pci/1/1/ccode
etz@Kari-AP:/tmp/home/root# nvram get pci/2/1/ccode
etz@Kari-AP:/tmp/home/root# nvram get wl0_country_code
EU
etz@Kari-AP:/tmp/home/root# nvram get wl1_country_code
EU
etz@Kari-AP:/tmp/home/root# nvram get regulation_domain
etz@Kari-AP:/tmp/home/root# nvram get regulation_domain_5G
 

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