Please update the regulatory information for Egypt

[raifatef]

Greetings,

The WiFi regulatory restrictions applied for Egypt that you are using in your drivers is out of date. You are applying pre-2018 restrictions which contained a 40 MHz channel bandwidth restriction in 5 GHz. These restrictions were lifted in 2018 and other manufacturers have updated their regulatory databases but not you.

Due to your WiFi cards enforcing LAR, all Intel AX cards are artificially crippled to 40 MHz channel bandwidth in Egypt even though this is no longer necessary, and you are doing a disservice to your customers by not following with regulatory updates.

The restrictions in Egypt are currently:

2.4 GHz: Channel 1-13 max 20 dBm E.I.R.P. There are no legal bandwidth restrictions. (40 MHz permitted).

5 GHz: Channel 36-64 max 23 dBm E.I.R.P (DFS required for range from 52-64). The 40 MHz bandwidth restriction was lifted after 2018 and there are no mandated bandwidth restrictions. 160 MHz is permitted using 2 contiguous 80 MHz channels (36-64).

Channel 149-164 require a license from the telecom regulatory authority and are for outdoor use only with a channel bandwidth restriction of 20 MHz and with maximum of 36 dBm E.I.R.P. But this may be omitted for client indoor intended equipment.

The linux kernel has updated their regulatory database as of 2020:

Re: [wireless-regdb] Request for Update regulatory rules for Egypt (EG) (Linux Wireless) (spinics.net)

Here is the relevant block from linux kernel:

country EG: DFS-ETSI
	(2402 - 2483.5 @ 40), (20)
	(5150 - 5250 @ 80), (23), NO-OUTDOOR, AUTO-BW, wmmrule=ETSI
	(5250 - 5330 @ 80), (20), NO-OUTDOOR, DFS, AUTO-BW, wmmrule=ETSI

db.txt - kernel/git/sforshee/wireless-regdb.git - Wireless regulatory database for CRDA

Here's a document directly from Egyptian Telecom Regulatory Authority (NTRA) website:

Radio Spectrum - National Telecom Regulatory Authority (tra.gov.eg)

https://www.tra.gov.eg/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Guidelines-for-using-short-range-devices-srd-in-egypt.pdf

Here's the relevant part of the PDF:

Please update your driver restrictions matrix and release new drivers as soon as possible. Thank you very much.

[MaryT_Intel · Accepted solution]

Thank you, we'll take a look at this.

Kind regards,

Mary T.

Support Community Manager

[raifatef]

Hello,

Is there any update on this, I replied to emails with requested info and it's been a week and no feedback, anything ? There was a recent driver update pushed on Windows Update but it is still not updated.

[n_scott_pearson]

You do understand that the time to an update is measured in months, right? Sounds like you have your expectations set way too high.

Any time that a change - any change - is applied, there are many weeks of regression and validation testing that are necessary to ensure that the build including this change works in all recognized product configurations.

Reality bites,

...S

[raifatef]

Hello,

I understand, I was only looking for a formal acknowledgment and recognition of the need for an update and an assurance that it will be released later in the future,... not complete radio silence ...

[n_scott_pearson]

This is usually all you are going to get. The ICS team can open a sighting, but the driver team makes all decisions after that and the ICS team is not allowed to speculate on its availability.

Sorry, this is Intel's way of protecting itself from having estimates misconstrued as committments (yes, the trolls have sued Intel for this before; blame them).

...S

[raifatef]

Ok, I had no idea things were like that. Thanks for the clarification.

[raifatef]

Hello,

As a follow up, our Egyptian NTRA has updated the guidelines for SRD with more details (same rules apply):

EGY-NTRA-June21-SRD.pdf

The document can be obtained from the official Telecom regulatory site here (in Arabic):

إتاحة الطيف الترددي - الجهاز القومي لتنظيم الاتصالات (tra.gov.eg)

[raifatef]

FINALLY after 7 months, Intel driver 22.100.1 finally provides full 160 MHz capability in Egypt. Thank you for paying attention to this matter.