I can speak Chinese, currently lived in Taiwan, and due to recent 5Ghz signal congestion in my area, I decided to ask Asus for their official stance about region settings locked in their bootloader.
Ref:
https://www.snbforums.com/threads/asus-locking-down-routers-to-comply-with-new-fcc-rules.18762/
https://www.snbforums.com/threads/moved-regions-change-regional-max-tx-power.30597/#post-240240
Basically in Taiwan, other than regular 5Ghz channels, we also have 5.15 Ghz ~ 5.25 Ghz available.(it's not DFS reserved spectrum IRRC) That is ch 36, 40, 44, 48.
But, Taiwan purchased RT-AC68U cannot use these channel. No idea why.
Not fair at all, right?
I used it as one of my argument, meanwhile trying to understand their stance on the power / region locked thing, expressing the urge to make wireless region selectable again.
In the beginning they didn't seem to take me seriously, but eventually they answered.
I still feel somewhat unsatisfied, but the reply's reasonable enough.
Here's the explanatory letter fully translated from Chinese to English:
===
RT-AC68U certified(in Taiwan)before 2015/01/19, thus the spectrum examined were 2412-2462MHz, Band2 (5250-5350MHz), and Band4 (5725-5850MHz).
After our investigation, Band 4 (5725-5850MHz) only extends to channel 165, that means channel 169 is not available. You can check the sheets here: https://www.fcc.gov/oet/ea/presentations/files/may17/31-Part-15-Panel-UNII-UpdatesDT.pdf
Since RT-AC68U were certified in Taiwan for Band 2 and Band 4 only, we'll have to redo DFS certification for Band 2 in order to also support Band 1.
However, considered our marketing strategy, we currently have no plan supporting DFS bands in Taiwan. Therefore, I'm afraid that Band 1 cannot be supported, either.
The policy of not-selectable region settings were to prevent users changing their region setting to other countries with more RF signal strength tolerance, effectively circumventing local legal limitations. In the end it's mainly safety concerns.
Thank you for your understanding.
I'd like to thank you for your support for Asus products, and thank you for your inquiry / mail.
===
Although their stance does not change, I feel the need to share it for further references as it came directly from Asus router RD team.
Ref:
https://www.snbforums.com/threads/asus-locking-down-routers-to-comply-with-new-fcc-rules.18762/
https://www.snbforums.com/threads/moved-regions-change-regional-max-tx-power.30597/#post-240240
Basically in Taiwan, other than regular 5Ghz channels, we also have 5.15 Ghz ~ 5.25 Ghz available.(it's not DFS reserved spectrum IRRC) That is ch 36, 40, 44, 48.
But, Taiwan purchased RT-AC68U cannot use these channel. No idea why.
Not fair at all, right?
I used it as one of my argument, meanwhile trying to understand their stance on the power / region locked thing, expressing the urge to make wireless region selectable again.
In the beginning they didn't seem to take me seriously, but eventually they answered.
I still feel somewhat unsatisfied, but the reply's reasonable enough.
Here's the explanatory letter fully translated from Chinese to English:
===
RT-AC68U certified(in Taiwan)before 2015/01/19, thus the spectrum examined were 2412-2462MHz, Band2 (5250-5350MHz), and Band4 (5725-5850MHz).
After our investigation, Band 4 (5725-5850MHz) only extends to channel 165, that means channel 169 is not available. You can check the sheets here: https://www.fcc.gov/oet/ea/presentations/files/may17/31-Part-15-Panel-UNII-UpdatesDT.pdf
Since RT-AC68U were certified in Taiwan for Band 2 and Band 4 only, we'll have to redo DFS certification for Band 2 in order to also support Band 1.
However, considered our marketing strategy, we currently have no plan supporting DFS bands in Taiwan. Therefore, I'm afraid that Band 1 cannot be supported, either.
The policy of not-selectable region settings were to prevent users changing their region setting to other countries with more RF signal strength tolerance, effectively circumventing local legal limitations. In the end it's mainly safety concerns.
Thank you for your understanding.
I'd like to thank you for your support for Asus products, and thank you for your inquiry / mail.
===
Although their stance does not change, I feel the need to share it for further references as it came directly from Asus router RD team.
