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Replying to:
Re: FCC-13-21xx - New Signal Booster Regulations
mbeckman
Enthusiast - Level 1

The reason the ruling does not, and cannot, apply to 802.11 WiFi is that these 2.4 and 5 GHz spectra are unlicensed.  By definition this means the FCC can't prohibit use to an arbitrary class of citizens (e.g. private persons vs cell providers). The FCC would have to change WiFi frequencies from unlicensed to licensed. Even the FCC can't do that unilaterally.

Cellular specta, however, are licensed. The advent of so-called micro-cell repeaters and signal boosters skirted the licensing rules, and the makers of these devices failed to deliver reliable, interference-free products. When these crappo devices interfered, they interfered catastrophically.

For two years I was a victim of this kind of cellular techno-rape. A neighbor bought one of these slipshod boosters and the cellphones of my entered family immediately became useless at home.  I'm an RF network engineer, and with a spectrum analyzer I was able to prove the neighbor's gear was blocking my cellular access. I appealed to my neighbor, the FCC, the cellular carrier, and the repeater manufacturer. They all ignored me, saying its just tough for me.

The neighbor moved, fortunately, and now I have cellular access again.

This new FCC move is a sensible one, a response to numerous reports of interference by these shoddy, low-budget devices designed by get-rich-quick con artists rather than competent engineers.

This, at least, levels the playing field.