WiFi Laws ? info wanted.

SBSP · Post by **SBSP** » 03 Apr 2008, 15:34

Is it against the law to put an omni antenna that will cover lets say 20Km
In a residential area ?

As is, with no illegal boosters and all that ?

Where can i get the rules on this ?
Edit: sorry and profit out of it ?

Nuke · Post by **Nuke** » 03 Apr 2008, 15:39

I don't care about the laws, but please, stay away from omni's.

SBSP · Post by **SBSP** » 03 Apr 2008, 15:45

Okay Any type of antenna its not about the antenna its about the law.

Is it allowed or not. Even if SID broadcasting is turned off

these guys cover a big area
But they are non profit.

UrBaN · Post by **UrBaN** » 03 Apr 2008, 16:06

Have no idea what the regs are when it comes to wi-fi, but I do know that you may not broadcast a radio signal across a road (unless you acquire the correct licenses etc.)

SBSP · Post by **SBSP** » 03 Apr 2008, 16:10

I think Wifi is classified as radio

UrBaN · Post by **UrBaN** » 03 Apr 2008, 16:14

Oki, well those are the regs as far as I know. Tell you what, PM me with exactly what u need, infowise, and I'll help you out..

Furion · Post by **Furion** » 03 Apr 2008, 16:14

Yes it would be. Bluetooth and wifi are classified as low power radio devices and we need to comply with the by laws. But does anyone actually do so?

UrBaN · Post by **UrBaN** » 03 Apr 2008, 16:18

I think whether others do so or not is irrelevant. There are pretty steep penalties on that sort of thing.

Furion · Post by **Furion** » 03 Apr 2008, 16:51

Quite frankly i didn't know penalties existed. So at most you're going to get a talking to? Provided they actually care enough to find out

Website · Post by **hamin_aus** » 03 Apr 2008, 16:55

Furion wrote:So at most you're going to get a talking to?

Naught.
Asset forfeiture.
If they find you broadcasting illegally they come and take away your equipment. And they do check.

They did that to one of our towers near Sandton. We had to pay a fine and apply for a proper license to get it back. The whole rigmarole took months and cost us $$$

Unfortunately I don't work for our comms dept, so I don't know the full story or what the regulations are.

UrBaN · Post by **UrBaN** » 03 Apr 2008, 17:04

I work for an industrial communications company dealing in EXACTLY this sort of thing...as I said, PM me and I'll help.

LordRage · Post by **LordRage** » 03 Apr 2008, 17:41

I really do not know anything about the topic, but a quick google yielded this:

http://www.fmfi.org.za/wiki/index.php/P ... nvironment

It might be a good start. The next thing you can try is ask at http://mybroadband.co.za/vb/forumdisplay.php?f=98 as there are people there with extensive knowledge on the subject.

I hope you find the info you need.

Furion · Post by **Furion** » 03 Apr 2008, 17:55

@ lordrage. Your sig is awesome.

so at least there are few things in our country that still work well.

the watchdog is awake

LordRage · Post by **LordRage** » 03 Apr 2008, 18:05

@ Furion, I wish I could take credit for it, but thanks all the same

Synthesis · Post by **Synthesis** » 03 Apr 2008, 18:17

sorry I saw this a bit late.

In short the law says, you may not profit from transferring data wirelessly across public roads.

Furion · Post by **Furion** » 03 Apr 2008, 18:31

How would they actually check? What is the process they follow? Im curious

StarBound · Post by **StarBound** » 03 Apr 2008, 18:53

Sadly I am also not on top of whats allowed or not allowed. All I know is if it works, it works and thats what I want. If someone complains then change it untill it works again.

Synthesis · Post by **Synthesis** » 03 Apr 2008, 19:03

Furion wrote:How would they actually check? What is the process they follow? Im curious

I was involved with a company was visited by such people and had equipment confiscated. They are usually tipped off by the public (maybe an unhappy employee who you fired) then they drive around your area with equipment enabling them to see basically a "map" of the wireless networks. They talk to people in that area to get more info etc etc. typical investigative work really. Until they have enough to pay you a visit. The first time you see them is the last time you see your equipment.

UrBaN · Post by **UrBaN** » 03 Apr 2008, 19:08

It's called an RF Spectrum analyser/analyzer. And synthesis is correct, they're like the MIB. They come, flashy thing you and then you forget you ever had any cool equipment

Synthesis · Post by **Synthesis** » 03 Apr 2008, 19:14

and they're not nice about it. The guys I had an experience with weren't too clued up. There were like so many AP's and routers in the server room. They took the wronf stuff, lol. They don't care what's plugged in where, what looks good to them they take. They took one router out of like 3 and 2x 24port switches so its was 5 minutes after they left it took to reroute and resetup up the network again.

Furion · Post by **Furion** » 04 Apr 2008, 00:28

Lol! I must say this is all very intriguing.

SBSP · Post by **SBSP** » 04 Apr 2008, 08:02

Sounds illegal.

Lets say you have a Wifi Network.

People dont pay for it but you pay for services carried by the Wifi Signal.

Like selling liqueur with out a license instead you sell a small bag of toffees for R60 and get a free bottle of mampoer

SBSP · Post by **SBSP** » 04 Apr 2008, 16:02

Kwl

Found some official stuff.

Electronic Communications Act, 2005
www.info.gov.za/gazette/acts/2005/a36-05.pdf