Kobo sage 5Ghz - channel restrictions?

[ghira]

The Kobo Sage supports 5GHz wifi, but cannot see my access point currently running on channel 149.

Is there documentation about which 5GHz channels the Sage supports?

[Quoth]

Channels are geographically limited. Make sure your access point and Kobo agree on country.

Does it see your 5GHz on any other channel?

Note that if you are in a different room the 5GHz may not be visible or be slower than 2.4 GHz.

[DNSB]

My Sage will connect to my wireless access point on channel 149. OTOH, an acquaintance in the UK has a wireless router that does not show channels 149-165. Depending on which country your WiFi is configured for, you will find various channels not available (around here for example, 2.4GHz allows channels 1-11 with channels 12,13,14 not being available. Channels 12 and 13 are available in much of the rest of the world and I seem to remember that channel 14 was only used in Japan and only allows 802.11b connections.

A quick search came up with this list: What channels are supported in both the 2.4 GHz and 5GHz band in most countries?

[NiLuJe]

I'm not sure how Nickel decides which regulatory domain to use, but I'm assuming there's a geoip matching handled at some point of the signin/sync process, and/or based on your account's payment method.

It's stored in the config (`.kobo/Kobo/Kobo eReader.conf`) under `WifiRegulatoryDomain` in the `ApplicationPreferences` section, value is an ISO 2-letter country code (e.g., FR in my case).

And I can definitely access those funky weather radar bands this way . (With the usual caveat that scanning for them has to honor a delay or some such nonsense, making them an awful choice in practice ;p).

[Quoth]

In theory 2.4 GHz 12 & 13 is allowed here. But I've had gadgets & laptops that won't use them, so I do not have Router System on auto, but examine usage and pick a bunch (decent speed uses 3 channels and max speed uses the whole band which is normally not going to work due to other systems).

On 5GHz+ the 149, 153, 157, 161, 165 obviously can be an issue, so avoid them.

Edit
See also https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_WLAN_channels

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by NiLuJe

It's stored in the config (`.kobo/Kobo/Kobo eReader.conf`) under `WifiRegulatoryDomain` in the `ApplicationPreferences` section, value is an ISO 2-letter country code (e.g., FR in my case).

I don't see that entry in my Kobo eReader.conf. The usual North American arrogance.

[Quoth]

or it might be using

[ApplicationPreferences]
AIRPLANE_MODE=true
CurrentLocale=en

Which really means USA?

But I DO also have

WifiRegulatoryDomain=IE

under [ApplicationPreferences]
Though why The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland has GB* and Ireland has EI?

* Only Great Britain with Act of Union with Scotland from 1707 till 1801 as a Kingdom, prior to that it was merely a geographical region. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland existed 1801 to 1922. British Peoples excluded English but included Irish till 16th C. and Elisabeth I. John Dee's idea; it was in the sense of the British Isles and Brittany was Little Britain.
No-one asked the Welsh, Cornish, Scottish or Irish. The English Ruler just did it.

And UK has different WiFI rules to Ireland. Which is interesting if you live on the UK side of the British-Irish border. Many EU rules still apply in NI so as to keep the border open. Brexit is a mess.

[NiLuJe]

Originally Posted by DNSB

I don't see that entry in my Kobo eReader.conf. The usual North American arrogance.

I don't recall what the default behavior is when the driver isn't fed one (on either of the two chips I've had to deal with, e.g., the one found on the Sage/Elipsa, and the one on the Clara 2E), but it *might* just magically match the North-American restrictions (or at least the US ones?) ;p.

----

EDIT: Oh, yeah, definitely not based on the Nickel locale, as I also have my UI set to American English.

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by NiLuJe

I don't recall what the default behavior is when the driver isn't fed one (on either of the two chips I've had to deal with, e.g., the one found on the Sage/Elipsa, and the one on the Clara 2E), but it *might* just magically match the North-American restrictions (or at least the US ones?) ;p.

For whatever reason, Canada seems to move in lockstep with the USA on most standards. When living next door to an elephant...

[ghira]

Thanks all. I am in the UK and had already checked to see if I could configure the regulatory domain on my Kobo via "normal" means and couldn't see anything. The AP and the Kobo are about 2m apart in the same room so that's probably not it. I'll check the config file on the Kobo. The AP allows me to set the channel on 2.4 GHz but not on 5 GHz, which seems really odd. I am surprised whenever I see people using 120, 124 or 128 because they seem more trouble than they are worth.

I have used http://wifinigel.blogspot.com/2018/0...se-exempt.html as my source of 5 GHz info. I hope it is still currrent.

[ghira]

I have WifiRegulatoryDomain=GB which seems reasonable.

[Quoth]

Originally Posted by ghira

I have WifiRegulatoryDomain=GB which seems reasonable.

The 5.x GHz band 149, 153, 157, 161, 165 are prohibited in UK. So problem is the Router, not Kobo.

The Kobo Sage supports 5GHz wifi, but cannot see my access point currently running on channel 149.

[ghira]

Maybe I'm badly misreading http://wifinigel.blogspot.com/2018/0...se-exempt.html but it seems like 149 etc. are allowed in the UK. Sadly I don't seem to have control over this AP. Well, it was a temporary replacement while I do something about my sadly deceased wifi router. I think this time I'll have separate router and AP since those are really two jobs and if wifi changes but WAN does not I can keep the router.

[Quoth]

I looked at actual Ofcom. It seems they added permission for 5.x GHz band 149, 153, 157, 161, 165 in 2017 but this wasn't widely publicised. So Kobo may be using an older UK spec where 5.x GHz band 149, 153, 157, 161, 165 are prohibited.

Ofcom

VNS – Voluntary National Specification 2030/8/3
5.8 GHz Wireless Access Systems operating in
the 5725 – 5850 MHz band and systems where
channels overlap into the 5725 – 5730 MHz band
Publication date:Version:13 July 2017
Version 1.0

Maybe Kobo will update in a later firmware.
Or else change Kobo to
WifiRegulatoryDomain=IE
as Ireland seems to have always had 149, 153, 157, 161, 165.
Ofcom seem to have the same as Comreg (Irish regulator) since 2017 for WiFi. Not the same at all for Amateur Radio where the Irish allocations are much larger above 29.7 MHz. But the Kobo WiFi only uses 2.4 & 5.x GHz bands.
BT is only using 2.4 GHz WiFi Band.

So multiple Websites wrong about the UK. The only valid info is the regulator (Ofcom UK, FCC USA, Comreg Ireland etc). There is also ETSI in Europe (bigger than EU), but overridden by local laws.

UK Ofcom top level Spectrum Allocation

Top two docs on https://www.ofcom.org.uk/consultatio...gulations-2017

Edit:
I've not tested if 149 works on IE on Kobo. In fact I never use WiFi on the Kobo or Kindle models.

[ghira]

I'm pretty sure the wifinigel site does quote where it gets all its info. His white paper thing is my usual source of info on 5GHz wifi in the UK though I do have to wonder if anything has changed since he wrote it.

But in any case, yes, it seems like 149 ought to be possible.

I do see people using 120 to 128 though some manufacturers, possibly reasonably, don't offer them for use at all.