Unlicensed National Information Infrastructure

The Unlicensed National Information Infrastructure (U-NII)[1][2] radio band, as defined by the United States Federal Communications Commission, is part of the radio frequency spectrum used by WLAN devices and by many wireless ISPs.

As of March 2021, U-NII consists of eight ranges. U-NII 1 through 4 are for 5 GHz WLAN (802.11a and newer), and 5 through 8 are for 6 GHz WLAN (802.11ax) use. U-NII 2 is further divided into three subsections.

U-NII bands and FCC regs
Name Aliases Freq. Range (GHz) Bandwidth (MHz) Max Power (mW) Max EIRP (mW)
U-NII-1 U-NII Low / U-NII Indoor 5.150–5.250 100 50 200
U-NII-2A U-NII Mid 5.250–5.350 100 250 1,000
U-NII-2B 5.350–5.470 120 — —
U-NII-2C U-NII Worldwide / U-NII-2-Extended / U-NII-2e 5.470–5.725 255 250 1,000
U-NII-3 U-NII Upper 5.725-5.850 125 1,000 4,000
U-NII-4 DSRC/ITS 5.850–5.925 75 — —
U-NII-5 5.925–6.425 500 — —
U-NII-6 6.425–6.525 100 — —
U-NII-7 6.525–6.875 350 — —
U-NII-8 6.875–7.125 250 — —

Wireless ISPs generally use 5.725–5.825 GHz.
In the USA licensed amateur radio operators are authorized 5.650–5.925 GHz by Part 97.303 of the FCC rules.

U-NII power limits are defined by the United States CFR Title 47 (Telecommunication), Part 15 - Radio Frequency Devices, Subpart E - Unlicensed National Information Infrastructure Devices, Paragraph 15.407 - General technical requirements.

Many other countries use similar bands for Wireless communication due to a shared IEEE standard. However, regulatory use in individual countries may differ.

The defunct European HiperLAN standard operates in same frequency band as the U-NII.

5 GHz (802.11a/h/j/n/ac/ax)

Except where noted, all information taken from Annex J of IEEE 802.11-2007 modified by amendments k, y and n. Because countries set their own regulations regarding specific uses and maximum power levels within these frequency ranges, it is recommended that local authorities are consulted as regulations may change at any time.

It operates over four ranges:

  • U-NII Low (U-NII-1[3]): 5.150–5.250 GHz. Originally limited to indoor use only. Regulations required use of an integrated antenna, with power limited to 50 mW.[4] Rules changed in 2014 to permit outdoor operation, maximum fixed power 1 watt, maximum fixed EIRP 4 watts (+36 dBm) point-to-multipoint, 200 watts (+53 dBm) point-to-point. [3] However, strict out-of-band emission rules limit practical point-to-point power to lower levels.
  • U-NII Mid (U-NII-2A[3]): 5.250–5.350 GHz. Both outdoor and indoor use, subject to Dynamic Frequency Selection (DFS, or radar avoidance). Regulations allow for a user-installable antenna.[5] Power limited to 250 mW.[4]
  • U-NII-2B: 5.350–5.470 GHz. Currently 120 MHz of spectrum not allocated by the FCC for unlicensed use.
  • U-NII Worldwide (U-NII-2C / U-NII-2e): 5.470–5.725 GHz. Both outdoor and indoor use, subject to Dynamic Frequency Selection (DFS, or radar avoidance).[5] Power limited to 250 mW.[4] This spectrum was added by the FCC in 2003 to "align the frequency bands used by U-NII devices in the United States with bands in other parts of the world".[5] The FCC currently has an interim limitation on operations on channels which overlap the 5600–5650 MHz band.[6]
  • U-NII Upper (U-NII-3[7]): 5.725–5.850 GHz. Sometimes referred to as U-NII / ISM due to overlap with the ISM band. Regulations allow for a user-installable antenna. Power limited to 1W in the United States[4] and 25mW in European Union.[8]
  • DSRC/ITS (U-NII-4[9]): 5.850–5.925 GHz. At present U-NII-4 spectrum is being considered by the FCC for unlicensed use. U-NII-4 is presently only usable for Dedicated Short Range Communications Service (DSRC) and licensed amateur radio operators.

In 2007, the FCC began requiring that devices operating in channels 52, 56, 60 and 64 must have Dynamic Frequency Selection (DFS) capabilities. This is to avoid communicating in the same frequency range as some radar. In 2014, the FCC issued new rules[10] for all devices due to interference with government weather radar systems. Fines and equipment seizure were listed as punishment for non-compliance.

Band Channel Frequency
(MHz) 		United States Europe Japan Singapore China Israel Korea Turkey India United Kingdom
40/20 MHz[11] 40/20 MHz 40/20 MHz[12] 10 MHz 20 MHz 20 MHz 20 MHz[13] 20 MHz[14] 20 MHz 40/20 MHz 5/10 MHz[15] 80/40/20 MHz[16]
183 4915 No No No Yes No No No No No No Yes No
184 4920 No No Yes Yes No No No No No Yes Yes No
185 4925 No No No Yes No No No No No No Yes No
187 4935 No No No Yes No No No No No No Yes No
188 4940 No No Yes Yes No No No No No Yes Yes No
189 4945 No No No Yes No No No No No No Yes No
192 4960 No No Yes No No No No No No Yes Yes No
196 4980 No No Yes No No No No No No Yes Yes No
7 5035 No No No Yes No No No No No No No No
8 5040 No No No Yes No No No No No No No No
9 5045 No No No Yes No No No No No No No No
11 5055 No No No Yes No No No No No No No No
12 5060 No No No No No No No No No No No No
16 5080 No No No No No No No No No No No No
U-NII-1 34 5170 No No No No No No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No
36 5180 Yes Yes Yes No Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
38 5190 No No No No No No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No
40 5200 Yes Yes Yes No Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
42 5210 No No No No No No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No
44 5220 Yes Yes Yes No Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
46 5230 No No No No No No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No
48 5240 Yes Yes Yes No No No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
U-NII-2A 52 5260 Yes Yes Yes No No No Yes No No No No Yes
56 5280 Yes Yes Yes No No No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
60 5300 Yes Yes Yes No No No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
64 5320 Yes Yes Yes No No No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
U-NII-2B 5350–5470 No Un­known No
U-NII-2C 100 5500 Yes[17] Yes Yes No No No No Yes No Yes Yes Yes
104 5520 Yes[17] Yes Yes No No No No Yes No Yes Yes Yes
108 5540 Yes[17] Yes Yes No No No No Yes No Yes Yes Yes
112 5560 Yes[17] Yes Yes No No No No Yes No Yes Yes Yes
116 5580 Yes[17] Yes Yes No No No No Yes No Yes Yes Yes
120 5600 No[18] Yes Yes No No No No Yes No Yes Yes Yes
124 5620 No Yes Yes No No No No Yes No Yes Yes Yes
128 5640 No Yes Yes No No No No Yes No Yes Yes Yes
132 5660 Yes[17] Yes Yes No No No No No No No Yes Yes
136 5680 Yes[17] Yes Yes No No No No No No Yes Yes Yes
140 5700 Yes[17] Yes Yes No No No No No No No Yes Yes
U-NII-3 149 5745 Yes Yes[8] No No Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
153 5765 Yes Yes[8] No No Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
157 5785 Yes Yes[8] No No Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
161 5805 Yes Yes[8] No No Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
165 5825 Yes Yes[8] No No Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
U-NII-4[19] 169 5845 No Un­known No Yes No
173 5865 No Un­known No Yes No
177 5885 No Un­known No Yes No
181 5905 No Un­known No Yes No
185 5925
(proposed expansion)		 No Un­known No Yes No
Band Channel Frequency
(MHz) 		40/20 MHz 40/20 MHz 40/20 MHz 10 MHz 20 MHz 20 MHz 20 MHz 20 MHz 20 MHz 40/20 MHz 5/10 MHz 80/40/20 MHz
United States Europe Japan Singapore China Israel Korea Turkey India United Kingdom

See also

References

  1. ^ "15.07.2005, Heise: 5 GHz WLAN to be available all over Europe" www.heise.de Archived 2005-08-07 at the Wayback Machine
  2. ^ ""Cisco: Glossary" www.cisco.com".
  3. ^ a b ""Dynamic Frequency Selection for 5 GHz WLAN in the US and Canada" www.cisco.com".
  4. ^ a b c d "FCC 15.407 as of October 1, 2014 - hallikainen.com". www.hallikainen.com.
  5. ^ a b c "FCC-03-287A1.doc" (PDF).
  6. ^ ""15E, Dynamic Frequency Selection, DFS, DFS Approval" fcc.gov".
  7. ^ "What's New With Unlicensed National Information Infrastructure (U-NII)" (PDF).
  8. ^ a b c d e f "Tableau national de répartition des bandes de fréquences" (PDF). EU/ANFR. January 10, 2019.
  9. ^ "Driving Wi-Fi Ahead: the Upper 5 GHz Band". 23 February 2015.
  10. ^ "5 GHz Unlicensed Spectrum (UNII)". 12 December 2015.
  11. ^ FCC 15.407 as of August 8, 2008 – hallikainen.com Archived July 24, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
  12. ^ "802.11-2007 Japan MIC Released the new 5 GHz band (W56)" (PDF). Bureau Veritas — ADT. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2007-07-10. Retrieved 2008-02-23.
  13. ^ Israel: צו הטלגרף האלחוטי (אי תחולת הפקודה) (מס' 2), התשס"ו – 2005 (PDF) (in Hebrew).
  14. ^ Korea Frequency Distribution Table 2008.12.31 (in Korean)
  15. ^ [1] India frequency allocation table
  16. ^ [2] Ofcom Decision to make Wireless Telegraphy Exemption Regulations 2017
  17. ^ a b c d e f g h "Publication Number: 443999 Rule Parts: 15E". FCC. October 5, 2009. Devices must be professionally installed when operating in the 5470 – 5725 MHz band
  18. ^ "Elimination of interference to Terminal Doppler Weather Radar" (PDF). FCC. July 27, 2010.
  19. ^ "(see page 9) Sharing the 5.9 GHz Band Between Unlicensed Devices and DSRC" (PDF).