[PATCH] wireless-regdb: Add 6 GHz LPI rule for South Africa (ZA)

[Chen-Yu Tsai]

On Fri, Apr 10, 2026 at 5:09 PM Louis Kotze <loukot at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Thanks for the quick reply.
>
> Indoor is the right choice. The LPI rule at 23 dBm is the primary use
> case — indoor WiFi 6E/7 access points. The current VLP-only rule
> (14 dBm) breaks 6 GHz entirely for indoor setups because the
> regulatory mismatch with LPI access points causes repeated association
> failures.
>
> ICASA references EN 303 687, which restricts LPI to indoor use, so
> NO-OUTDOOR is required.
>
> Updated patch below — replaces the VLP rule rather than adding a
> second one.

Can you resend this as a separate patch, i.e. not as a reply to an
existing thread? Otherwise the tooling can't pick it out.

And don't include replies in the commit message.


Thanks
ChenYu

> Signed-off-by: Louis Kotze <connect at prolificstudio.co.za>
> ---
>  db.txt | 2 +-
>  1 file changed, 1 insertion(+), 1 deletion(-)
>
> diff --git a/db.txt b/db.txt
> index 343b256..778ac21 100644
> --- a/db.txt
> +++ b/db.txt
> @@ -2180,6 +2180,6 @@ country ZA: DFS-ETSI
>   (5170 - 5250 @ 80), (20), AUTO-BW
>   (5250 - 5330 @ 80), (20), DFS, AUTO-BW
>   (5490 - 5710 @ 160), (30)
> - (5925 - 6425 @ 320), (14)
> + (5925 - 6425 @ 320), (23), NO-OUTDOOR
>
>  country ZW: DFS-ETSI
>
>
> Regards
> Louis Kotze
>
> On Fri, Apr 10, 2026 at 9:26 AM Chen-Yu Tsai <wens at kernel.org> wrote:
> >
> > On Thu, Apr 9, 2026 at 7:34 PM Louis Kotze <loukot at gmail.com> wrote:
> > >
> > > Hi maintainers,
> > > Please have a look at the following request:
> > >
> > > ICASA (Independent Communications Authority of South Africa) published
> > > Notice 1822 of 2023 on 23 May 2023, amending Annexure B of the Radio
> > > Frequency Spectrum Regulations, 2015, to allow licence-exempt use of
> > > the lower 6 GHz band (5925-6425 MHz) for WAS/RLAN.
> > >
> > > The notice references the ETSI EN 303 687 standard and defines two
> > > device classes for 5925-6425 MHz:
> > >
> > >   1. Low Power Indoor (LPI)
> > >      - Max EIRP         : 23 dBm (200 mW)
> > >      - Restriction      : Indoor use only
> > >
> > >   2. Very Low Power (VLP)
> > >      - Max EIRP         : 14 dBm (25 mW)
> > >      - Restriction      : None
> > >
> > > Currently, the database only contains the VLP rule (14 dBm). Add the
> > > LPI rule (23 dBm, NO-OUTDOOR).
> > >
> > > Without the LPI rule, clients connecting to indoor access points
> > > advertising 6 GHz at LPI power levels experience repeated association
> > > failures due to regulatory mismatch ("regulatory prevented using AP
> > > config, downgraded"), which on MLO (Multi-Link Operation) setups
> > > causes the 6 GHz link to fail and disrupts the connection.
> >
> > Unfortunately we can only have one rule per band. So it's either allow
> > outdoor usage or better indoor performance.
> >
> > ChenYu
> >
> > > Reference:
> > >   ICASA Notice 1822 of 2023
> > >   Amendment to Annexure B, Radio Frequency Spectrum Regulations, 2015
> > >   URL: https://www.icasa.org.za/news/2023/icasa-releases-more-spectrum-for-wi-fi-services-in-the-lower-6ghz-band
> > > Signed-off-by: Louis Kotze <connect at prolificstudio.co.za>
> > > ---
> > >  db.txt | 1 +
> > >  1 file changed, 1 insertion(+)
> > >
> > > diff --git a/db.txt b/db.txt
> > > index 343b256..778ac21 100644
> > > --- a/db.txt
> > > +++ b/db.txt
> > > @@ -2180,6 +2180,7 @@ country ZA: DFS-ETSI
> > >   (5170 - 5250 @ 80), (20), AUTO-BW
> > >   (5250 - 5330 @ 80), (20), DFS, AUTO-BW
> > >   (5490 - 5710 @ 160), (30)
> > > + (5925 - 6425 @ 320), (23), NO-OUTDOOR
> > >   (5925 - 6425 @ 320), (14)
> > >
> > >  country ZW: DFS-ETSI
> > > --
> > >
> > >
> > > Thank you and Regards
> > > Louis Kotze