Unable to Use High DFS Channels on Cisco C9115AXE AP with IOS-XE 17.15

[MIKI.H]

Hello,

I am facing an issue with a Cisco C9115AXE access point connected to a 9800 WLC running IOS-XE 17.15.3. Despite the AP and firmware supporting DFS channels, I am unable to use the higher DFS channels (100, 104, 108, 112, 116, 120, 124, 128, 132, 136, 140). The AP does not enable these channels and only operates on lower DFS channels.

The country and regulatory domain settings are correctly set for Israel.

Please assist.

Thank you.

[Jens Albrecht]

Hello @MIKI.H,

what is the output on your WLC of the following command:

show wireless country channels

It shows the configured country and which channels are allowed or not.
Does it show the DFS channels as legal (*) or illegal (.) or another code?

If they are shown as illegal, you need to open a TAC case and check why Cisco considers them to be illegal even though the regulations in Israel do allow them.

HTH!

[MIKI.H]

Thanks, I ran the command and attached the output.
It shows that channels 100–140 are marked as legal (* or A), but in practice my C9115AXE AP never operates on them.
I’m running IOS-XE 17.15.3 on the WLC and AP.
Do you have any idea why these channels are not being used despite being listed as allowed?

---

[Saikat Nandy]

can you share 'show tech wireless' from WLC please.

[MIKI.H]

Hi,

Yes sure.

[Mark Elsen]

  - @MIKI.H   You can also feed the output from show tech wireless.txt into Wireless Config Analyzer
                     to get useful advisories concerning the 9800 WLC configuration

  M.

[Saikat Nandy · Accepted solution]

Thanks for sharing the log - I just wanted to validate the DCA config, which seems to be okay.
The issue is here with the AP model and and fixed hardcoded regulatory domain 'I'. If you look into the compliance tool you will see Israel is listed with different regulatory domains. C9115AXE is part of RD 'I'.

Now have a look into Channel & Max Power guide for 9115AXE and scroll through the tab 5Ghz-I and look into the column E-Total Pwr. You will see power is allocated for UNI-I and UNI-II channels. However for UNI-II Ext and UNI-III, the power is invalid - 99. That says why you are not able to assign any channels from 100-144. 

Now your next question might be can it be solved.. the answer is No. You can try few other latest AP models including 916*, 9124 and I believe those should allow you to allocate multiple channels. Hope this clarifies.

[MIKI.H]

Thanks for the clarification.

Just to confirm — is this limitation on the C9115AXE-I entirely hardware/SKU-based, or is there a possibility that a future IOS-XE update could address it?
I’ve heard unconfirmed information that Cisco might align the Israel regulatory domain with ETSI, which in theory would allow the higher channels, but I haven’t found any official documentation about this. Can you confirm if this is planned or possible?

[Saikat Nandy]

@MIKI.H .. apologies as I overlooked this thread and your question.
This limitation is HW/PID specific. Along with 9115, 9120AXE-I is also affected. What you heard is actually true - Israel has gone through RD change and recertification in early '22. So the AP models which were released prior to that time are mostly gonna see this limitation. 
As conveyed before, if you test any latest AP models like 916x or any WIFI7 APs, you should not see this limitation.

[MIKI.H]

@Saikat Nandy... I would appreciate it.

Could you please share any official Cisco documentation or a web link that confirms this? I need to present it to my customer and their manager in order to explain why this approach will not work. I have looked for relevant information but have not been able to find anything conclusive.

Thank you,

[Leo Laohoo]

Refer to this:  Unlicensed National Information Infrastructure

Under "Israel", channels UNII-2C (Channels 100 to 140) and UNII-3 (Channels 149 to 165) are not allowed.  If the UNII-1 and UNII-2 channels are not enough, then I suggest using 20 Mhz channel bond.  

For more local information, reach out to the Cisco Wireless PSS in Israel and they will be able to provide "in depth" information about regulatory restrictions in the country.

[Saikat Nandy]

Unfortunately there is no direct doc available which talks about this. The best doc is the channel and max power guide (the excel one) which you can refer and present to your management.