Special 802.11 Wireless Channels

This is a pretty advanced question, but hopefully someone has some guidance.

In the 802.11 standard there are 14 channels, 1-14 respectively. In the US, only 1-11 is licensed for use. In the EU, only 1-13 is licensed for use. And in some other countries, notably Japan that comes to mind right now, all 14 are licensed for use. On my Inspiron 1420 with 4965AGN on Vista Business, I can only see networks within 1-11 and not anything 12-14. How do I enable being able to connect to these networks?

Thanks.

 

Where are you located at to need the upper channels?

Don't know about Vista, but xp was advanced port properties on some cards.

 

I'm currently at uni where I'm in range of 8 AP's and can't even get a decent signal from mine. So I was wanting to use the lesser used channels 12-14 (preferably, obviously - 14) but when I set my AP to Channel 14, my computer just can't see it...

 

If it's not in the Port properties, may look at changing the location under the Regional and Language Options. I know on cd/dvd you have a max number of times you can change them before their fixed. May check to see if there is a firmware upgrade for your card.

 

You may actually need the Japan card to do that. There are different drivers for the japan card vs the american card too i believe.

 

I tried checking on different countries intel.com download center, but everytime it goes to the a "worldwide download center."

So I can't just get a different driver

I was thinking it might have something to do with something in the registry...but idk...

 

I don't think it's worth it to use them. It is considered illegal by the FCC, and if they catch you they can fine you up to $5000 per day of noted use.

If you want to do it though, find the Japanese drivers (Or European drivers), and try changing your location settings. You might be 12 hours behind though.

 

Who ever said I was in USA?

 

Canada has similar laws, but not sure about their fines.