Mesh Wifi - Would Google Wifi work for me?

sbi85g

Hey all.

I am checking mesh solutions for our (new) home BUT in Hungary.
I've been checking up on Google Wifi and since I am in the UK frequently it would be easy to get one. (Google doesn't sell it in Hungary). Many reviews consider it a top3 option for residential mesh provider.
I like the solution but you can read such things as:
Note: We strongly recommend purchasing Google Wifi from the country where you'll be using it. Since wireless regulations vary by country, you may experience compatibility issues if you move your Wifi device(s) to a different country and Google will be unable to offer support. If you're setting up a mesh network, we recommend purchasing all of your Wifi points in the same country.

Further reading revealed that:
Meshed range extenders like Google Wifi would work in any country, but one should compare the frequency range against a list of WLAN channels permitted in their country, and check that the emitted isotropic radiated power (EIRP) of any Wi-Fi equipment does not exceed local restrictions.

Right now I have no clue how to do this.
The info I've found so far is a bit confusing. In most places it looks like wireless regulations are the same in the EU, and Europe is usually bunched up together: List of WLAN channels - Wikipedia

So I am not 100% sure now if Google Wifi would work or not. Anyone have any experience in this?
Or have any pointers where I can look up additional information?

Much appreciated!

mickevh

It is not so much a matter of whether it will "work" but whether it will be legal.

Way back when, some nations had greater restrictions on radio channels that were allowed to be used and which were not and some states had different restrictions on maximum transmit power. For example, the USA is allowed greater transmit power than the EU.

It used to be the case that a lot of Wi-Fi equipment had a setting in it where you told it which country it was operating in (and whether you were using it indoors or outdoors) and based on that it would set up the appropriate maximum transmit power and channel restrictions.

One would observe that such things can and do change over time - there has been a lot of effort on the part of nation states and the Wi-Fi standards bodies to try and harmonise everything worldwide, though we are not there yet.

IIRC, in the case of Hungary, as a member of the EU, the channel usage and transmit power are common across all member states so I doubt it will be a big deal, but to be sure one would want to check with the relevant regulator.