How to Disable 802.11d Flag on Motorola/Symbol Handhelds

Posted June 10, 2009
Filed under: Troubleshooting, WLAN Vendors | Tags: 802.11d, how-to, Motorola/Symbol handheld scanners |

I recently had a customer that wanted to disable the 802.11d flag (setting) on their Motorola/Symbol handheld scanners. Even when my customer disabled that setting manually, it came back upon reboot. Apparently they were using Wavelink’s Avalanche system to centrally manage the scanners, which would download a fresh configuration each time it was powered up (including re-setting the 802.11d flag).

In this post, I will explain the research I conducted as well as two possible solutions. First, here is a little background on 802.11d taken from Wikipedia:

802.11d, is an amendment to the IEEE 802.11 specification that adds support for “additional regulatory domains”. This support includes the addition of a country information element to beacons, probe requests, and probe responses. The country information elements simplifies the creation of 802.11 wireless access points and client devices that meet the different regulations enforced in various parts of the world.

The current 802.11 standard defines operation in only a few regulatory domains (countries). This supplement adds the requirements and definitions necessary to allow 802.11 WLAN equipment to operate in markets not served by the current standard. Enable the 802.11d feature/option if you are operating in one of these “additional regulatory domains”.

At any rate, I ran the issue with the 802.11d flag to ground. These are the steps I took:

I found the 802.11d flag is a radio level setting specific to the handheld device – in this case, the Symbol/Motorola scanners.

Therefore, I tried to figure out if we could disable the 802.11d through Wavelink’s Avalanche tool. I found the following Q&A on their support forum (and called into their tech support this morning to verify):

Q: Can you disable the 802.11d radio file through The AMC product?
A: No. This is a symbol radio file and we do not have the tools in our mobility center to disable specific radio files. These need to be disabled manually.

Then, I tried to figure out if there was a way to disable the setting centrally from Motorola. I believe you can do this through Motorola’s MSP (Mobility Services Platform). For reference, here are instructions to disable 802.11d through MSP: http://support.symbol.com/support/search.do?cmd=displayKC&docType=kc&externalId=11407&sliceId=SAL_Public&dialogID=107746501&stateId=1%200%20107736747

Therefore, we had to disable the 802.11d setting in each device manually and keep it disabled through a cold boot.

Here are the steps on how to accomplish that :

1. Tap the Fusion icon (blue radio card icon) located on the lower
right hand corner of the display. Or Start\Programs Fusion WCLAUNCH
2. From the menu, select Options.
3. Tap the drop down arrow and select Regulatory.
4. Configure your regulatory settings and tap Save. (Uncheck the
802.11d)
5. Tap the drop down arrow and select Export.
6. Tap the Export Options button to name the .reg file you will be
exporting. (Leave the default Name)
7. Make sure the location selected is the Application directory.
8. Tap Save. An Options Exported message will appear.
9. Tap OK.

5 comments so far

Keith Parsons on June 10, 2009

Thanks for documenting this online. I don’t have a need for it right now… but will bookmark this for further reference.

Thanks!
MDC on June 18, 2009

Thank you very much for this post. I have a question or three though…

I have this same issue, and Symbol/Moto is not being very friendly with me about getting the data I need out of registry to keep the disablement permanent.

What are you considering the applications directory?

I am trying to develop on a PDA that prints. I am using WinCE 5 and an LA 5127-1020-WWR. I make the change through options, and even with a forced cold boot, the settings stays resident. Only when the device’s backup battery fails do I revert back to enabled. This is why I’m interested in your registry export.

Again, Motorola is not helpful here, so I’m trying to find out whatever workaround I can to keep this persistent or force the device to rebuild the registry to the disabled version.

Please note that I am very new at developing anything for CE, and appreciate any assistance you can provide.
MDC on June 22, 2009

I’m providing an edit to my own post…

I just found out that there is a bug in the existing driver that is preventing this from working correctly. There are some issues where the dialog box that shows 802.11d is disabled, when it is not, and other related issues.

When using the new driver, I am better off, but I have Avalanche issues since they do not play well together. It has now come to my attention that the drivers developed for the radio card when used in Symbol devices are developed in-house. The OEM drivers are developed in India, and supported the same through Symbol/Motorola.

Thanks again for your post, as it gave me the boost I needed.
TSP on August 21, 2009

I am able to do as i wish w/regards to changing any of the radio options (WCS) usin the AMC product. I currently disable 802.11d
Vivek on May 17, 2012

I am using OpenNETCF to find wireless adapters on Motorola MC-75 device, but it do not show me any wireless adpaters. When i use “Wireless Companion” to search the wifi it does show all wifi.

I have unchecked the 802.11d and choose Motorola JEDI WIFI Driver. Does Motorola JEDI WIFI is WZC compatible? But same code is working on other HTC windows device.

Please suggest.

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