Importing 5 GHz outdoor bridges labelled only with an FCC ID
A Canadian online retailer has ordered 350 outdoor 5 GHz point-to-point bridges for sale to rural internet providers. The units arrive marked only with an FCC ID and a CE mark; the packaging shows no Canadian certification number. The 23 dBi dish antenna ships in a separate carton and the brochure states that professional installation is required. The external power supply is a third-party unit marked CE only. The supplier says the product is 'already certified in the United States, which covers Canada' and offers to email a US test report. The retailer's first customer has already mounted two links on a 20 m tower and reports that one end drops its link every evening around sunset. The retailer wants to ship the remaining units this week and asks what, if anything, must be done before the products can legally be sold or leased in Canada, and what to tell the customer.
1. Can the retailer sell or lease these units as received? Set out the verification steps.
Read the worked answer
No. Radio apparatus must be certified for Canada before it is sold, leased, offered for sale or imported for use, and must be labelled with the Canadian certification number (format IC: NNNN-YYYYYYYY). An FCC ID is not transferable: the United States and Canada are separate regulatory regimes with their own standards, band-edge and DFS rules, labelling and RF-exposure requirements.
Steps before shipping:
- Obtain the Canadian certificate and test report from the supplier, showing the exact model, hardware revision, firmware and antenna configuration.
- Confirm the report cites the correct Canadian standards for 5 GHz licence-exempt operation and for RF exposure.
- Confirm the certification number, label artwork and placement, and the required user information.
- Confirm qualification by an ISED-recognised certification body, or under a mutual recognition arrangement, and that the certificate is still valid.
- Verify the 23 dBi dish appears in the certified antenna list.
- Hold the shipment until all of this is in hand; selling uncertified apparatus is an offence and units can be ordered off the market.
2. The dish is detachable and the brochure says professional installation is required. What must the retailer check and pass on?
Read the worked answer
Certification is granted for a defined combination of transmitter, maximum output power and antenna type and gain. A detachable antenna is therefore a compliance variable, not an accessory.
Check:
- Is the 23 dBi dish listed in the certified antenna list? If yes, the certification covers it at the stated power.
- If it is not listed, the options are a permissive change or new certification, or use of a listed antenna with a compensating reduction in conducted power so that EIRP stays within the approved value.
- Detachable-antenna licence-exempt devices normally require a unique connector or a professional-installation condition, which must be stated in the instructions.
Pass on to the installer: the approved antenna list; maximum permitted conducted power and EIRP; the minimum separation distance from the antenna derived from the RF-exposure assessment; the requirement that outdoor use avoid bands restricted to indoor operation; and the fact that DFS/TPC behaviour must not be disabled. Installation instructions in the required Canadian language(s) should accompany the product.
3. The customer reports an evening link drop at one end. How should the retailer respond, and what records matter?
Read the worked answer
An evening-only failure on a 5 GHz outdoor link is a classic sign of a radar-detection event: if the unit operates in a band where dynamic frequency selection applies, it must vacate the channel when radar is detected and select another, which can drop the link or force a re-scan. Other candidates are temperature-related drift, condensation in the radio head, or a marginal path whose fade margin is eaten by evening multipath.
Response: ask the customer to capture the unit's event and channel-change logs, note the exact time of failure, confirm which frequency band and channel width are configured, and confirm firmware is the approved version. If the link is being forced onto a channel or has DFS disabled, that is both a symptom and a compliance failure. Check that the antenna is one of the certified types and that output power matches the approved value.
Records: the certificate, test reports, antenna list, label artwork, firmware versions shipped, and the installation instructions supplied. These are the evidence that the retailer exercised due diligence and are what a certification body or enforcement officer will ask for if a complaint arises.