1.3 Describe wireless regulatory bodies, standards, and certifications

FCC

The FCC is the regulatory body that exists in the United States and several other countries in the Americas. The FCC regulates RF frequencies, channels, and transmission power. The FCC has designated two frequency bands to be used for wireless networks, frequencies lie in the the 2.4Ghz and 5GHz bands.

ISM: 2.4–2.5-GHz
U-NII-1 (Band 1): 5.15 to 5.25 GHz
U-NII-2 (Band 2): 5.25 to 5.35 GHz
U-NII-2 Extended (Band 3): 5.47 to 5.725 GHz
U-NII-3 (Band 4): 5.725 to 5.825 GHz (also allocated as ISM)

ETSI

The European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) is the European equivalent to the FCC.
Other countries have different regulatory bodies.

The bands allocated by ETSI are similar to the bands allocated by FCC however U-NII-3 is not available as it is a licenced spectrum.

IEEE

The Institute of Electric and Electronic Engineers maintains the industry standards that are used for wireless LANs, among many others.

The most relevant IEE defined protocols in relation to wireless is 802.11 (Wireless LANs) and 802.15 (Personal area networks such as Bluetooth and Zigbee).

A thorough understanding of 802.3 (Ethernet) is also required.

WiFi Alliance

The Wi-Fi Alliance is a nonprofit industry association made up of wireless manufacturers around the world, all devoted to promoting wireless use. The WiFi Alliance provides a number of certification programs through which vendors of WiFi devices (Access Point and end user devices) can ensure their devices are compatible.