According to FCC guidlines, for a 900Mhz AP you are only allowed to set the output power to 24dB (24dB output plus 12dbi gain = 36 EIRP).
If we are using the 900Mhz APs with integrated filters though, is there a signal loss due to using the filter that allows us to set the output power to 25 or even 26 legally?
if you are using a connectorized version you can account for a 1-1.5 db loss from where it is connectorized on the board. which you could turn up the power to 25 or 26 and not have to worry about being outside fcc guidelines
What if I’m using the integrated filtered AP though? Does that filter allow me to raise the output power level to 25 or 26?
yes you can have them at 26 db, the APF have enough loss to make up for it, the firmware was changed from 28 to 26 a while back to comply with FCC
we’ve got 60 or so 900 APs set to 26