I've got a WRT32X but as you may know these have the country/channels etc locked in the hardware. Which wouldn't be a problem normally except for all devices sold in Europe have the same limits no matter the actual countries legal limits. On certain 5Ghz channels I can only use 20mW tx power max, yet the actual allowed power for these channels is 200mW in my country
I'd like to change to the WRT32X for something else but how would I know if any device I buy is going to be crippled in the same way?
Is there anything in the ToH that would help me choose or particular manufacturers that are worth investigating?
Marvell wifi is very limited, anything mediatek or qualcomm will do 200mW , in case of ETSI typical/fixed antenna will be retracted from watts to maintain legal radiation level.
In this particular instance, it is the hardware locked to a regulatory limit. Apparently all WRT32X for any country within europe were made to comply with the ETSI european regulations. The driver reports the country as FR (France). The limit in the US is higher and I'm pretty sure the US version probably only differs in it's power supply.
I'm quite happy to obey both hardware and regulatory limits, and in this case it's a known case where Linksys imposed the regulatory limit in hardware.
I think I may keep the WRT32X, even at 20mW it is good for the First floor in my home and it can handle all the other duties like VPN.
I'll probably get another access point for downstairs, It sounds like most other devices won't be so much of a problem but I'll guess I'll have to do a bit of digging through manufacturer documention before I commit on anything.