The FCC has raised transmit power limits and eased other restrictions for some channels in the 5 GHz band.
Among changes in the Unlicensed National Information Infrastructure (U-NII) Devices in the 5 GHz Band Report and Order are changes to FCC Part 15.407(a) that increase the maximum conducted output power for access points operating in the 5.15 – 5.25 GHz band (aka Channels 36 – 48) from 50 mW to 1 W.
APs using these frequencies are also now allowed to operate outdoors at these power levels.
The Report and Order (R&O) Summary published in the Federal Register states a June 2 effective date for the changes. The R&O itself was adopted on March 31, 2014 and released on April 1.
RevolutionWifi has an excellent analysis of the impact of all the 5 GHz band changes just made.
This change means that the ASUS routers we recently found exceeding conducted power limits in the lower 5 GHz channels no longer violate FCC conducted power rules for those channels.