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I want to make a application with my Raspberry Pi along with a XBee module. I am going to use it in public places and in my own home.

The question is, do I need a radio licence (UK) to use the XBee in my home and/or in public places? I want to know this before I even buy a XBee (won't be until later). When this is in public it will be a two-way communication between me and my friend.

Edit:

People complaniing that my friend is wrong and needs to do his test again don't need to any more. He didn't hear that I was talking about the zigbee/xbee he just thought it was transmitting data via FM radio waves. Sorry about the confusion.

Scott Earle
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iProgram
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3 Answers3

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If I am not wrong, XBee works at 2.4 GHz, which is a free band used worldwide. You do not need a license to use this frequency.

However, there are some other frequencies which need a license. I would still recommend you to search the country-specific frequencies free to use.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISM_band

Peter Mortensen
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Virendra Kumar
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According to Wikipedia (which is never wrong?), these devices implement IEEE 802.15.4, which defines among other things the frequencies upon which they operate.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IEEE_802.15.4

From that page, there are three radio bands those devices can use: 868-868.6MHz (Europe only), 902-928MHz (North America only) and 2400–2483.5MHz (Worldwide).

The IEEE 802.15.4 standard is licence-free.

As long as the device is not set to use the North America-only band, you should be good to go.

Do note that the 2400MHz band has quite a few other legitimate (also licence-free) users, such as IEEE 802.11 in various guises (WiFi), Bluetooth, and microwave ovens - in a 'noisy' environment you might want to try using the 868MHz band, if you have that option on your devices.

Scott Earle
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I'm not from the UK, but stumbled upon the following thread regarding the same issue you're asking about, so make sure to read it, might come in handy:

http://www.avrfreaks.net/forum/zigbee-legal-issues-uk-need-advice

YT5ZEC
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  • All of that seems for re-sale. What if this is for me and one other person? Or am I getting confused? – iProgram Mar 22 '15 at 22:29
  • As long as you stay in the ISM band (I think that's 868MHz for Europe) with those Xbee/Zigbee's you should be fine without a license. Google 'Class License' for details, or here for a Zigbee whitepaper: http://www.digi.com/pdf/wp_zigbee.pdf – captcha Mar 23 '15 at 00:15