Morning Ken! For sure….I’m happy to answer as much as I can.
Let me clarify a bit….I’ll answer below. From: AF <[email protected]> On Behalf Of Ken Hohhof Sent: Tuesday, November 20, 2018 10:25 AM To: 'AnimalFarm Microwave Users Group' <[email protected]> Subject: Re: [AFMUG] Calix Gigacenters - how difficult to implement? Cory, thanks for the info. I think a forum like this one is helpful when dealing with smaller operators like WISPs, you get some leverage by communicating with a bunch of us simultaneously, rather than having to answer the same questions over and over. 1) When you say Support Cloud is your next Gen product set that replaces CC+, how should we interpret that? Is Consumer Connect deprecated and we should only be looking at EME/DME? Or is Support Cloud something you are moving toward in some future timeframe but we should still think in terms of using CC+ today and migrating in the future? So Consumer Connect (CC+) is still up and running….we introduced the Cloud product around 1.5 - 2 years ago now (Think of this as CC+ 2.0). We’re starting to migrate folks towards the Cloud platform as customers get set to renew their yearly CC+. So if you are CC+ and set to renew the cloud team/account teams will run through it with you. If you are starting from scratch we’ll start you out on Cloud. 2) Not sure I follow the distinction between EME and DME. Is this just an upgrade, like you could start out on DME, and later decide if you want to upgrade at a higher per sub per month rate and get the additional features? Or is this more of a decision that you make upfront? Yes to answer your question….if you have DME (remember this is equal to CC+) and you decided to start out on DME you could then upgrade to EME later. EME has more integration that comes along with it. Also has some nice smart checks as well to make things very ease. We also have a DME starter package that we’ve rolled out for customers that are just getting going on managed wifi. We are actually starting to see more folks start out on EME now just due to all the additional features….if you don’t need all those features then you can start on DME….add customers and migrate over when you are ready. 3) Do we need to deploy any servers in our network to use the 844E and take advantage of all the features, or is this all a cloud service available from Calix for a fee? I was assuming the latter, but I’m not clear on this point. All Cloud…no servers needed. 4) Do we need to integrate with other billing/operations systems like Powercode or Sonar, or can this be done manually via the Calix cloud services? If you decide to move forward with EME then the cloud implementation team will work with you/Billing/OSS vendor/Flow integrated and ensure the billing records/customer records/flow records are right. We have done Sonar (one of my customers is turning up now) and we have been working with Power Code as well…I’m not sure who has integrated with them. We’ve haven’t had a system we can’t integrate to yet. 5) With DME, do customers get a web portal where they can view analytics and make config changes like port forwarding and QoS for their devices? I could only find information on the embedded web interface in the 844E itself, and that is very basic stuff, not competitive with what customers get with a Netgear Nighthawk or a Google WiFi system, so not going to impress anyone. End Subscribers make/do changes in the router of the mobile app….the operator does/makes changes in DME or EME. We are in the process of rolling out a next gen app as well. The Zero Touch provisioning is something that is awesome once you get it set up….makes it easy to install and or mail our an 804 Mesh if you need to..simple to install and set up. 6) With the direct sales model and cloud management, there are some signup steps needed to even be able to order some eval units and try them out. Are there other barriers to getting started, like minimum volume commitments? Basically, anything that says if you’re not going to use at least X of these total or per year, Calix is not the right solution for you? Fiber operators are in a different situation, if they are building out to 1,000 locations and expect a 50% take rate, they are going to need 500 routers because every customer is getting one, just like a cable operator where every customer gets a residential or business gateway that also acts as the cable modem. Whereas a WISP faces a decision whether to require that every customer get one and absorb the cost, or to offer it as an optional upgrade and charge a fee for the additional performance and features. Also what to do with existing customers who may have a customer owned router or another brand of leased/managed router like a Mikrotik or Cambium or TP-Link. If we go the route of optional upgrade, then we are only guessing at the take rate. That will also depend on demographics and pricing. My customer base tilts toward miserly and low tech, and the more tech savvy and upscale customers like to shop for their own tech toys. That said, if we decided to eat the cost and offer a free 844E and 804 Mesh units as needed, few people are going to turn down fancy free stuff. (Sorry, that question rambled a bit. Or a lot.) So no purchase requirement on 844E…..on Cloud the basic License starts at 500 subs. There is a special WISP DME price that we’ve rolled out for customers that are ramping up/getting goind…so we stagger the price assuming it will take 3 years to get to 500 subs. EME starts at 500 subs as well. Hope that helps…we can get you more details/jump on a call. From: AF <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> On Behalf Of Cory Polman Sent: Tuesday, November 20, 2018 9:05 AM To: AnimalFarm Microwave Users Group <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> Subject: Re: [AFMUG] Calix Gigacenters - how difficult to implement? Morning Ken & All! I’m trying to follow all the questions…so I’ll do my best. Let me know where I can help and we’ll see what we can do to help plug the holes. Sometimes there is a lot of info on the Calix site and it can be hard to locate too…make sure you have a log in to get to the engineering documentation. So on the Cloud/CC+ side. Think of Support Cloud as our next Gen product set. So it replaces CC+. However, there are two flavors of Support cloud – EME (Experience Management Addition) and DME (Device Management). So DME is = CC+ with some new features and functionality. If I recall the pricing is in line with CC+. EME is the upgraded version, with Smart Check/flow per sub/tie into the billing system…. Call avoidance reports…etc. Anyway, we can give you a demo of both so you can compare and see. EME has some really great features especially if you have nontechnical folks/of after hour call support desk taking calls. Both the cloud tools support TR 69, some TR 181/TR 98 as well based upon what device your using for a GTWY/Router….with the 804/844E/G/GE we can get some really great analytics, but other devices we can pull some of that info from as well. As far as set up…its very straight forward on both the 844E and 804/Cloud items. We’ll help walk you through and get things going. If you want some help on the marketing materials for managed wifi we have been helping folks with Marketing Consultations as well. Below is a link with some videos/info from folks on here as well. Lastly – Let me know how I can help/where you are at and I’ll be sure to get a call set up. I’d be happy to help heard our folks if they are not getting back to you. Just let me know. My contact info is below…Cory https://www.calix.com/solutions/service-providers/wisps.html https://www.calix.com/platforms/calix_cloud.html Cory Polman-----Calix 612-360-1426-Cell [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> From: AF <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> On Behalf Of Ken Hohhof Sent: Monday, November 19, 2018 8:25 PM To: 'AnimalFarm Microwave Users Group' <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> Subject: Re: [AFMUG] Calix Gigacenters - how difficult to implement? I should add that I talked to Mike Carpinelli at WISPAmerica in March 2016 and he has been returning my emails and had actually set up a time for a conference. But as I plowed through all the documentation on the Calix site, I couldn’t find any of the basic information most vendors give you, basically a getting started guide. What are you going to need, a step-by-step guide to hooking it all up, and screenshots of the GUI that your people will see, and that your customers will see. Furthermore, from the discussion here, it seems even WISPs that are using Calix products aren’t clear on Calix Cloud vs Consumer Connect, are they the same thing, are they different. It seems like one is too expensive, and the other has the secret sauce and without it you’re missing half the features. Or maybe they are different names for the same thing. Very confusing. Originally I thought I just needed to order a handful of devices for lab and beta testing, and that we’d learn through the hands-on experience. But I backed off when I found the documentation wasn’t telling me any of the things I needed to know. Clearly just getting some devices in my hands wasn’t going to resolve the knowledge gap, if I was finding the documentation totally unhelpful. From: AF <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> On Behalf Of [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> Sent: Monday, November 19, 2018 7:00 PM To: [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> Subject: Re: [AFMUG] Calix Gigacenters - how difficult to implement? Cory is about as official as it gets. From: Adam Moffett Sent: Monday, November 19, 2018 4:28 PM To: [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> Subject: Re: [AFMUG] Calix Gigacenters - how difficult to implement? I would love to see "official" answers. I'm looking at routers and managed WiFi for an FTTH build passing around 10,000 households. I haven't made any commitments yet, so I'd be willing to talk about Calix. On 11/19/2018 6:13 PM, [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> wrote: Actually this is the beginning. From: Ken Hohhof Sent: Friday, November 16, 2018 8:50 AM To: 'AnimalFarm Microwave Users Group' Subject: [AFMUG] Calix Gigacenters - how difficult to implement? For those of you who’ve successfully deployed Calix: I’ve been wanting to do something with the 844E and 804 since WISPAmerica 2.5 years ago, but I feel like I’m at the starting line of a marathon with my feet stuck in buckets full of concrete. Calix has tons of documentation, and after reading it, I feel about 1% smarter. I don’t know what the end user or a tech sees as an interface for analytics and troubleshooting and tweaking settings. I don’t know if you can do a standalone implementation with just the Calix Cloud and some Gigacenters and Mesh units, I get the impression you need to mess with APIs and tie into all sorts of operations systems that we don’t have. I’m not even clear on whether we need to set up some kind of on-network TR-069 server, or if that’s all a cloud service hosted by Calix. Is the Calix stuff relatively straightforward to use, on a par with Cambium cnPilot and cnMaestro Cloud? And maybe Calix documentation is just very confusing or I’m being stupid? Or are these things pretty complicated to incorporate into a WISP network and get all the advantages of the devices and cloud management? I’m trying to decide whether to keep struggling and get more help from Calix, or give up. ________________________________ -- AF mailing list [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> http://af.afmug.com/mailman/listinfo/af_af.afmug.com ________________________________ -- AF mailing list [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> http://af.afmug.com/mailman/listinfo/af_af.afmug.com
-- AF mailing list [email protected] http://af.afmug.com/mailman/listinfo/af_af.afmug.com
