Best way is to fill out the contact form on their website to get started. On Thu, Jan 10, 2019, 8:37 AM Kurt Fankhauser <[email protected] wrote:
> Who do I get ahold of at Calix to to a demo of their home mesh solution? > > On Fri, Dec 28, 2018 at 7:58 PM Darin Steffl <[email protected]> > wrote: > >> Yes I meant for all new routers deployed to be Calix. And if/when you see >> issues with current routers, upgrade them to Calix. We had about 350 >> cnpilot routers in the field and we're down to 120 left to migrate. You can >> go as fast or slow as you want to. >> >> You should find the Calix has much better coverage than the Mimosa g2 and >> other cheap routers. I've heard Amplifi has good range so I would expect >> the Calix to perform similar to that or better. >> >> On Fri, Dec 28, 2018, 4:28 PM David Coudron <[email protected] >> wrote: >> >>> Thanks for the offer of help Darin, we may take you up on that. Our >>> head is kind of in the same place, but with so many routers already bought >>> and paid for, it is a really big investment to make if the management part >>> of our current routers isn’t currently killing us. However, there is a >>> pretty strong case to be made for all new ones to be Calix if this works >>> out OK. Problem is, we have 70 Mimosa G2s sitting in inventory….. ☹ >>> >>> >>> >>> We do charge a $10/month equipment fee. That includes the managed >>> router and the time to support it. I think we are OK there, but the extra >>> $80 a router is quite a bit of additional upfront costs per customer. >>> Nothing that can’t be justified if life gets a heck of lot easier though, >>> but I think our current support calls are more about in house coverage and >>> less about router setup/management issues. >>> >>> >>> >>> I may reach out to you offline if that is OK. >>> >>> >>> >>> Regards, >>> >>> >>> >>> David Coudron >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> *From:* AF <[email protected]> *On Behalf Of * Darin Steffl >>> *Sent:* Friday, December 28, 2018 3:42 PM >>> *To:* AnimalFarm Microwave Users Group <[email protected]> >>> *Subject:* Re: [AFMUG] Managed whole house mesh wifi >>> >>> >>> >>> David, >>> >>> >>> >>> I highly recommend if your testing goes well with Calix (It should or >>> ask us for help), that you choose them for every Managed Router deployment. >>> My head would explode if I had to manage Mikrotik, Calix, Mimosa, Cambium, >>> Amplif routers instead of just Calix like we do today. >>> >>> >>> >>> We want a router that performs well in every home and for the 10% of >>> larger homes that have coverage issues, one 804Mesh is always enough to >>> cover everything fully. I'd recommend you tailor your plans so that every >>> customer chooses the Managed Router by either offering some promotion to >>> make it a no-brainer choice. We include it for $0 monthly and charge just a >>> $50 setup. We warranty it as long as they're a customer and if they cancel, >>> we still own the router so they have to return it. >>> >>> >>> >>> On Fri, Dec 28, 2018 at 11:28 AM David Coudron < >>> [email protected]> wrote: >>> >>> We are looking at this more and trying to make a decision which way we’d >>> like to proceed for larger homes. We use the Mimosa G2 block on every >>> deployment today, but there are some limiting factors in larger home >>> deployments. We may not have been doing things correctly, but using the >>> wireless repeater mode cuts the bandwidth of the wireless network in >>> half. We know that we can use a wired connection to extend the range, but >>> in most deployments, that is more wiring than is easy or feasible to do at >>> a moderate cost. Additionally the G2 is only 2.4 GHz. We like this >>> unit, but it just doesn’t feel like a good solution for large homes. >>> >>> >>> >>> We also use Mikrotik Hap ac2 in our non-Mimosa deployments, or in >>> situations where the customer needs more than one ethernet port. That >>> works pretty well, but doesn’t give any mesh extension capabilities. We >>> have messed around with SSID sharing/mesh type settings in the Mikrotik to >>> hook more than one up, but not sure that this is as stable as we’d like. >>> We also aren’t able to see the other nodes very well, but we might not be >>> doing something correct. >>> >>> >>> >>> We have a pretty good test bed at my house. Internet comes into the >>> utility room on the basement floor, and needs to cover about 6000 square >>> feet on three different floors. We previously used a regular router >>> (Mikrotik Hap ac2) at the connection point and wired extenders in the upper >>> floor. Coverage was spotty at parts of the upper floor and pretty spotty >>> in the middle floor. As a test we got the Ubiquiti Amplifi product and >>> were able to verify significantly better coverage as well as throughput of >>> >400 Mbps from the farthest end of the house to the connection point. >>> Much, much better than the wired extender did. We also tried the Netgear >>> Orbi and saw results that were pretty similar. The mesh stuff definitely >>> works. >>> >>> >>> >>> The Ubiquiti Amplifi product was pretty impressive, much more so than >>> their regular Nano gear, etc. The equipment looks impressive, the >>> software is quick and well designed, and the things is super simple to get >>> running. Far more impressive than normal Mikrotik software interface >>> stuff (we use Mikrotik for all our infrastructure as well as some of the >>> customer routers). We’d be all over this as a solution, except that the >>> only remote management they have is using Facebook or Google accounts, and >>> you can’t do this by IP address. Pretty much a deal breaker for us. >>> >>> >>> >>> The Netgear Orbi product is about what you’d expect. Same interface as >>> all their routers, hardware is pretty well done, but nothing special. >>> Again, pretty easy to hook up. Big thing is that it has remote management >>> and that seems to give us access to everything we’d want from the testing >>> that we did. It is pretty expensive though, but that doesn’t scare us >>> away as we are asking customers to buy this equipment for those that have >>> larger houses. Although it does have Remote Management, the Orbi doesn’t >>> allow for a Provider login and a customer login like we do with the >>> Mikrtoiks. We really like this because we can manage the router for the >>> customer, but still give them access to change SSID id and password, do >>> some port forwarding, etc. >>> >>> >>> >>> We have some Calix stuff headed our way to try out. From talking to >>> folks, we expect it will do very well with the management side of things. >>> I expect the performance to me more on the lines of the Ubiquiti Amplifi >>> since there isn’t a dedicated backhaul/mesh radio band used, but we’ll see >>> when we put it to the test. The biggest concern I have with the Calix >>> stuff, is that it becomes a much larger decision. Instead of just buying a >>> few of these for the large houses, you have to buy the cloud service and >>> commit to a whole new brand and management platform. One of the nice >>> features of the Calix stuff though is that you can buy the same main router >>> for every installation and just add the mesh units where needed. A >>> drawback of the Calix and the Netgear Orbi is that they want to be set up >>> in Star configuration only, they don’t allow daisychaining like the Amplifi >>> product does. We did test the daisychained configuration of the Amplifi >>> for performance and it did very well. Again, much better than a wrired >>> extender did surprisingly enough. >>> >>> >>> >>> We hadn’t considered the Unifi product, but from doing a little bit of >>> reading it looks like every AP would expect to be wired, which would be >>> tough for us to do. Since we have some Ubiquiti stuff here and there, it >>> wouldn’t require commitment to a new management platform, that would be >>> pretty nice. Our testing has gone well enough that we are pretty >>> convinced some sort of true mesh network is needed for these larger homes, >>> it just works so much better than repeaters, extenders and the like. >>> >>> >>> >>> Regards, >>> >>> >>> >>> David Coudron >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> *From:* AF <[email protected]> *On Behalf Of *Rory Conaway >>> *Sent:* Friday, December 28, 2018 10:46 AM >>> *To:* AnimalFarm Microwave Users Group <[email protected]> >>> *Subject:* Re: [AFMUG] Managed whole house mesh wifi >>> >>> >>> >>> Mimosa does 1 repeater, AC Cubes do 2 repeaters at least, and Unifi is >>> unlimited. All 3 of them have cloud management. Why pay a monthly fee if >>> it isn’t necessary? Does Callix have additional features beyond >>> connectivity like blocking torrents or parental controls? >>> >>> >>> >>> Rory >>> >>> >>> >>> *From:* AF <[email protected]> *On Behalf Of *Mike Hammett >>> *Sent:* Thursday, December 27, 2018 8:35 AM >>> *To:* AnimalFarm Microwave Users Group <[email protected]> >>> *Subject:* Re: [AFMUG] Managed whole house mesh wifi >>> >>> >>> >>> Designed for single-device (or more if mesh\repeater\etc.) is needed vs. >>> assuming a large ecosystem. >>> >>> >>> >>> ----- >>> Mike Hammett >>> Intelligent Computing Solutions <http://www.ics-il.com/> >>> [image: http://www.ics-il.com/images/fbicon.png] >>> <https://www.facebook.com/ICSIL>[image: >>> http://www.ics-il.com/images/googleicon.png] >>> <https://plus.google.com/+IntelligentComputingSolutionsDeKalb>[image: >>> http://www.ics-il.com/images/linkedinicon.png] >>> <https://www.linkedin.com/company/intelligent-computing-solutions>[image: >>> http://www.ics-il.com/images/twittericon.png] >>> <https://twitter.com/ICSIL> >>> Midwest Internet Exchange <http://www.midwest-ix.com/> >>> [image: http://www.ics-il.com/images/fbicon.png] >>> <https://www.facebook.com/mdwestix>[image: >>> http://www.ics-il.com/images/linkedinicon.png] >>> <https://www.linkedin.com/company/midwest-internet-exchange>[image: >>> http://www.ics-il.com/images/twittericon.png] >>> <https://twitter.com/mdwestix> >>> The Brothers WISP <http://www.thebrotherswisp.com/> >>> [image: http://www.ics-il.com/images/fbicon.png] >>> <https://www.facebook.com/thebrotherswisp>[image: >>> http://www.ics-il.com/images/youtubeicon.png] >>> >>> >>> <https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXSdfxQv7SpoRQYNyLwntZg> >>> ------------------------------ >>> >>> *From: *"Rory Conaway" <[email protected]> >>> *To: *"AnimalFarm Microwave Users Group" <[email protected]> >>> *Sent: *Thursday, December 27, 2018 6:20:13 AM >>> *Subject: *Re: [AFMUG] Managed whole house mesh wifi >>> >>> What is the advantage of Calix versus Unifi? >>> >>> >>> >>> Rory >>> >>> >>> >>> *From:* AF <[email protected]> *On Behalf Of *David Coudron >>> *Sent:* Sunday, December 23, 2018 12:02 PM >>> *To:* AnimalFarm Microwave Users Group <[email protected]> >>> *Subject:* Re: [AFMUG] Managed whole house mesh wifi >>> >>> >>> >>> Chuck, >>> >>> >>> >>> We’d be pretty interested in that. Love to see that happen. >>> >>> >>> >>> Cory, can you reach out to us in the meantime, we’d like to learn more >>> and some decisions to make soon about our directed for managed whole house >>> Wifi. >>> >>> >>> >>> Regards, >>> >>> >>> >>> *David Coudron* >>> >>> [email protected] | *Mobile: *612-991-7474 >>> >>> >>> >>> *Advantenon, Inc. * >>> >>> [email protected] | 3500 Vicksburg Lane N, Suite 315, Plymouth, MN >>> 55447 | www.advantenon.com | *Phone:* 800-704-4720 | *Local: * >>> 612-454-1545 >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> *From:* AF <[email protected]> *On Behalf Of *[email protected] >>> *Sent:* Sunday, December 23, 2018 12:38 PM >>> *To:* 'AnimalFarm Microwave Users Group' <[email protected]> >>> *Subject:* Re: [AFMUG] Managed whole house mesh wifi >>> >>> >>> >>> Calix historically sold to ILECs via dedicated regional sales reps. You >>> had personalized service. >>> >>> They didn’t have a product with universal appeal until they did the >>> 844. >>> >>> >>> >>> I will volunteer to stock and sell their products via my ecommerce site >>> if they will give me enough margin to make it worth it. >>> >>> >>> >>> *From:* Ken Hohhof >>> >>> *Sent:* Sunday, December 23, 2018 11:03 AM >>> >>> *To:* 'AnimalFarm Microwave Users Group' >>> >>> *Subject:* Re: [AFMUG] Managed whole house mesh wifi >>> >>> >>> >>> Agreed, but that’s their business model. I think similar to the >>> companies that OEM “gateways” to the likes of AT&T and Comcast. These are >>> not supposed to find their way onto Amazon and Walmart online stores for >>> end users to buy themselves and then try to figure out how to link them >>> into their service provider’s operations systems. >>> >>> >>> >>> I guess our customers could make the same complaint about us. Maybe a >>> few WISPs have online ordering portals, but I’m guessing very few. Not >>> talking about put your location in here and a salesperson will call you, >>> but actually sign up and schedule installation, similar to what we used to >>> do with dialup service (where we just needed to assign a username and >>> password, and publish a list of local access numbers). >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> *From:* AF <[email protected]> *On Behalf Of *Jon Langeler >>> *Sent:* Sunday, December 23, 2018 11:37 AM >>> *To:* AnimalFarm Microwave Users Group <[email protected]> >>> *Subject:* Re: [AFMUG] Managed whole house mesh wifi >>> >>> >>> >>> I think it’s a turn off when they don’t have an online store somewhere >>> to simply order a 10 or 100 pack, or anything. But I got that vibe from >>> them as well. >>> >>> Jon Langeler >>> >>> Michwave Technologies, Inc. >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> On Dec 23, 2018, at 1:14 AM, Jason Wilson <[email protected]> >>> wrote: >>> >>> How does one get Calix to talk to you? They seemed less than interested >>> to talk at WISPAPalooza and no call from the lead generated at he show. >>> >>> Jason Wilson >>> >>> Remotely Located >>> >>> Providing High Speed Internet to out of the way places >>> >>> 530-651-1736 Office >>> >>> 530-748-9608 Cell >>> >>> www.remotelylocated.com >>> >>> >>> On Dec 22, 2018, at 7:35 PM, Darin Steffl <[email protected]> >>> wrote: >>> >>> You have to buy direct from Calix. >>> >>> >>> >>> We upped our plan prices $10 per month for new subs and now give the >>> router "free". We're slowly migrating existing customers to these new plans >>> and putting the Calix in their home. We're about 60% complete with the >>> process. It dramatically reduces the number of tech support calls related >>> to wifi issues. Huge time saver, money maker, and keeping customers happy >>> and churn low. >>> >>> >>> >>> On Sat, Dec 22, 2018, 8:56 PM Ken Hohhof <[email protected] wrote: >>> >>> The other piece of information that wasn’t apparent to me on casual >>> inspection is there’s a minimum sub count if you want to use their Cloud >>> features. My take is you need to come at it from the perspective that all >>> your subs are going to get the Calix router, rather than viewing it as an >>> optional upsell. At least if your WISP is relatively small. If you have >>> 5000+ subs, that would be different. You could go through a transition >>> with existing customers, but eventually it would be like a cable modem, >>> everyone gets one. Either you throw it in for free, or charge a non >>> optional modem rental fee. >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> *From:* AF <[email protected]> *On Behalf Of *Chuck McCown >>> *Sent:* Saturday, December 22, 2018 7:23 PM >>> *To:* AnimalFarm Microwave Users Group <[email protected]> >>> *Subject:* Re: [AFMUG] Managed whole house mesh wifi >>> >>> >>> >>> I buy direct. I think that is how they do it with everyone. >>> >>> Sent from my iPhone >>> >>> >>> On Dec 22, 2018, at 6:20 PM, David Coudron <[email protected]> >>> wrote: >>> >>> Where do you purchase the Calix equipment from? Our typical sources >>> don’t seem to carry them (Streakwave, Winncom, ISPSupplies, Linktechs, >>> etc. Are you purchasing direct from Calix? >>> >>> >>> >>> Regards, >>> >>> >>> >>> David Coudron >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> *From:* AF <[email protected]> *On Behalf Of *Darin Steffl >>> *Sent:* Friday, December 21, 2018 5:34 PM >>> *To:* AnimalFarm Microwave Users Group <[email protected]> >>> *Subject:* Re: [AFMUG] Managed whole house mesh wifi >>> >>> >>> >>> Calix is the only good method today for routers and a mesh solution that >>> can be managed by the ISP. Powerline adapters suck and we don't use them >>> anymore. WiFi extenders are just as bad and we tell customers to throw them >>> in the garbage. They cause more issues than they fix. >>> >>> >>> >>> We have 850+ Calix GigaCenters in the field and are deploying more of >>> the Mesh units. Everything is very easy to provision and we have full >>> visibility into the home network. Pricing is pretty good and we get to make >>> money on it instead of the customer just spending money on their own >>> solution. Sell it to the customer that we will warranty for the life of >>> their service with us. >>> >>> >>> >>> On Fri, Dec 21, 2018 at 5:31 PM Jason McKemie < >>> [email protected]> wrote: >>> >>> The GigaSpire Max & Blast look intriguing. Not sure on pricing as of >>> yet though. >>> >>> >>> >>> On Fri, Dec 21, 2018 at 5:06 PM <[email protected]> wrote: >>> >>> Calix 844 has a mesh extender that supposedly has touchless >>> provisioning. I have a mesh box at home to play with but still have not >>> taken it out of the box. >>> >>> >>> >>> *From:* David Coudron >>> >>> *Sent:* Friday, December 21, 2018 4:01 PM >>> >>> *To:* AnimalFarm Microwave Users Group >>> >>> *Subject:* [AFMUG] Managed whole house mesh wifi >>> >>> >>> >>> We have been running into more and more situations where customers >>> either have homes that are too large to effectively cover with a good >>> router, or have so many devices at the far end of the house from where >>> their router has to be positioned that we are looking for good options to >>> provide better whole house coverage. We have worked with Powerline >>> extenders, but consider them to be too inconsistent for wide spread use, >>> and have worked with some wireless extenders. The wireless extenders have >>> a pretty big impact on wireless speed that we aren’t excited about them as >>> a go forward solution. We also can’t log into the powerline or wireless >>> extenders without some port forwarding work in their main router. We have >>> played around with some mesh options, particularly the Ubiquiti Amplifi >>> product, which we really like, but feel like it is not an option since we >>> cannot manage it remotely. Netgear Orbi certainly seems like a viable >>> option, but kind of spendy if you need 3 nodes. Cost isn’t necessarily an >>> issue since customers will buy this equipment rather than us fund it, but >>> we don’t want the solution to be so expensive no one opts for it. I know >>> there has been a few threads on managed routers, but this seems like a >>> little bit different take since we are going to have customers buy the >>> equipment, but would like to be able to manage remotely. I suppose one >>> option would be to still provide an inexpensive managed router as we >>> currently do and have them manage the mesh system on their own. Any >>> thoughts on what has worked well for whole house mesh systems, especially >>> in a remote management situation? >>> >>> >>> >>> Regards, >>> >>> >>> >>> David Coudron >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> ------------------------------ >>> >>> -- >>> AF mailing list >>> [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 >>> >>> -- >>> AF mailing list >>> [email protected] >>> http://af.afmug.com/mailman/listinfo/af_af.afmug.com >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> -- >>> >>> Darin Steffl >>> >>> Minnesota WiFi >>> >>> www.mnwifi.com >>> >>> 507-634-WiFi >>> >>> [image: Image removed by sender.] >>> <http://www.facebook.com/minnesotawifi> Like us on Facebook >>> <http://www.facebook.com/minnesotawifi> >>> >>> -- >>> AF mailing list >>> [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 >>> >>> -- >>> AF mailing list >>> [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 >>> >>> ------------------------------ >>> >>> -- >>> AF mailing list >>> [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 >>> >>> >>> >>> -- >>> AF mailing list >>> [email protected] >>> http://af.afmug.com/mailman/listinfo/af_af.afmug.com >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> -- >>> >>> Darin Steffl >>> >>> Minnesota WiFi >>> >>> www.mnwifi.com >>> >>> 507-634-WiFi >>> >>> <http://www.facebook.com/minnesotawifi> Like us on Facebook >>> <http://www.facebook.com/minnesotawifi> >>> -- >>> AF mailing list >>> [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 >> > -- > AF mailing list > [email protected] > http://af.afmug.com/mailman/listinfo/af_af.afmug.com >
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