Do they still have a minimum count for the cloud platform? Jon Langeler Michwave Technologies, Inc.
> On Jan 10, 2019, at 9:46 AM, Darin Steffl <[email protected]> wrote: > > 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 >>>> >>>> Midwest Internet Exchange >>>> >>>> The Brothers WISP >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> 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 >>>> >>>> Like us on Facebook >>>> >>>> -- >>>> 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 >>>> >>>> Like us on Facebook >>>> >>>> -- >>>> 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
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