We are treating Cambium as a whole is on life support and only has weeks left.
- We have told vendors where we have pending orders of cambium wifi APs not to ship us any. - We are standing up on site cnmaestro server in one of our datacenters - We are working with what staff is left to get permanent licenses for our over 8k APs. - We are already having talks with Extreme and Arista about their wifi APs and controllers. - We got our first xgpon project using cambium that should go live before the end of the year, we are now looking for other vendors. On Tue, Sep 15, 2026 at 1:32 PM Ken Hohhof <[email protected]> wrote: > Go to their reception but put some money in the tip jar? > > > > But gallows humor aside, it’s probably difficult walking the thin line > between “business as usual” and “being frugal”. A robust trade show > presence might be important both for customers and potential buyers > assuming they’re trying to find a buyer for part or all of the business. > It doesn’t help preserve the asset value for creditors if you stop selling > your products. > > > > If I’m understanding the situation correctly, the UK subsidiary is in > “administration”, but Cambium Networks the parent is a US corporation and > not in bankruptcy proceedings at least at this time. It seems clear that > top management waited too long to take some extreme cost cutting measures, > either some creditors forced their hand, or they literally couldn’t keep > the lights on and make payroll, like a pilot who ejects just as the plane > hits the ground. The cashflow situation couldn’t have been a mystery, so I > doubt they were counting on booking some big sale or a bunch of BEAD > driven revenue. One could speculate they have been trying to sell off some > parts or the business or some product lines or maybe the whole company, and > they just ran out of time. Maybe they thought they had a buyer and it fell > through. Although it’s common for buyers to make the seller do the > bloodletting before the sale. > > > > Anyway, I am not familiar with the UK version of bankruptcy. I’ve had > some customers in Chapter 11 here in the US. They were actually good risks > because all expenses had to be approved by an administrator or the bank or > something so the checks were like cashiers checks, they never bounced, all > expenses were pre approved and the cash was already there. Money owed from > before they declared bankruptcy was another story. > > > > So in the US we have Chapter 11 which is usually “Debtor in Possession” > where management continues running the business but needs outside approval > for any major expenses. Or the company can be run by an outside > administrator or trustee representing the creditors. Then there is Chapter > 7 which is liquidation. I get the impression that administration in this > case is either like Chapter 11 with outsiders running the company, or > Chapter 7, not sure which. They make it sound like a store that has closed > and they’re selling off the fixtures to make partial payments to creditors. > > > > I think Cambium had or has R&D in Ashburton. I’m not sure what they did > there, and if it’s part of the UK subsidiary. Presumably that goes back to > the Orthogon acquisition, but I don’t know what else they might have > designed there. I know when I buy PMP450 or ePMP products, the box says > Cambium Networks, Ashburton, UK. For all I know they were just assigning > the revenue to their UK subsidiary to dodge US income taxes. Not sure that > matters if you’re reporting a loss. > > > > I will say I’ve done my part recently to help Cambium survive, I’ve bought > several license or unlock keys, which I assume are high margin if not pure > profit items. Kind of like contributing to the Cambium GoFundMe. > Unfortunately my company is very small so I can’t make much of a dent in > their payroll or rent or utility bills. > > > > Probably the WISPAPALOOZA costs have already been paid. They still have > to pay travel and lodging to staff the booth and other events. Maybe they > can fly Spirit Airlines? I’m guessing they will show up. Whether to sell > products or to sell the whole company, they have to put a team on the field > and score some points. It sounds like some product lines might be getting > the axe. In which case they would be furiously reworking their trade show > strategy. Promoting a product you’re discontinuing would not be good. > > > > If I were going (I’ve never gone to the Vegas shows and I’m not going to > start now at age 76), I would be grilling them about things like EVO and > 450v/ePMP convergence, which is a story I never bought in the first place. > They handed the Cambium QOE product back to Bequant, so they seem open to > revising some of their plans, maybe not trying to be everything to > everybody. Maybe the best thing show attendees can do to help Cambium is > to give their product managers and top mgmt our unvarnished view of what > they need to do and not do. Steve Jobs was famous for selling people > things they didn’t yet know they needed. I don’t think anybody at Cambium > right now is a Steve Jobs. We’ve all seen things at stores that any random > person on the street could look at and say that will never sell, that’s a > stupid idea. And we’ve all seen radios that any field tech could say is > poorly designed and a pain in the butt to install. Or radios that no > residential customer would let us install on their house. Cambium can’t > afford any mistakes like that. Although I have to remember they have > government customers who are not like WISPs. > > > > Brutally honest feedback from customers might be the best help they could > get right now. Just my opinion, worth every penny you paid for it. > > > > *From:* AF <[email protected]> *On Behalf Of *Cameron Crum > *Sent:* Tuesday, September 15, 2026 10:10 AM > *To:* AnimalFarm Microwave Users Group <[email protected]> > *Subject:* Re: [AFMUG] RIP Cambium Networks? > > > > Sadly, I think you are correct. > > > > On Tue, Sep 15, 2026 at 7:01 AM David Hannum via AF <[email protected]> > wrote: > > I guess that means I should make alternative dinner plans for Monday night > at WISPAPALOOZA as Cambium had a reception planned . . . . We'll see . . . > > > > On Mon, Sep 14, 2026 at 5:45 PM Josh Luthman <[email protected]> > wrote: > > Half of the company was fired - no severance pay. > > > > On Mon, Sep 14, 2026 at 1:16 AM Ken Hohhof <[email protected]> wrote: > > This seems to be news out of the UK and from one person who has been let > go. Some of the statements would seem to apply globally, but maybe we > should wait for the light of day and see what comes out. > > > > This may be the source for some of the speculation: > > > https://www.ispreview.co.uk/index.php/2026/09/wireless-uk-broadband-company-cambium-networks-falls-into-administration.html > > It sounds like administration is Brit speak for what we would call Chapter > 11? But also they’re talking about the UK subsidiary. > > > > Years ago I worked at a company that did an IPO and I learned from all the > nonsense on the Yahoo message boards not to assume everyone knew what they > were talking about. Like big news flash, the board meeting was moved to > Florida. Well, it was because one board member has an ear infection and > couldn’t fly. Then some amateur sleuth discovered the board meeting was > extended by a day. Turns out since it was moved to Florida, some on the > board wanted a day to play golf. Then the CEO sold some stock. Reason was > he was building a fancy new house. > > > > Maybe the speculation is all true. Nothing I would do in response can’t > wait a few days. Unless you’re placing bets on prediction markets. > > > > *From:* AF <[email protected]> *On Behalf Of *Colin Stanners > *Sent:* Sunday, September 13, 2026 10:30 PM > *To:* AnimalFarm Microwave Users Group <[email protected]> > *Subject:* [AFMUG] RIP Cambium Networks? > > > > It seems to be RIP for Cambium Networks, born in 2011 (when the > Canopy/Orthogon products were spun off from Motorola, who had started > selling those around 2002) to 2026. As well as its acquisitions Orthogon / > PipingHot Networks and Xirrus. > > > > > https://www.linkedin.com/posts/carljefferys_cambium-networks-appears-to-have-collapsed-share-7505055774495100929-X72q/ > > > > > https://blog.j2sw.com/technology/an-open-letter-about-the-implosion-of-cambium-networks/ > > > > When I started in the WISP industry around 20 years ago, I found their > products' good engineering, reliability and scalability a wonderful asset > to help build a WISP. Since that time the products have increased greatly > in bandwidth capability and the company's products and its hard-working > employees have been a big contributor of my work life. > > > > Unless something magical comes in to save them, this will be then end and > a big loss for the industry and a big reconsideration for our networks. > > -- > 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 > -- Zach Underwood (RHCE,RHCSA,RHCT,UACA) My website <http://zachunderwood.me> advance-networking.com
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