The completely honest (but unofficial) word about the ABi and ABo is that they are exactly the same hardware with the exception of the case and the heater on the ethernet PHY chip. As far as I can tell, the price difference is due to four things. The heater (small%), the case (larger but still small%), the FCC cert costs (50%) and the volume of manufacturing (50%). The only part I have confirmed with SB is the volume difference. My personal opinion is that if we used as many ABo as we do ABi we would see only a $30 or so difference.
-----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Wayland Sothcott Sent: Thursday, September 11, 2003 3:35 AM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]; Bobby Bounds Subject: Re: [smartBridges] ABO differnece between ABI??? On Thursday 11 Sep 2003 2:44 am, Bobby Bounds wrote: > The ABI and the ABO are the SAME radio. So, I'd think they'd handle cold > equally well. The plastic box the ABO comes in is more airtight than the > ABI case but it is academic because no one would stick an ABI out in the > wind and rain (they'd stick it in a NEMA box). If you put an ABI in a NEMA > box it may handle the cold better than an ABO for all I know. > Bobby, Clearly the airPoints are built on the same PCB. However choice of components makes a difference. You can get the same chips in different environmental specs. The hardy components cost more and seem an unnessasary expense for an indoor unit. With problems such as loss of assosiation caused by temperature it could pay to be careful. airBridges tend to sit in lofts and windows and get hot there so perhaps they ought to be more like the outdoor units. The way to tell is to put the two boards next to each other and compare the component numbers. Little letters on the end can indicate a big difference in environmental performance. Even which manufacturer supplied them makes a difference. We had a huge problem with the way Seimens implemented a PIO chip we used. It was totally intollorant to electrical noise and made the unit unreliable in the field. Switching to NEC chips solved the problem immediately. The saving on the Siemens chips for the whole production run was not worth the problems we had with just one installation. Make extra sure you do not compomise quality when seeking lower cost. Regards, Wayland. ----------ANNOUNCEMENT---------- Don't forget to register for WISPCON IV http://www.wispcon.info/us/wispcon-iv/wispcon-iv.htm The PART-15.ORG smartBridges Discussion List To Join: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] (in the body type subscribe smartBridges <yournickname> To Remove: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] (in the body type unsubscribe smartBridges) Archives: http://archives.part-15.org ----------ANNOUNCEMENT---------- Don't forget to register for WISPCON IV http://www.wispcon.info/us/wispcon-iv/wispcon-iv.htm The PART-15.ORG smartBridges Discussion List To Join: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] (in the body type subscribe smartBridges <yournickname> To Remove: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] (in the body type unsubscribe smartBridges) Archives: http://archives.part-15.org
