Tom:
My defense of Alvarion is pretty mild. They're definitely drifting down
the innovation curve, not up. They're incredibly arrogant about not
doing Wi-Fi despite the growing, impressive wins of Wi-Fi mesh vendors.
They're not doing mesh, etc. They now are involved pretty deeply in the
cellular and WiMAX industry, and that seems to have the vast majority
of their corporate attention. But, in their (mild) defense, they're
meeting the demands from their identified customers. (They don't seem
to recognize what a trap this can be; apparently no one there has read
"The Innovator's Dilemma".)
There are certainly WISPs that come really close to a working
definition of carrier-grade; I didn't mean to imply that they didn't
exist.
Great points, all - yours was one of the best pieces of reading I've
seen on the WISP-related lists in a long time - it elevated the SNR.
Thanks,
Steve
On Apr 12, 2006, at 17:28, Tom DeReggi wrote:
Steve, excellent points. except... (also see inline)
By your definition of Carrier grade, I could argue that many WISPs
that just so happen not to use Alvarion, may very well better meet the
definition of carrier grade than the carriers themselves. One of the
negatives about the Alvarion product is that they have fallen victom
to the IBM syndrom. They try and be the best and standardize on that,
but then they lock them selves into a box with a limited product, and
get left behind as far as features and product enhancements. IBM lost
the war to Clones, because Clones were able to innovate faster and
deliver more competitive products sooner. Alvarion, has tried to full
fill the role of carrier grade, probably better than any other
manufacturer, from the perspective of the support level carrier
demand, and quality of the manufacturing of the product. But
ultimately, where does Alvarion stand technology wise? Are they
leading? Thats debatable.
For example: Alvarion still....
1. Single Freq range per radio unit.
2. Single polarity per radio unit.
Limitations even the cheapest manufacturers have overcome. Many
businesses operational savings are being had by WISPs chosing other
third party wireless gear, allowing their operations to be more
carrier class. (less stock, fewer components needed per truck, easier
ordering, lower pricing, consistent OS interfaces, etc).
I'm not just targeting Alvarion in my complaint. How many
manufactturers have taken advantage os new smart antenna technologies
or FCC rules for higher power or new freq ranges?
For companies like Alvarion to stay on top as a leading Carrier grade
company, they are going to have to break out of the IBM mold, and
start innovating quicker. They are starting to do that, by comming
out with Wimax and 4.9Ghz gear quicker than other competitors in the
space.
WISPs pass. (Alvarion not required to do so)
WISPs fail. 1 minute outages every month or so must be tolerated.
Even Alvarion is known for occasional auto system reboots when harsh
interence is encountered.
WISPs pass and shine. But not aware of any Carrier Telco that passes
that requirement.
Less likely with Alvarion, as more models need to be stocked, to ahve
all conceivable replacement models.
WISPs pass. Telco's generally Fail. Not many Companies keep $100,000
switches on hand for quick replacement.
Yes. But not aware of many Telcos that have a faster response time in
their Tarrifs, than good local WISPs.
WISPs put in a valient effort, but fail or barely pass.
Telcos pass and shine, throwing millions of dollars away in over
engineering.
So although they shine, its responsible for the bankruptcy of 25 of
the largest 29 Telcos through year 2001.
WISPs pass. However, where Telcos shine, is 100s of commercial
product are available to collect and store and track the statistics to
backup SLA guarantees. WISPs can offer and fullfil the same SLAs
maybe even better, but can they prove it?
Every WISPs product manufacturer offers this. The only reason all
WISPs may not have it, is their decission not to pay for it, as they
don't have a huge staff to justify it, when they know it already.
Telcos pass. Most WISP networks do not. Open Source, provides more
options for improvements and impowers the WISP, but no guarantees are
there that it will continue to be given or at what success rate.
Tom DeReggi
RapidDSL & Wireless, Inc
Budget being only difference, and WISP qualify for carrier better than
ILEC in some cases.
---
Steve Stroh
425-939-0076 | [EMAIL PROTECTED] | www.stevestroh.com
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