I'm just a big proponent of ISP's having managed routers to control the customer experience. Even if it's not a mesh system, it's still helpful when you control firmware updates, can scan for interference, check for low signal devices, etc. Then only if the home needs it, you can add a mesh device. I don't think it's smart to tell customers what router you suggest unless it's your own managed router. It doesn't matter if they buy a $20 belkin or $400 nighthawk because of their router is the issue, they will still blame you and you can't help. So might as well get your own router in there that is reliable and that you can actually work with remotely.
There are some people on wisp Talk who have tested the audience but like you said, it's very new still. I think eero does have an ISP program but my guess is they only work with larger ISP's. I will say there is an initial barrier to break through with Calix but once you're past it, things are much easier. Our first order years ago was for 20 routers with a small minimum cost for cloud. Now just for price breaks and scale we order in quantities of 150 which is a comfortable pallet size. We have about 1,200 in the field today. If you had trouble in the past trying to buy, try again and don't give up. They are also working on stocking with CTI and Wav I believe. On Sun, Dec 15, 2019, 11:55 AM Ken Hohhof <af...@kwisp.com> wrote: > Not really asking how it compares to Calix, but if anyone has tried it. > > > > Mesh systems are appropriate for a small subset of our demographic, except > the people who misuse them thinking it will get Internet out to their metal > shop building 1000 feet away. But there’s the occasional custom built > sprawling house of some guy with money. One of the cable companies here > uses Eero, not sure how they remotely manage them, or maybe they don’t. > > > > My problem with Calix has always been they don’t seem to really want my > business unless I totally drink their Koolaid. They put too many hurdles > in the way, and we can’t meet the minimum quantities to use their cloud > management. We need something we can use where it makes sense, and buy > from regular distribution. For a larger WISP, and one that is going to > give every customer a Calix router (including existing customer base with > their own routers), it probably makes sense. > > > > But I’m really just trying to get feedback from anyone who has used the > new Mikrotik product, which I didn’t know existsed. Like most home router > solutions from Mikrotik, the price is high, so it makes no sense to suggest > I’m looking at it because it’s “free or cheap”. Actually the cheapest > solution, if I tell the customer to buy and manage it, is probably the > 3-unit Eero system. Since Amazon bought them, they have been aggressive on > price. > > > > > > *From:* AF <af-boun...@af.afmug.com> *On Behalf Of *Darin Steffl > *Sent:* Sunday, December 15, 2019 10:36 AM > *To:* AnimalFarm Microwave Users Group <af@af.afmug.com> > *Subject:* Re: [AFMUG] Mikrotik Audience mesh router > > > > The audience costs about $160 right now when you get the Calix 844e for > much cheaper than that close to $100. Mesh is even less and it's easy for > the customer to pair. > > > > Plus it's all managed by you in a single management system. 50 cents per > month per router. All these other systems people are talking about are more > expensive upfront and there's zero management of them that is easy with > support behind it. > > > > If someone says management is expensive, I say it would take 10 years for > the Mikrotik with zero monthly costs to breakeven. That's $60 divided by 50 > cents = 120 months or 10 years. > > > > So Calix at $100 upfront and $0.50 monthly is way better value than any > other managed routers. This is carrier grade gear too better than the wifi > on any other managed router, period. 4x4 mu-mimo chipset on 5ghz with great > range and reliability. > > > > Everything else people are posting cost more with no capability to manage > thousands of devices. You could try your own tr-069 platform but that costs > labor and money as well. Just pay the man (Calix) for software they already > have polished and if you need help, their support is included in what you > pay so they will fix it instead of you. Time is money. If you waste your > own time doing everything for "free or cheap", you're actually costing > yourself lots of money. > > > > You don't always need to reinvent the wheel. I have the same thoughts on > billing systems when people say sonar, Powercode, Azotel are too expensive. > I say they're worth every penny because instead of sinking money into my > own system and waiting for something polished, I can just pay these guys > for a system that already works and focus on making money by growing. By > trying to do everything yourself, you will absolutely cost the company > money in hopes of trying to save money. This is why we do our best not to > host any servers. Email and file storage is Google, payroll is gusto, > billing is Azotel on their servers, phone system is on a vps at Linode, > quickbooks online. All of this keeps me from trying to be a server > administrator and I can grow our revenue. > > > > Sorry to rant and go off topic but I think wisp's shouldn't always try to > do what's cheapest or free when many of the paid solutions will help their > business grow. Outsource anything that is not your core business so you can > be laser focused. > > > > On Sun, Dec 15, 2019, 11:01 AM Ken Hohhof <af...@kwisp.com> wrote: > > I totally missed the existence of this product and apparently the US > version is actually shipping. > > > > Has anyone tried them out? Typical of mesh systems, it doesn’t have a > full complement of Ethernet ports, but 2 is better than 1 like some of the > mesh products out there. > > > > It’s less expensive than a 4011, but it’s pretty and has easy mesh setup. > A 4011 is currently my best Mikrotik family choice for whole home WiFi > coverage in large homes, but it’s overkill for most customers, who > typically don’t need anything close to 10 GigE ports, the 4011 also gets > pretty hot, and it’s expensive. > > > > Rarely in customer homes can we run cables to additional routers and use > CAPsMAN, and the Mikrotik powerline networking product has been > disappointing. Am I missing something about the easy mesh setup? Is this > something I could do with hAP ac or 4011 routers if I just learned how? > The “Audience” product has two 5 GHz radios and apparently uses U-NII-1 for > clients and the upper bands for backhaul between mesh units. > > > > I’m hoping since this runs the regular Mikrotik OS that you don’t really > have to use a phone and the Audience app to set it up and can just use > Winbox from an Ethernet port. That’s something I dislike about most > customer purchased mesh systems like Google/Nest or Eero, you need an app > on your phone and to set up a Google or Eero cloud account, so it’s not > really something our installers are going to want to set up for the > customer. > > -- > AF mailing list > AF@af.afmug.com > http://af.afmug.com/mailman/listinfo/af_af.afmug.com > > -- > AF mailing list > AF@af.afmug.com > http://af.afmug.com/mailman/listinfo/af_af.afmug.com >
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