Hi Cambium,
Can you guys provide a bit more information about your AC line that is supposed to launch Q4 this year? It would be helpful just to know what to expect and how to currently deploy products that are on the market.
Thanks!
While there's very little information publicly available on the new 802.11ac line; Cambium/Sakid has said several times (publicly and in the forums) that the 802.11ac line will be fully compatible with existing ePMP/802.11n radios. So a fancy new ePMP 80211ac AP will be a drop in replacement for an existing ePMP 1000/2000 AP. Other then that, not much other news. I think there was some pictures and mention of a new ePMP Force 802.11ac product late last year at WISPAPALOOZA... but there were very few details given.
Maybe Sakid would like to chime in with some updates?
As far as I can remember from the what information came out of Wispaplooza, the 802.11ac product (Force 300, I think), would initially only be a point to point product. I think that's still the only actual 802.11ac product that's been publicly announced.
I believe you are correct, in Q4 a PTP hardware version may be released. I guess it comes down to if they have any set backs or not. Until we get that official date it is a waiting game.
If only it was backward compatible to connect into a 802.11n ePMP2000 Access Point to enable the start of a rollout.
I would take a wild guess and suspect the AP's wont be too behind ;) . Well heres hoping.
I would really just appreciate information from Cambium stating simply release quarters for what ever product and not real specifics.
For example: Scheduled release for AC AP will be in Q X of 2017, Scheduled release of AC CPE will be in Q X of 2018. Something like that allows us to say ok well we don't have to jump ship because another vendor has this now, we can wait it out a few more months for Cambium.
I would advise that you wait till Q1 2018 and you will be happy ;)
@Eric Ozrelic wrote:
While there's very little information publicly available on the new 802.11ac line; Cambium/Sakid has said several times (publicly and in the forums) that the 802.11ac line will be fully compatible with existing ePMP/802.11n radios. So a fancy new ePMP 80211ac AP will be a drop in replacement for an existing ePMP 1000/2000 AP. Other then that, not much other news. I think there was some pictures and mention of a new ePMP Force 802.11ac product late last year at WISPAPALOOZA... but there were very few details given.
Maybe Sakid would like to chime in with some updates?
Sorry for the delayed response. Actively working on 11AC Wave2 products :) The backwards compatibility statement still holds true. We are in the midst of this as we speak. One assumption we are making is that operators will not object to upgrading the existing 11n based SMs to a newer SW load that will allow it to talk the new language with ePMP3000 AP. You woun't get MU-MIMO with it but at least you don't have to do a forced truck roll. We anticipate the solution to allow a hybrid operation where the e3K AP will talk to e3 series subscribers in the 11AC language while also talking to the legacy SMs. This will allow a slower migration path for operators. Hopefully this helps.
Thanks
Sakid
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@Sakid Ahmed wrote:
@Eric Ozrelic wrote:While there's very little information publicly available on the new 802.11ac line; Cambium/Sakid has said several times (publicly and in the forums) that the 802.11ac line will be fully compatible with existing ePMP/802.11n radios. So a fancy new ePMP 80211ac AP will be a drop in replacement for an existing ePMP 1000/2000 AP. Other then that, not much other news. I think there was some pictures and mention of a new ePMP Force 802.11ac product late last year at WISPAPALOOZA... but there were very few details given.
Maybe Sakid would like to chime in with some updates?
Sorry for the delayed response. Actively working on 11AC Wave2 products :) The backwards compatibility statement still holds true. We are in the midst of this as we speak. One assumption we are making is that operators will not object to upgrading the existing 11n based SMs to a newer SW load that will allow it to talk the new language with ePMP3000 AP. You woun't get MU-MIMO with it but at least you don't have to do a forced truck roll. We anticipate the solution to allow a hybrid operation where the e3K AP will talk to e3 series subscribers in the 11AC language while also talking to the legacy SMs. This will allow a slower migration path for operators. Hopefully this helps.
Thanks
Sakid
Great news and information!!!!
and as always, when/if you need a field test done by wisps, let me know ;) i've got some very busy spots needing extra bandwidth.
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Hi Sakid,
Just to clear it up as I have no doubt someone is curious, Elevated hardware will also be compatible with the ePMP3000?
Hi Sakid,
Will ePMP3000 be able to work with 802.11n ePMP clients the same way as wi-fi Access Point 802.11ac wave2 works with 802.11n wi-fi clients ( smartphone, table pc)?
Will it be simular how PMP450m Medusa works in 14:14x14 MIMO ( 7 MIMO 2x2 streams in one frequency channel) with PMP450i MIMO 2x2 clients?
Will ePMP3000 be able to do the same as Medusa does but with 2 streams MIMO2x2 ?
ePMP 3000 will have 4 radios - ( 2 multiplexed streams MIMO2x2 in one frequency channel, or 4:4x4 MIMO).
Will ePMP 3000 sector with 4 radio modules have double capacity of clients quantity per sector and max total BS sector throughput with ordinary 802.11n ePMP 1000 Subscribers vs ePMP1000/2000 sector with 2 radios?
Hi Sakid,
Presumably there will be a new range of 4x4 antennas for the 3K? Will it still work with our existing 2x2 antennas (albeit without MU-MIMO)? And also with the e2K BSA? Will there be a new BSA?
Rich
Sakid, here's a technical question that your answer raises, about backwards compatibility. If I have an 802.11n Wi-Fi station device or access point, it can talk to an 11ac device in 11n mode. So it's a smooth upgrade; MCS 8 and 9 only show up when both sides support it. A certain other radio vendor that I shall not name, but suffice to say that their products are rather ubiquitous, had a hard time with compatibility. Its 11n-derived proprietary-MAC radios did not talk to the 11ac-derived radios without a new release of software that took quite a while to stabilize, and hte ac radios likewise needed a new release to support them. Now it sounds like the ePMP 3000 will have the same issue, that 11n-class devices will need upgraded firmware.
So the question is this: What is it in 11ac (the IEEE part) that is not backwards compatible with 11n in polled-MAC devices? Is this something inherent in 11ac, or did both you and the other vendor have proprietary features that happened to not work with 11ac devices at the other end? Thanks.
This is what I've seen on epmp3000. They will have features as beam steering and 4x4 MUMIMO. Also an 802.11ax version planed as a product soon.
- e3000.png (79.9 KB)
@fgoldstein wrote:
So the question is this: What is it in 11ac (the IEEE part) that is not backwards compatible with 11n in polled-MAC devices? Is this something inherent in 11ac, or did both you and the other vendor have proprietary features that happened to not work with 11ac devices at the other end? Thanks.
The part that's not backwards compatible is the MAC or media access controller. When you buy into a vendors 802.11x development program they give you some basic WiFi MAC code (think super basic software drivers). It's up to the equipment manufacture to take that MAC code and optimize it for whatever it's going to be used for. For equipment vendors that are not wanting to use the 802.11x chips for WiFi use, a whole new MAC needs to be written. Both Ubiquiti and Cambium have decided to focus on creating a new, optimized MAC for the 802.11ac PHY that allows for GPS chips, GPS sync, TDD framing, the ability to use off load chips, special interference filtering mechanisms, secondary spectrum analyzer radios, BSA's, etc. These are all things that you would not be able to use effectively with the stock WiFi MAC. It really comes down to development time and product support hurdles. It's not impossible, it's just not what the majority of operators want. To give you an example, it wasn't till later in ePMP development cycle that they released limited WiFi backwards compatibility mode, and it wasn't until much later that they released the Elevate upgrades for 3rd party 802.11n gear. So again, we might see some sort of 802.11ac compatibility in the future, but I highly doubt it, and frankly would encourage Cambium NOT to do this... again, because it takes away from valuable development time for other features that are more important.
@richinuk wrote:
And also with the e2K BSA? Will there be a new BSA?
Rich
From what I've beend told, the e2K BSA will be compatible with the 3000 AP.
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It would be nice to keep the existing e1000 SMs in the field, even if they just need a software upgrade to be able to talk to the newer AC units. Not having to forklift a client base just to get the new AP is not a friendly notion.
With the Force300's coming out, albeit no GPS timing yet,( which is a deal breaker so far but could be fixed by allowing timing over power) I have a little trouble killing an entire band just for a single ptp link. Maybe its just Canada but we only have 70MHz in the 2.4GHz band and 4.95 to 5.85GHz is getting fairly busy because of all the new 802.11ac/n routers that are replacing older 802.11bgn routers, plus what we are doing doesnt help the noise floor any. PTP links are generally exempt from EIRP limits save for conducted power limits, but each sub band has differing conducted power levels that affect link power and the extra cost in higher gain antenas.
stepping off the soap box now. . . . . .
Is there a feature roadmap that can be publicly made available? Knowing an aproximate time-line for specific features and products is important to us for not just marketing purposes, but to clients that are asking for more bandwidth than can currently be provided ( there is alway a couple clients that what the fastest connections possible despite the cost, good for business while they are your client but they tend to jump ship as soon as someone else can do faster)
Any update on a release date for the EPMP 3000 AP?
On May 15th ePMP Planning for ePMP 3000 webinar got rescheduled for August 15, 2018.