I owned a WISP three years ago. I am considering starting up again. Relaying on all my bad experience from the past, a mix of Ubiquiti and Mikrotik, I am looking at Chambium equipment.
Because of rolling hills and trees, 900 MHz looks better but the price of the 450i would make it tough to start.
I have tried 900 MHZ with Mikrotik but 900 didn't seem any better than 2.4 GHz as far as penetration goes.
Here is the question. Is there a way to test 900 MHz coverage with out braking the bank?
Allan - Where are you located? It may be better to have one of our regional sales managers discuss your options. We always love to hear interest in our products, and want to do what we can to support testing to validate that it'll work for you.
You can email me directly if you'd rather not post publicly.
matt@cambiumnetworks.com
Keokuk, Iowa
I posted some of my results with the 900PMP 450I in this thread. Look towards the bottom. Keep in mind this is an area where no other 900MHz solution would even stay connected. The PMP is passing 20Mbps down consistently.
There a a few other threads showing results just like mine as well.
You will be impressed.
Thanks. What is the SM height? I see there are trees but is it hilly of flat?
Sm height is 10-18 feet. A couple of the links are 10-30 feet below the base of the tower.
Jordan
I’m up river from you on the Iowa side about 2 hours I’ve been deploying mini POPs with very similar terrain that you’re dealing with. How did you deploy 3 years ago? single tower structure was it in Keokuk?
It was Keokuk. I would like to talk to you.
Send me private message with your contact info and I will reach out to you tomorrow.
Depending on how many AP's/SM's you might deploy and could commit to, you might be able to convince a Cambium Regional Technical Manager (RTM) to bring out a test kit of PMP450i 900MHz. Alternatively, you could work with a major distributor, like Winncom, to do a test setup and/or try and buy.
In the grand scheme of things, spending about $3000 total for a test setup comprised of an AP, sector, and SM and yagi isn't that big an investment, and if this is 'breaking the bank' then perhaps you should re-evaluate your goals and finances before starting up another WISP.
If for some reason, you weren't able to accomplish any of the above ideas, worst case scenario, you buy it, test it, and if for some reason it doesn't work to your satisfaction... flip it on eBay or to another WISP and get almost all your money back.
I know I'd buy a used cambium 900 mhz :) I switched from Unbiquiti and haven't looked back.