Ken, I will answer some of these. I have been using Calix now since 201, 844E since maybe 2016 and here is what I know about your answers. (Could be wrong)
CC+ is basically dead, you would not start with that anymore. I have it now and I am moving to Support Cloud. From what I understand is that CC+ was mostly a third party software that Calix could only do so much with. They wanted to add features and change things but they were not able to fully customize the software. This is why they created Support Cloud (I was told this is completely their own I think) So DME Support Cloud is basically what CC+ is or was, it can do auto setup/firmware/change ssid/see connected devices/do manual channel scans. Think of it as everything you would need for your front staff to easily config and change stuff. The biggest difference that I see in EME is what I have always wanted in CC+. They integrated their NETFLOW analyzer into EME so you can see real time what a customers is doing through the 844E router. I believe they also record it for a few months so when Billy calls in the next day, your front staff can say his internet was slow last night because it looks like the XBOX chewed through 100GB of data at 9PM. The other main feature is I think you can set it to do once a day wifi scans and auto change the channels to mitigate interference. I hope that helps, I am up to 500 844E routers now with 2 failures, one was fried, other 2.4Ghz quit. Best router I have ever used. From: AF <af-boun...@af.afmug.com> On Behalf Of Ken Hohhof Sent: Tuesday, November 20, 2018 10:25 AM To: 'AnimalFarm Microwave Users Group' <af@af.afmug.com> Subject: Re: [AFMUG] Calix Gigacenters - how difficult to implement? Cory, thanks for the info. I think a forum like this one is helpful when dealing with smaller operators like WISPs, you get some leverage by communicating with a bunch of us simultaneously, rather than having to answer the same questions over and over. 1) When you say Support Cloud is your next Gen product set that replaces CC+, how should we interpret that? Is Consumer Connect deprecated and we should only be looking at EME/DME? Or is Support Cloud something you are moving toward in some future timeframe but we should still think in terms of using CC+ today and migrating in the future? 2) Not sure I follow the distinction between EME and DME. Is this just an upgrade, like you could start out on DME, and later decide if you want to upgrade at a higher per sub per month rate and get the additional features? Or is this more of a decision that you make upfront? 3) Do we need to deploy any servers in our network to use the 844E and take advantage of all the features, or is this all a cloud service available from Calix for a fee? I was assuming the latter, but I’m not clear on this point. 4) Do we need to integrate with other billing/operations systems like Powercode or Sonar, or can this be done manually via the Calix cloud services? 5) With DME, do customers get a web portal where they can view analytics and make config changes like port forwarding and QoS for their devices? I could only find information on the embedded web interface in the 844E itself, and that is very basic stuff, not competitive with what customers get with a Netgear Nighthawk or a Google WiFi system, so not going to impress anyone. 6) With the direct sales model and cloud management, there are some signup steps needed to even be able to order some eval units and try them out. Are there other barriers to getting started, like minimum volume commitments? Basically, anything that says if you’re not going to use at least X of these total or per year, Calix is not the right solution for you? Fiber operators are in a different situation, if they are building out to 1,000 locations and expect a 50% take rate, they are going to need 500 routers because every customer is getting one, just like a cable operator where every customer gets a residential or business gateway that also acts as the cable modem. Whereas a WISP faces a decision whether to require that every customer get one and absorb the cost, or to offer it as an optional upgrade and charge a fee for the additional performance and features. Also what to do with existing customers who may have a customer owned router or another brand of leased/managed router like a Mikrotik or Cambium or TP-Link. If we go the route of optional upgrade, then we are only guessing at the take rate. That will also depend on demographics and pricing. My customer base tilts toward miserly and low tech, and the more tech savvy and upscale customers like to shop for their own tech toys. That said, if we decided to eat the cost and offer a free 844E and 804 Mesh units as needed, few people are going to turn down fancy free stuff. (Sorry, that question rambled a bit. Or a lot.) From: AF <af-boun...@af.afmug.com<mailto:af-boun...@af.afmug.com>> On Behalf Of Cory Polman Sent: Tuesday, November 20, 2018 9:05 AM To: AnimalFarm Microwave Users Group <af@af.afmug.com<mailto:af@af.afmug.com>> Subject: Re: [AFMUG] Calix Gigacenters - how difficult to implement? Morning Ken & All! I’m trying to follow all the questions…so I’ll do my best. Let me know where I can help and we’ll see what we can do to help plug the holes. Sometimes there is a lot of info on the Calix site and it can be hard to locate too…make sure you have a log in to get to the engineering documentation. So on the Cloud/CC+ side. Think of Support Cloud as our next Gen product set. So it replaces CC+. However, there are two flavors of Support cloud – EME (Experience Management Addition) and DME (Device Management). So DME is = CC+ with some new features and functionality. If I recall the pricing is in line with CC+. EME is the upgraded version, with Smart Check/flow per sub/tie into the billing system…. Call avoidance reports…etc. Anyway, we can give you a demo of both so you can compare and see. EME has some really great features especially if you have nontechnical folks/of after hour call support desk taking calls. Both the cloud tools support TR 69, some TR 181/TR 98 as well based upon what device your using for a GTWY/Router….with the 804/844E/G/GE we can get some really great analytics, but other devices we can pull some of that info from as well. As far as set up…its very straight forward on both the 844E and 804/Cloud items. We’ll help walk you through and get things going. If you want some help on the marketing materials for managed wifi we have been helping folks with Marketing Consultations as well. Below is a link with some videos/info from folks on here as well. Lastly – Let me know how I can help/where you are at and I’ll be sure to get a call set up. I’d be happy to help heard our folks if they are not getting back to you. Just let me know. My contact info is below…Cory https://www.calix.com/solutions/service-providers/wisps.html https://www.calix.com/platforms/calix_cloud.html Cory Polman-----Calix 612-360-1426-Cell cory.pol...@calix.com<mailto:cory.pol...@calix.com> From: AF <af-boun...@af.afmug.com<mailto:af-boun...@af.afmug.com>> On Behalf Of Ken Hohhof Sent: Monday, November 19, 2018 8:25 PM To: 'AnimalFarm Microwave Users Group' <af@af.afmug.com<mailto:af@af.afmug.com>> Subject: Re: [AFMUG] Calix Gigacenters - how difficult to implement? I should add that I talked to Mike Carpinelli at WISPAmerica in March 2016 and he has been returning my emails and had actually set up a time for a conference. But as I plowed through all the documentation on the Calix site, I couldn’t find any of the basic information most vendors give you, basically a getting started guide. What are you going to need, a step-by-step guide to hooking it all up, and screenshots of the GUI that your people will see, and that your customers will see. Furthermore, from the discussion here, it seems even WISPs that are using Calix products aren’t clear on Calix Cloud vs Consumer Connect, are they the same thing, are they different. It seems like one is too expensive, and the other has the secret sauce and without it you’re missing half the features. Or maybe they are different names for the same thing. Very confusing. Originally I thought I just needed to order a handful of devices for lab and beta testing, and that we’d learn through the hands-on experience. But I backed off when I found the documentation wasn’t telling me any of the things I needed to know. Clearly just getting some devices in my hands wasn’t going to resolve the knowledge gap, if I was finding the documentation totally unhelpful. From: AF <af-boun...@af.afmug.com<mailto:af-boun...@af.afmug.com>> On Behalf Of ch...@wbmfg.com<mailto:ch...@wbmfg.com> Sent: Monday, November 19, 2018 7:00 PM To: af@af.afmug.com<mailto:af@af.afmug.com> Subject: Re: [AFMUG] Calix Gigacenters - how difficult to implement? Cory is about as official as it gets. From: Adam Moffett Sent: Monday, November 19, 2018 4:28 PM To: af@af.afmug.com<mailto:af@af.afmug.com> Subject: Re: [AFMUG] Calix Gigacenters - how difficult to implement? I would love to see "official" answers. I'm looking at routers and managed WiFi for an FTTH build passing around 10,000 households. I haven't made any commitments yet, so I'd be willing to talk about Calix. On 11/19/2018 6:13 PM, ch...@wbmfg.com<mailto:ch...@wbmfg.com> wrote: Actually this is the beginning. From: Ken Hohhof Sent: Friday, November 16, 2018 8:50 AM To: 'AnimalFarm Microwave Users Group' Subject: [AFMUG] Calix Gigacenters - how difficult to implement? For those of you who’ve successfully deployed Calix: I’ve been wanting to do something with the 844E and 804 since WISPAmerica 2.5 years ago, but I feel like I’m at the starting line of a marathon with my feet stuck in buckets full of concrete. Calix has tons of documentation, and after reading it, I feel about 1% smarter. I don’t know what the end user or a tech sees as an interface for analytics and troubleshooting and tweaking settings. I don’t know if you can do a standalone implementation with just the Calix Cloud and some Gigacenters and Mesh units, I get the impression you need to mess with APIs and tie into all sorts of operations systems that we don’t have. I’m not even clear on whether we need to set up some kind of on-network TR-069 server, or if that’s all a cloud service hosted by Calix. Is the Calix stuff relatively straightforward to use, on a par with Cambium cnPilot and cnMaestro Cloud? And maybe Calix documentation is just very confusing or I’m being stupid? Or are these things pretty complicated to incorporate into a WISP network and get all the advantages of the devices and cloud management? I’m trying to decide whether to keep struggling and get more help from Calix, or give up. ________________________________ -- AF mailing list AF@af.afmug.com<mailto:AF@af.afmug.com> http://af.afmug.com/mailman/listinfo/af_af.afmug.com ________________________________ -- AF mailing list AF@af.afmug.com<mailto:AF@af.afmug.com> http://af.afmug.com/mailman/listinfo/af_af.afmug.com
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