I really appreciate the post Butch. Know that I have been reading (and re-reading) and soaking up all this stuff. I WILL convert on a number of these things (i.e. performing actions that directly address many of the issues presented).
By the way, why are you not a WISP anymore? Doesn't being out of the business feel like you lost a limb? I fear I'm a lifer. For sure not on this end of the business forever, but in it in some way. Hell, maybe I'll write a novel where the central characters are WISPs. Probably also a great TV sitcom somewhere in this business. First frame of the pilot has Marlon riding his combine with his tie dye and wig with a tower in the background. Closing scene cuts to Stu leaving a limo with heavily tinted windows. As he steps out he takes a bit out of an apple. :) Patrick Leary AVP WISP Markets Alvarion, Inc. o: 650.314.2628 c: 760.580.0080 Vonage: 650.641.1243 [EMAIL PROTECTED] -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Butch Evans Sent: Wednesday, September 27, 2006 3:28 PM To: WISPA General List Subject: RE: [WISPA] Real World comparison of Trango-staros-Alvarion On Wed, 27 Sep 2006, Patrick Leary wrote: >WHAT I REALLY took from your detailed post Tom and the posts of >many others these past few days is that, quite simply, Alvarion is >doing an inadequate job of showing our value to WISPs. While we >often might yield the best total result (very time-saving <ergo >cost justifying> installation and solid performance with top >set'n'forget reliability), we are often the last thing tried by >many WISPs. I think this is because there are a great many WISPs out there who use the following equation: COST = VALUE Instead of taking into account that cost is only a portion of the value proposition. I think that Alvarion's gear is (in many cases) the best solution for many things. I can't say that it is ALWAYS the best choice. I think that if you want to change the impression that WISPs have of Alvarion, you need to continue where you started a LONG time ago (before you left this market place) and help them understand that cost and value are NOT equivalent. I think, also, that you (as a manufacturer) need to understand that, while it is true that you offer a HUGE number of features, many people simply don't need all the stuff you offer. In those cases, the cost of your equipment is much too high for the value that they provide. I think that Tom's original post pointed this out very well. I don't know what the cost of the Alvarion gear Tom mentioned goes for, but even if we assume that the link was a $4000 cost. He spent 2 days installing and tweaking this link. What he ended up with is a perfect link with less than $1k in hard equipment cost. This includes the AP that he needs for that location. You have $3k to make up in value in that case. I know that SOME of that (maybe half) would be made up by saving him 1 day's time. Either way, the raw cost of the Alvarion solution would be still about $1k higher. Having said it this way, would Alvarion be able to offer $1k in value above what he already has in place now? Especially considering that he has what he already needs, I doubt that you can. Please don't take this the wrong way, because it is not intended as a bash. I am no longer a WISP, but I DO offer advice to WISPs on equipment selections and have (on several occasions) recommended Alvarion as a potential solution. I will continue to do this when I see it as an appropriate place in the network. -- Butch Evans Network Engineering and Security Consulting 573-276-2879 http://www.butchevans.com/ Mikrotik Certified Consultant (http://www.mikrotik.com/consultants.html) -- WISPA Wireless List: wireless@wispa.org Subscribe/Unsubscribe: http://lists.wispa.org/mailman/listinfo/wireless Archives: http://lists.wispa.org/pipermail/wireless/ ************************************************************************ ************ This footnote confirms that this email message has been scanned by PineApp Mail-SeCure for the presence of malicious code, vandals & computer viruses(191). ************************************************************************ ************ ************************************************************************ ************ This footnote confirms that this email message has been scanned by PineApp Mail-SeCure for the presence of malicious code, vandals & computer viruses(43). ************************************************************************ ************ ************************************************************************************ This footnote confirms that this email message has been scanned by PineApp Mail-SeCure for the presence of malicious code, vandals & computer viruses. ************************************************************************************ -- WISPA Wireless List: wireless@wispa.org Subscribe/Unsubscribe: http://lists.wispa.org/mailman/listinfo/wireless Archives: http://lists.wispa.org/pipermail/wireless/
