What is our primary use case?
We use them as a complete solution from wireless connections including indoor and outdoor and then combine them together in our network. Sometimes we have hospitals that use the solution, however, mainly we use it in hotels. We use the solution to give services to our customers.
How has it helped my organization?
Our company started with the solution ten or so years ago and after that, we developed fast. At this moment, we are one of the top solution providers in the hotel and hospitality business.
What is most valuable?
They're always very helpful to us. They send their technician out from India to Indonesia to help us. We have been very pleased.
It's very robust.
It's easy to deploy.
The after-sales services are helpful. Sometimes, when we don't know something, we can just ask the representative. It's really, really helpful for us.
They always update their firmware. If there's any bug or something wrong, people put it in the forum, and then they are very fast to troubleshoot the issue and change the firmware.
What needs improvement?
The solution just needs to keep doing standard improvements.
There's competition coming in from China and it's half the price. They need to stay competitive in terms of offering and price. There's a solution called Ruijie that is coming from China and growing in popularity.
We've found issues in the past when a user connects with an Apple product. This happened two or three years ago, and they sent a technician to look at the problem. They used firmware to solve the issue and it's my understanding that it's better now.
The problem with this radio wireless technology is that it cannot compete in terms of bandwidth with fiber optics at this moment. That's the biggest weakness.
There could be more bandwidth and less latency. It should be as close to the server as possible. If they could make 20 megahertz channels for megabits throughput, that would be better.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've used the solution for five to six years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The stability is very great. The PMP 1000, the earliest product, we still deploy it. We still have some of the products on our customer sites and then they are still with us after five years. It lasts a long time. It's reliable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
I'd rate scalability five out of five. It's very easy to scale.
We have around 1,000 to 2,000 users on the solution.
How are customer service and support?
Technical support is great. They'll come right to us if necessary. We are very pleased with their level of support.
How would you rate customer service and support?
How was the initial setup?
We use fixed wireless broadband in our network. It's been quite a long time since we deployed. The earlier products are still in the field at this moment. It's built well and we've had it for five years in the field already without having to replace it.
The time it takes to deploy varies. If we put it in-house for broadband wireless access, maybe it will take just two to three hours maximum. The difficulty is only the cabling. That said, connecting the radio to the sector, it's very easy.
For deployment, we only need just two people. For the maintenance itself, we need just one person. There's nothing special when it comes to maintenance. For a project such as a hotel, we might need five people to deploy it.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
I'm not sure about the cost. It may be free if you are on the cloud. High-end products from Cambium PTP, point-to-point radio, maybe cost around $1000 per year. I'm not 100% sure.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
There are other options. In Indonesia itself, we have UBNT, and from China we have Ruijie. There's also Ruckus, Cisco, and Aruba. Those are all great competitors to Cambium.
What other advice do I have?
We are an end-user of the solution.
I hope they keep improving with new products, and with new solutions. I have checked their website these last two or three years. Due to the pandemic, there have been no significant improvements lately. I'm searching for more bandwidth, a more economical price, and that kind of thing.
I'd rate the solution an eight out of ten. If I was asked before the pandemic, it'd be nine, however, I don't see any significant improvements at this moment.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Hybrid Cloud
*Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: partner