Hi @digitalFounders 

Thanks for posting in our business forum.

digitalFounders wrote

  @Clive_A I feel sometimes that TP-Link is either lost or has some internal issues for not designing and delivery the right products.

 

The ER706W-4G feels like a nice product for the consumer segment that wants to upgrade to something more professional. In my case, I have a customer that has a second house and would like to have a 4G router in its home, and setup a WiFi mesh network with another AP.

 

I can go to the home segment by installing a DECO 4G/5G kit, and then give the user access to the DECO app. My work is done there, and it feels like I leave the customer by itself, as I no longer have remote access to his network. Impossible to remotely troubleshoot.

 

Or, I could go the Omada segment and install him some good cloud connected hardware that allows me to manage his network, and also give him access to the controller so that he can feel ownership of the network and adjust several simple things, like changing its WiFi password. A setup with a ER706W-4G connected to the Essential Controller, with another EAP installed in the house or exterior would be awesome: he can do simple things and I can troubleshoot the issues remotely, specially with a cheap maintenance contract.

 

But no. Just out of nowhere, the ER706W-4G is designed without Essential Controller ability, so it needs an extra OC200 there. That's not a problem price wise, but an exciting new option goes down the drain because yes. And lets not talk about lacking PoE, that requires another switch. Not a problem using mesh, as each AP should be directly powered though, but strange in homes with a basic ethernet wiring.

 

I am not a PM, so some of the points are not answered correctly. Just so you know, this is a disclaimer before I discuss this with you.

 

(My view) The Omada products are now more customer-oriented. We have released several models that are not very pro-business. 4G is not perfect or ideal for business. For a generic business that requires a dedicated line and multi-landline to enable load balance, it is only made for some home users and special environments where you cannot get the second landline.

 

From what I learned, there is no real business, small or medium networks cannot afford a second landline. 4G is not (enough) gonna amend the business loss if it faces a WAN down.

Very small, home-like networks can benefit from the 4G and others and of course, you are budget-sensitive as well when you choose not to get a second landline to ensure the SLA.

 

Of course, there are some overlapped areas/functions between the Deco and Omada. There are two departments of the development team. They, of course, have something in common as certain pro-home users can benefit from certain features and it could be a selling point to them.

There are no clear boundaries between the pro and home unless certain functions like multi-VPN, VLAN interface, DPI, Smart QoS, or other fancy features.

 

Essential was born to be limited. I don't know how it goes down this road. I am not specialized in the controller and not to good at this new controller but based on what I know about this industry, it just gives you a taste of the cloud management. It will of course charge you for more features like CBC standard.

That's more like creating the hierarchy for you or if you cannot accept that, consider the annual license or get the local controller.

No companies offers you cloud access for free to enjoy every feature. The maintenance of the cloud is not expensive. Especially for business. Personal can get a great deal from the VPS but not for large companies which SLA and other add-ons would cost greatly.

 

digitalFounders wrote

 

Why would TP-Link not release a ER7212PC new version, with 4G/5G backup (integrated, not a USB 4G) and PoE so that we can deploy that unit with some APs to SMB and power users, and call it a day?

 

If this is to force the users to buy more hardware, hey, that's ok, but at least make them in some form factor that can be nicely stacked and firmly linked together, not a couple of pieces that we have to zip-tie together.

You are thinking it too perfectly. Everything integrated, nah. I understand you want an everything-in-one device but this is not gonna be possible.

There are already some strange naming products out, DR3650v which is out of the format rules.

 

When you did not find such a product on the market, that's likely to be the case when it is hardware-impossible. I understand you.

I have been considering new cars recently, but I find nothing fits what I want, I want it to be as big as a full-size SUV(5 meters), the appearance of a sedan or driving seat is similar to the sedan, PHEV(fuel and electric), but high enough for tall driver, good enough with pilot driving features, with fully or mainly equipped with physical buttons, not touch screen, four-wheeI, good control for highway. But I have not found anything like this, it asks for something like an MPV when it comes to the size or a full-size SUV. But like a sedan? You have a full-size sedan but it does not have more seats like MPV. I also enjoy sports driving when I am on the highway.

 

It just does not exist due to the tech or the design for such a thing is impossible.

 

As for the router, you gotta integrate a computer that can compute the controller, with PoE, NPU, and a powerful CPU. Also, need a good switching chip or maybe you ask for SFP+ or 10Gb RJ45, it has to be equipped with a good heat dissipator.

 

CPU iterates every year, so if we migrate an x64 CPU, that's more like a server and overkill in the performance. Will you accept the price of a managed switch like our SX6000 to get a powerful router if everything you asked for is doable/possible?

I brought up CPU here as the router usually uses ARM for price consideration and power consumption. As our platform advances, we will add more features so the upgrade of RAM and other hardware is normal. I wonder how many people would pay for the overkill and performance redundancy and the future proof for their growing business? Of course, we assume everything you suggested is possible. 

 

And for the all-in-one, you also need to accept the fast hardware updates as mentioned, every year updates, and not future-proof, and you gotta pay for the hardware iterations. Will that also be acceptable to pay the same price or a similar price for an L2+ switch? $ 500-1000?