When will the equipment crunch be over

[jjllc]

I have been using Ubiquiti Networks equipment now for about 1 year. I still have a problem finding a supplier that I can order from on a as needed basis. Is there any plans for increased production? I am trying to make my network all one Vendor as it seems to achieve an overall better performance. But at the present time I have been waiting (patiently until now) to set up 3 new towers. I hope that there is a positive reply to this problem. I have realy liked the performance of this equipment and would like to be able to continue using it. But if I need equipment to repalce bad units I cant afford to wait and see if my order is going to be filled or if all the preorders ahead of me are going to once again wipe out the entire shipment that the suppliers have recieved.

[royco]

Its ridiculous really! Pico2Hps are out of stock for like 3 months already. Its difficult for your business to rely on products that are not available readily, specially when you know that these products are awsome at their price point.

[SaltyTiger]

jjlc / royco

Same issues we have here in Europe.
I hope they wake up pretty soon with distribution !!
I just talked to a few "distributors" here and they told me that they will not have anymore stock before the end of November !!!

So, maybe UBNT could let us know if this is really the case !!

[matt_s989]

Was pondering this question myself. We would love to use these products, but when suppliers have back orders in the hundreds it is hard to rationalize choosing Ubiquiti as our vendor. Will there be a remedy for this or shall I not hold my breath and look for a vendor who can meet demand? As a WISP, we have been testing and experimenting and clearing all the red-tape in our area To begin startup so we made it a choice to wait and see how this panned out. Well a few months waiting to see and nothing is showing us we can consistantly order and receive our needed equipment in a timely manner....

[WHT]

Time to pull up the big-boy undies and get your stuff together!LOL...sounds like when I told Streakwave to put on their big gurl panities...

[UBNT-Robert]

Hi guys --

It is noted that Ubiquiti must solve the supply chain issue or face losing more customers quickly.

Everyone in the company recognizes the urgency of the situation and is working hard to move towards a solution.

The message has been received loud and clear.

[Airwip]

even if you recognizes the urgency of this problem ubnt will already losing customers.

What would you do if you plan to deploy a new side and cant get the equipment from your
perfered manufactor? Your will look what else you can use (off course one you can really get).
Simple bu sad i dont order ubnt produckts anymore till this is solved and even if, some guys will rethink it twice since they dont want have all mixed up stuff in there network.

[jborne]

Is there even a Nanostation2Loco available anymore? There's nothing anywhere...

[pdinoto]

When was the last time you heard a vendor say "Yes, we screwed up on this and are working to fix it"?

If you do not appreciate the value of it, then I guess you never worked with Motorola, Alvarion, Siemens or Alcatel, just to name a few big brands.

Looks like it is more a situation of "we sold more than expected" than "we do not care to produce more". And nobody keeps infinite inventory, right?

Give the guys a break. They got the message. Right to the top.

[george]

When was the last time you heard a vendor say "Yes, we screwed up on this and are working to fix it"?

If you do not appreciate the value of it, then I guess you never worked with Motorola, Alvarion, Siemens or Alcatel, just to name a few big brands.

Looks like it is more a situation of "we sold more than expected" than "we do not care to produce more". And nobody keeps infinite inventory, right?

Give the guys a break. They got the message. Right to the top.

Bollocks. I am a big Ubiquiti fan, but this problem is old, old, old. It is not constructive to have someone dictating how we need to be nicey nicey.

Its past nicey nicey. UBNT needs to get with the program or manage our expectations to what they can deliver. This is NOT carrier grade. No how, no way. The firmware as shipped was junk, and the supply chain is about as far from carrier grade as you can imagine. If I buy carrier grade, it works and I can get it, but I have to pay for it. If it doesn't work, someone's *** is on a plane to fix it.

There is a tradeoff in being fast and cheap, and the tradeoff is not being carrier grade. That is an acceptable compromise, but please don't insult my intelligence by claiming you get all three because it simply ain't so.

Carrier grade is Harris, carrier grade is Dragonwave, carrier grade is Exalt. Carrier grade was Orthogon, maybe still is with the Moto PtP line. Carrier grade might even be the new Trango licensed stuff. Carrier grade is $10K to $40K per backhaul link.

The M series beta and launch are/were a disgrace, and the supply chain issues are bizarre to say the least.

I took a Nano M into a major partner today and prayed they didn't ask about availability. I so want to go with this stuff, but our credibility is now at stake. Ubiquitis is shot already and its going to be really interesting to see what they do to recover it.

George

[WHT]

Tell me how you really feel..........

[WHT]

Give the guys a break. They got the message. Right to the top.UBNT got the message over a year ago. After a year, nothing has changed.

WISPs have to look out for what is best for them. If it means spending twice the cost for CPE that is available when they need to order it, they'll go that route. I can spend $160 for a Mikrotik CPE and loose one month of revenue over the price difference, but at least I have eleven months of steady revenue coming it.

[george]

Tell me how you really feel..........
That was the gentle version. The 'carrier class' slogan is fast becoming a bad joke, unfortunately. You had it right on the supply chain issues, and it seems they are becoming worse on top of the firmware issues.

We are all 'trying', and some of us are of course more trying than others.:icon_razz: Its the 'let's all sing kumbaya' that tends to set me off. I bite my tongue most of the rest of the time. Particularly irritating as there is a major project submission coming up in three weeks (well over $1M just in Ubiquiti-class hardware alone) and I have no idea whether to include UBNT in the equipment list or not.

Frustrating.

George

[johnk]

Everyone in the company recognizes the urgency of the situation and is working hard to move towards a solution.


Robert,

As George says, the supply chain problem is old news. I remember 2 years
ago having big trouble finding PS2's. In fact, I would say the problem
has only gotten worse.

Right now it is hard to find your older, stable products, never mind
the huge number of new AirMax products that just came out.
I suspect things will only get worse. It's really sad.

Since you are the Ubiquiti president, why not inspire some more confidence in us?

Some statements like:
- we've hired XYZ person/company/etc... to resolve the problem...
...they have XX years experience in this area....
- our goal is to double/triple/.../10x production capacity in X months
- the main problem is/was a) parts shortage, b) labour.... etc....

Please tell us why your older, stable products are having supply issues.
I find it totally bizarre that in this current recession with so many
people out of work that this problem exists! What gives?

A few months back I read in this very forum (from Mike) that the problem
was that the N/A distributors weren't placing big enough orders.
Huh? That makes no sense and places all the blame on the distributors.
What's going on? It sounds like you're hiding something.

Is the problem the low margins? Well... raise your prices!

Also, please tell us how you can add so many new products without
making the supply chain issues with your older products worse.
I have a feeling that we're all on a sinking ship.

Why not make a sticky thread in this forum which addresses this issue?
Please treat this problem seriously. Most of us here are small businesses
and these issues affect us in a very big way.

As you can see, I'm grasping at straws..... But I must say, just telling
us that you are "working hard to move towards a solution" doesn't cut
it for me.

My feeling is that you don't really understand the severity of the problem and
don't really understand how frustrated your customers are.

John

[WHT]

A few months back I read in this very forum (from Mike) that the problem was that the N/A distributors weren't placing big enough orders. Huh? That makes no sense and places all the blame on the distributors.

I agree...after over a year of this, you would think the distributors would learn.

[jjllc]

I have been using Ubiquiti Networks equipment now for about 1 year. I still have a problem finding a supplier that I can order from on a as needed basis. Is there any plans for increased production? I am trying to make my network all one Vendor as it seems to achieve an overall better performance. But at the present time I have been waiting (patiently until now) to set up 3 new towers. I hope that there is a positive reply to this problem. I have realy liked the performance of this equipment and would like to be able to continue using it. But if I need equipment to repalce bad units I cant afford to wait and see if my order is going to be filled or if all the preorders ahead of me are going to once again wipe out the entire shipment that the suppliers have recieved.
Went to the conference in Chicago and this issue was addressed.
Sounds like the problem will be resolved soon it may just take a
little while to filter down to the end user.

Thanks Robert for your honesty and I am thrilled that I got a
positive response to this problem.

[johnk]

Went to the conference in Chicago and this issue was addressed.
Sounds like the problem will be resolved soon it may just take a
little while to filter down to the end user.

So.... for those of us who couldn't make it.... what was said?

What makes you think this problem will really be solved?
Only a few months ago they were blaming the problem
on their distributors. As you can see I am cynical.

Some details would be nice. Thanks.

John

[Griminal]

Some details would be nice.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
What he said.

[jlesterbmc]

Lets here an explanation! This is unbelievable. What exactly are you doing to fix your distribution & planning problems?

Is your company run by 5 year olds?

[matt_s989]

I would like to hear how it will be addressed as well. I worked for a major corporation in production control and logistics, if we had issues with a supplier that couldn't produce to meet our demand, we dumped them for another that could. Saying come on guys, we need more stuff isn't fixing the problem. There are always other suppliers that would love to get their hands on a contract that would put their employees to work making the company money. Sounds like you guys need a PC&L director with balls :o)

[WHT]

We can't take anymore chances. We've been burned too many times since spring of last year of coming up with deployment plans with 2.4 UNBT products, only to find a week later we're back into the two month shortage window.

Many factors go into deployments, one is timing. If you make a proposal and suddenly find out you can't fulfill it for months...that is not good, its a disaster. Having a distributor tell me I shouldn't make plans based on availability is absurd.

Last fall, we dropped UBNT products from our list. We considered bringing them back, but the supply problems over the past few months was pretty much the last nail in the coffin. No amount of promises to look into the problem will change that...looking into the problem should have been done last year. We're going to wait a year to see how the supply problems get worked out.

We'll see what fall of 2010 brings.

[wisptec2]

I have to agree with JJLLC on the problem will be solved soon! Robert said that he was going to Taiwan and not going to the next conferences. I think it will take a few mo. to see this solved. He also said that they are looking in to having there own warehouse in the states to help get EQU to distributor's. I know WHT you say they've known since last year but give them another chance, lets back off of hounding them and see!!

Thanks
Eli

[george]

A quick note on customer psychology in North America at least. As long as your customer is *****ing at you, you still have a good chance of retaining them.

As soon as that customer goes quiet, and you KNOW you haven't solved their problem, that customer is gone. May take them a while, but they are history. Probably forever as most ex-customers bear grudges as part of their self-justification for leaving.

So tell me again why we should be quiet? The fact that people are still *****ing is actually good news.

George

[WHT]

As soon as that customer goes quiet, and you KNOW you haven't solved their problem, that customer is gone. May take them a while, but they are history.
But when you have many customers leaving, that "self-justification" becomes "widespread justification.

Twenty years ago, I was a consultant for a nation-wide radio paging company. I told them in my typical sarcastic manner, their policy of ignoring problems and hoping they would go away, would certainly be effective (by loosing customers).

As soon as that customer goes quiet, and you KNOW you haven't solved their problem, that customer is gone.A parallel is what I learned in fire-fighting school. When a gasoline tanker truck stops making noises (from the expanding tank), you're in trouble (as the tank is no longer expanding and about to rupture).

[george]

You're starting to scare me Justin. I went through fireschool for the Navy, then fire leader school, then a whole series of fire/survival/rescue when I worked offshore in the North Sea umpty moons ago.

Agree about your point where individual psychology turns into mob psychology btw. That turns a bad scene into a disaster pretty quickly.

Right now we just have a problem that is fixable. I do think Robert needs to take a public leadership role right now and disclose UBNT's philosphy about the product introduction purchasing cycle and also why we are having problems with mainstream products. There are good reasons for why things are happening, but no one knows so everyone is p*ssed.

George

[jjllc]

So.... for those of us who couldn't make it.... what was said?

What makes you think this problem will really be solved?
Only a few months ago they were blaming the problem
on their distributors. As you can see I am cynical.

Some details would be nice. Thanks.

John

They understand the problem at hand and Robert is going to Tiawan to check on production. They are working on a inventory plan to stock equipment themselves to be able to distribute to the Master resellers. Apparently there was a huge spike in Nano sales causing a massive shortage on equipment. This would explain why they dried up overnight.

There is no possible way for this problem to be solved in a day or two. We are talking about a global strategy not just getting equipment to one or two places. I feel that with the 'Ideas' that the guys at Ubnt are planning to put into place it will help. I also think that some of the best laid plans still fail. We may have to be patient a little while longer because this will not fix itself overnight. Let them place their strategy in motion, if it doesn't change then........

[WHT]

Sounds like this is turning out to be a chipset shortage at the manufacturing point. At least at this round of shortages. No idea what the problem was for the past year.

All we heard in the past year was the distributors blaming UBNT and UBNT blaming the distributors. It wasn't so much the incessant finger pointing, rather it was that it have been going on for over a year and we get no valid real answers.

After having multiple projects indefinitely delayed because of using price points based on UBNT products, we finally had to get back on track with another manufacture. Blame me for being too dependent on a single manufacture, but ya know...there are several manufactures ready and willing to take advantage of UBNT shortages. That's what Deliberant did last year in a promotion.

We all run a FOR PROFIT business. All we want to hear is "Your order has been shipped" Period...

[pawpaw]

I'm currently working for a large WISP and have been planning to start my own company for a few months now. ubnt seems to be the best way to go for my purposes, but I'm really getting a bad feeling about this.

A month or so ago I spoke to a sales rep about getting ubnt products so I could mockup a topology and get my management software config'd and in place before advertising and going live. He told me about being out of stock, and said they wouldn't have anything until end of sept beginning of oct. and told me to call him directly to order...

I called him on the 1st...got vm, so left a message to call me back and update me on projected dates on getting stock in...he didn't call me back...called him 3 more times since then...no return call. Anybody ever hear of a salesman who won't call you back when you want to buy something from him?

So it looks to me like the distributors are getting just as tired of this. And I am interpreting the silence as meaning this is such a long term problem that they don't want to verify suspicions and see all jump ship at once. If they come out and tell us "sorry guys, we don't see having product in your hands for at least six more months, maybe a year." This forum would become a ghost town, everyone would cancel back orders, and... well you see where this is going.

I mean, as long as this has been going on, why isn't there at least a little product getting to distributors? I'm sure in just the time I've been lurking they've had at least some stock manufactured. Where is it?

I need a pico2hp, nano2, bullet2hp, and ps2-ext to finalize administrative side of things, and in the weeks I've been hunting, I haven't found a single piece to start with. When I start I will stay with vendor of choice, not a hodge-podge, and if I don't see anything happening on the ubnt front soon, I'll be going elsewhere, as I'm sure many others will as well. And soon means a week, not a year.

I/we need something difinitive from the top about this, please.

[WHT]

I've only been tracking one distributor over teh past 30 days. There is a pattern were there may be hundreds of radios on back order, a shipment arrives, backorders are filled and there are several hundred in stock, but a few days later the stock is at zero, then in a week they are backordered by a hundred radios.

This has been the pattern for over a year. Will it improve with in a few weeks? I doubt it. Will it improve over the next six months? I hope so.

Perhaps the front end of the wireless industry (the chipset manufacturers followed by the radio manufactures) see it as a short term problem and don't want to ramp up and end up with too much surplus.

But there are to problems with this mindset...

* This isn't' a short term problem. Its been going on for over a year.
* Wireless use and deployments are increasing at a dramatic rate, so there isn't ever going to be a surplus.

Perhaps they will insist its a short term problem and let the industry sort itself out. Over the course of a year it may very well...by having new companies start up.

Heck...for all we know, the cellular wireless companies might be buying up all the chipsets to eventfully drive WISPs out of business.

[Piniongear]

Hi guys --

It is noted that Ubiquiti must solve the supply chain issue or face losing more customers quickly.

Everyone in the company recognizes the urgency of the situation and is working hard to move towards a solution.

The message has been received loud and clear.

These supply issues have been there in one degree or another from day one with UBNT. Towards the beginning, it was not too much of an issue, usually short waits or you could use another UBNT product that was in stock and make it do.

Some have blamed this shortage on Atheros chipsets. I'm not buying it. Now I'll tell you why I don't buy it. I can lay hands on Engenius, Deliberant, Ligo, all in quantity. I'm sure if I poke I can find more manufacturers that use Atheros, and their products are on the shelf.

I love UBNT products. Some may complain about firmware and yes I've had problems with some too. Specially the 3.4 series. You just can't beat the value of this product line, right mix of performance and value.

If I didn't have UBNT equipment in my system now, I would not have the burning desire to keep it all UBNT. As for my supplier, he has done a far better job stocking usable quantities than most. Even so, he has a wisp to run, so his stock goes quickly too.

I guess I may end up with a hybrid system with a hodge podge of two suppliers. Engenius has stocking quantities of there products and they have some good stuff in the same ballpark price, you know sub $80.

I have begun testing Engenius and what they lack in the feature set, they more than make up for in reliability. If UBNT is #1, Engenius would be a close #2.

And lastly, oh mighty ones at UBNT. Point me to a news post, or informational post explaining what the hell the issues are!:icon_evil: I for one, and I sense many others are getting severely annoyed at the lack of any information. Being aware of the problem, and knowing what is causing the problem is quite different. We all know there is a problem, both the company and us. Difference is, you may know what the real problems are, however, by not telling us what they are and how you are working to fix them only serves to infuriate a loyal customer base.

Post some info telling us why this shortage is so prolonged. Did a plant burn in China? Did all the other manufacturers buy out Atheros stock and you have none? Boatload of product sink?

By not giving us an honest straightforward answer on what the problem is and how you are working to fix it, it seems like you don't care. Whether or not you in fact do is irrelevant, the customer will make up his own mind.

Howard

[WHT]

With all the storms in Taiwan over the past few months, production of all Taiwanese electronic products may have problems. But that doesn't explain the UBNT shortages over the past year.

As I predicted last summer (and have more than a few times repeated this), if the problem persists, WISPs will look at other equipment; evenif it means a hodge podge mix of radios to stay in business.

If Engenius stays on the ball, they may improve their feature set.

I suspect why you can find Deliberant, Engenius, etc. is because they haven't gotten as popular...YET.

Traditionally, first to market companies usually retain their leading edge. However Eric's Blair's novel "1984"' describes in the chapters of "The Theory and Practice of Oligarchical Collectivism" of why a power structure will fail. There is a similarity with UBNT products.

[george]

Senao, which I suspect may be Engenius under another banner, was building CB3s about a million years ago and had a pretty good market share for a long while.

I really don't think UBNT were first to market, but they were first to market with a sexy form factor aimed at WISPs.

Now if they can only keep the momentum going...

George

[Piniongear]

With all the storms in Taiwan over the past few months, production of all Taiwanese electronic products may have problems. But that doesn't explain the UBNT shortages over the past year.

As I predicted last summer (and have more than a few times repeated this), if the problem persists, WISPs will look at other equipment; evenif it means a hodge podge mix of radios to stay in business.

If Engenius stays on the ball, they may improve their feature set.

I suspect why you can find Deliberant, Engenius, etc. is because they haven't gotten as popular...YET.

Traditionally, first to market companies usually retain their leading edge. However Eric's Blair's novel "1984"' describes in the chapters of "The Theory and Practice of Oligarchical Collectivism" of why a power structure will fail. There is a similarity with UBNT products.

Engenius is what I have to fill the gaps in with when necessary. I think given the experience I had with Deliberant and Ligo, I'd hate to go back. Junk

Shortages will drive us to find new suppliers. We have to run a business, same as ubiquiti. We need to keep things moving ahead or we can't grow and profit.

Howard

[WHT]

Senao, which I suspect may be Engenius under another banner
They are. Senao tech support is as helpful as the Walmart "Sales Associate" in the computer isle. Contact Engenius direct.

[Dave-D]

Howard, I really like the Engenius EOR7550
product. It's two radios in one outdoor box:
an a/b/g AP with a 'pseudo'-omni antenna
array, and a 5.8Gb bridge with an external
antenna jack for backhaul.

With this one unit, you can extend a network
to a client cluster for all kinds of scenarios.
One obvious example is a temporary outdoor
gathering; lots of permanent uses also apply. Dave

[thewisperer]

was just told today by my supplier not to expect bullet hp2 for months

any thruth to that ?

[boydsoftprez]

I am also looking at the EnGenius product line for our wisp. We have deployed all ubnt & tranzeo up until now. I really hope that ubnt can solve their supply chain problem soon... The 802.11n backhauls sure are nice :) but our business will succeed without ubnt if necessary.

[tellniyi]

Well, as you can see guys, UBNT has kept mum on all the comments after the last one from Robert. I guess it simply means they do nt have any immediate solution. So guys .. i guess i would go the old way again.. back to my Senao/Engenius ... they are the closest to what UBNT has to offer.

Now see what UBNT is making us do.. advertise for their competitor right in their own forum .... this would not happen if and only if we get our favourite UBNT as and when we need it.

[WHT]

Granted there may be a few obscure distributors with one or two hundred radios, but how long to you think the supply will last?

Nano 2, 100 in stock
http://www.bizsyscon.com/product.php?id=4403&wastoproduct=yes

Loco 2, 101 in stock
http://www.bizsyscon.com/product.php?id=5107&wastoproduct=yes

Bet the stock will be zero before the end of the week.

WISP owners should not have to spend time every day searching for the current daily stocks from all the distributors, hoping they can meet their installation needs.

On the other hand, manufactures and distributors may not even give a flying rat's asss about the problem. As long as they don't have unsold stock laying around, they aren't left holding unsold inventory. If we can't get the products, its not their problem.

Deliberant took advantage of the Nano 2 shortages last spring with a splash page, "Tired of waiting for another company's radio?"

Its only a matter of time before we see other companies introducing type N radios with polling that might eclipse UBNT.

One might think perhaps UBNT is comfortable supporting only the individual or non-WISP market, and therefore not really caring about the WISPs. BUT...we know individual consumer isn't their target sales base as indicated by the products (specifically the Bullet family) that require "profession installation".

[WHT]

I'm meeting with a city council tomorrow night that says I could expect 30% penetration of 250 homes in their less then one square mile hamlet. That's 75 homes that could be installed in less than five weeks. Two Engenius APs and $49 CPE radios will fit just perfect.

Why? Because I can get the Engenius while the UBNT products are, well...I'll guess months down the road.

[Griminal]

Why? Because I can get the Engenius while the UBNT products are, well...I'll guess months down the road.

I wonder how soon Engenius will be coming out with a 802.11n CPE?

[WHT]

They already have an AP type N.

[matt_s989]

Well I'm not holding my breath, ordered my supplies (Engenius) on Friday, my startup deployment is within a week, I can't wait months or place an order to only find out it's backordered... I will consider Ubiquiti when the supply issues are resolved.

Sincerely,

Lost Customer

[WHT]

Right behind you. I should be ready for 50 to 80 installs in four to six weeks.

[tellniyi]

It sad to say that i am going that line too.. i have to get my WISP up in about a 2 weeks now. i have waited for UBNT for two months already. I dont think i can wait much longer. I would be in Dubai this week for the GITEX www.gitex.com conference and i think i would just opt for the ENGENIUS there. I asked if UBNT would be at the conference but noone answered. This is sad for me.

[UBNT-Robert]

Guys --

A lot more product is starting to ship right now.

If you need help locating specific product shipping to your location, email ben@ubnt.com

[WHT]

Lot more was shjpped thirty days ago and was sold out in a few days. With the high backorders at the moment, there still may not be any left.

WISP-Router has over 1,100 Nano 5 radios on backorder.

[Piniongear]

Howard, I really like the Engenius EOR7550
product. It's two radios in one outdoor box:
an a/b/g AP with a 'pseudo'-omni antenna
array, and a 5.8Gb bridge with an external
antenna jack for backhaul.

With this one unit, you can extend a network
to a client cluster for all kinds of scenarios.
One obvious example is a temporary outdoor
gathering; lots of permanent uses also apply. Dave

Interesting product. I'd be interested in hearing some of the deployment scenarios you have tried.

[Piniongear]

Guys --

A lot more product is starting to ship right now.

If you need help locating specific product shipping to your location, email ben@ubnt.com

Got a figure on how much and where it might be? Is it just leaving China, or is it docking in L.A?

I'd be surprised if 40,000 units would get the backorders filled and have enough stock to last until the next shipments come in. Talked to a distributor the other week and they had 3 container loads come in and almost all was spoke for back orders. Almost nothing made it to the shelf. :icon_eek: I'm just not big enough to order on speculation of demand, I have to order as I need it. Kudos to my supplier in Canada, he almost always can pull something together. Might not be what I want, but it's something.

[WHT]

"WHAT is arriving?"...

THAT has been one of the sore spots I keep harping on.

"Will it fill the backorders?"

If the problem has been addressed only within the past two or three weeks, then I doubt it. Ramping up production and then waiting for the three week boat ride, I'd say we may not see results until end of November.

[WHT]

On a more encouraging note...

Once the supply is stable, I'm going back to UBNT products.

Admittedly I've been pretty rough with Mike, but for a good reason.

I'm not just any end user that goes ballistic if their downland speed doesn't meed SLA once out of 500 speed tests all day long. I've had to put some projects on indefinite hold and others I padded the price for alternative (but more expensive radios) to make it work.

I suppose what really, really aggravated me was the lack of addressing the problem after so much evidence of a problem and then not resolving it.

A close second reason was lack of meaningful answers, instead of UBNT blaming the distributors and the distributors blaming UBNT.

[UBNT-Mike.Ford]

Hello,

Please direct all comments and questions to ben.moore@ubnt.com

Thanks,

[UBNT-Ben]

Hi Guys,

There are a lot of factors that have gone into the current supply issues. However, we realize in the end it is on us to improve the process and make sure we have fail safe processes in place. Some of the problems have come from the following:

- Lead-times on certain parts/components increasing significantly without notice
- Over supply leading to less orders in place, slowing the product cycle
- Shipment lead-times to distributors

We have not discussed the above in detail as we realize in the end that all of these things must be managed by us. We realize that by not having product available when you need it that it significantly hurts your business. This also significantly hurts our business.

Bottom line...We know there are problems with supply and we are working like crazy to get processes in place to make this better. It will happen. It won't be overnight, but it will happen.

We have also addressed this at each one of our shows.

If anyone has questions, you can email me directly at ben.moore@ubnt.com

Regards,
Ben

[Piniongear]

Hi Guys,

There are a lot of factors that have gone into the current supply issues. However, we realize in the end it is on us to improve the process and make sure we have fail safe processes in place. Some of the problems have come from the following:

- Lead-times on certain parts/components increasing significantly
- Over supply leading to less orders in place, slowing the product cycle
- Shipment lead-times to distributors

We have not discussed the above in detail as we realize in the end that all of these things must be managed by us. We realize that by not having product available when you need it that it significantly hurts your business. This also significantly hurts our business.

Bottom line...We know there are problems with supply and we are working like crazy to get processes in place to make this better. It will happen. It won't be overnight, but it will happen.

We have also addressed this at each one of our shows.

If anyone has questions, you can email me directly at ben.moore@ubnt.com

Regards,
Ben


Thanks for the info Ben. I know we have been hard on you guys, and I'm sure you aren't sitting around smokin' cigars while these problems are afoot. Lack of information has been my biggest beef and others too I'm sure. Doesn't take long to post something in the forums, and it helps alot.

Although, I just can't believe given the chronic shortages that over supply has been an issue. Although I can believe that orders may be slacking up as distributors are as frustrated as we are and may be ordering more Engenius, etc and ordering less UBNT as they feel the supply wan't be there anyway.

:ubnt_banana:rocks.........nao we needz sum.

Howard

[WHT]

- Over supply leading to less orders in place, slowing the product cycleI suggested that possibility over a year ago.

Week 1 - Supply of radios arrive at distributor. Half go to fill back orders.
Week 2 - Remaining radios are sold out in a few days.
Week 3 - No new orders placed because there are no radios.
Week 4 - Bean counters don't see any new orders and don't reorder any radios.

[UBNT-Ben]

Hi WHT -

I was referring to overstock in the channel (i.e. lots of product in the channel). The scenario you list above is not one that really is ever seen as even if products are not in stock, there are still orders coming in to the distributors (thus the backlog).

Regards,
Ben

[johnk]

Bottom line...We know there are problems with supply and we are working like crazy to get processes in place to make this better. It will happen. It won't be overnight, but it will happen.


Hi Ben,

When you say "It won't be overnight", are you talking 1 month, 6 months, 1 year or more????

John

[Griminal]

I think the type of answer people are looking for is this:

We're currently waiting on _____ component to get the supply out to distributors.

We have the following ordered from manufacturing:

______ number of BM2HP
______ number of NSM2
......

These numbers are 75% more than what our distributors currently have ordered and should take care of the lack of supply. Our ______ component supplier tells us that chips should be in supply next week.

"We know there are problems" is an open-ended answer. Folks want hard facts.

My 2 cents.

[WHT]

I was referring to overstock in the channel Oh, no...that's just a possible scenario.

[jjllc]

I think the type of answer people are looking for is this:

We're currently waiting on _____ component to get the supply out to distributors.

We have the following ordered from manufacturing:

______ number of BM2HP
______ number of NSM2
......

These numbers are 75% more than what our distributors currently have ordered and should take care of the lack of supply. Our ______ component supplier tells us that chips should be in supply next week.

"We know there are problems" is an open-ended answer. Folks want hard facts.

My 2 cents.
Give it a rest they say they are working on it and talking it to death wont make it happen any quicker. Doesnt realy matter who what why when or how. Their working on it and supply problems dont fix themselves over night. We all wanted to know what was up and they have told us. Give it a couple of months for products to be made and then shipped and see what happens. Other than that let it go. Wish I wouldnt have started this thread now.

[WHT]

Griminal...

If I hear, "We have 20,000 NS5 radios shipping out next week" then I would not be happy

In my opinion, that is a realistic number.

I know WISP-Router has 1,153 on back order. That's one distributor out of the entire globe. What if 20 distributors at various levels around the world are the same. That means all 20,000 will be gone the moment they arrive.

If I hear "We are producing 10,000 month from here out" that might make me happy.

[WHT]

supply problems dont fix themselves over night.NS2 radios have been in erratic short supply for ummm...18 months now.

[george]

Give it a couple of months for products to be made and then shipped and see what happens. Other than that let it go. Wish I wouldnt have started this thread now.

There is a tricky balance here.

Nobody really enjoys beating up on Ubiquiti, but you ARE aware that they are moving aggressively to a proprietary architecture in AirMAX where we are completely dependant on UBNT for equipment?

No more Engenius or other currently available work-arounds. I remember all too clearly when Trango couldn't deliver for months and just how much fun that was with a closed architecture.

Now is the time to establish confidence in those of us about to take the jump to a 'locked-in' architecture. Or not.

Factual answers certainly help that process.

George

[jjllc]

Yes George I am fully aware of that. I myself though will never set myself up for a fall by building a 'locked in' arhitecture. Thats business suicide. There is not a manufacturer out there that can gaurentee you that they will be able to supply you equipment every single time you need it. So I guess its easy for me....NOT.

[george]

Certainly not business suicide if you're working with a capable manufacturer. Look at all the successful Canopy WISPs out there, and Motorola sure isn't the easiest to work with at times.

Same goes for Alvarion. Proprietary as all get out, but some of the biggest WISPs in the continent use those suppliers.

We use a lot of Nstreme, and MT went through some very rough patches until they got their act at least somewhat together. Caused a lot of heartache on the way though...

Now we seem to be able to get stuff pretty regularly, makes planning a lot easier. May also have something to do with volume, I suspect MT moves a lot of hardware in the course of a year. But then I expect UBNT does too, so that makes the supply chain problems even more of a puzzlement.

George

[jjllc]

NS2 radios have been in erratic short supply for ummm...18 months now.
Had a problem with Tranzeo and EnGenius last month to. Also had to wait on PC Engines for an Alix board. I am waiting on NS2's also. But I am using other equipment that I can get. My network is going to expand wether Ubiquiti has stock or not. They say its going to change lets see if it does.Ya it sucks but talking it to death isnt going to change it now is it.

[jjllc]

Certainly not business suicide if you're working with a capable manufacturer. Look at all the successful Canopy WISPs out there, and Motorola sure isn't the easiest to work with at times.

Same goes for Alvarion. Proprietary as all get out, but some of the biggest WISPs in the continent use those suppliers.

We use a lot of Nstreme, and MT went through some very rough patches until they got their act at least somewhat together. Caused a lot of heartache on the way though...

Now we seem to be able to get stuff pretty regularly, makes planning a lot easier. May also have something to do with volume, I suspect MT moves a lot of hardware in the course of a year. But then I expect UBNT does too, so that makes the supply chain problems even more of a puzzlement.

George
Once again I am just saying, its not something that you can wave a wand over and its just fixed. They say their on it take them for their word and see what happens. This thread just needs to die. Im off of it.

[UBNT-Ben]

Hi Guys,

Please email me directly with questions on supply so that I can address. Bottom line is you will start to see improvements in shipments within next 1-2 months (may take another ~3 weeks from there as products are shipped to the channel). From here, product supply will be regularly stable.

Please note that there is quite a bit of product in the channel now. If you are having trouble finding something, drop me an email.

Regards,
Ben

[tellniyi]

Well guys, i know it hurts not to have your favourite product when you need it but hey, there is nothing we can do about it .. i guess UBNT did not envisage the kind of patronage and loyalty they are getting from us ... so now that they know they have fans out there, the next time they are releasing any product, they will make sure they have at least a 100,000 units produced before they announce to the whole world. Am i rigth Ben?

[boydsoftprez]

UBNT-Ben You say to email you... Where is your email address? I tried to PM you however your account wont accept my pm. Thnaks in advance.

[UBNT-Ben]

Sorry, I had listed my email address in the previous posts. ben.moore@ubnt.com

Regards,
Ben

[marekm]

I emailed Ben last Friday and haven't received a response yet - OK, I can understand he is probably buried alive in email now. Answering the questions (what exactly is being done to resolve the supply chain issues now - with hard facts, numbers and dates) here on the forum should be more efficient than replying to hundreds of individual emails, as it could help many people do some planning (whether to keep waiting for UBNT or switch to other brands now).

1. When will Bullet5 and WispStation5 be shipped to European distributors, and how many? They were supposed to arrive now, but it seems they still haven't (or in insufficient amount).

2. Is it true (that's basically what one distributor has just told me in an email) that UBNT *requires* distributors to display stock they don't actually have? Example: no Bullet5 in stock, but it's still possible to put some in the basket, place an order and pay for it - only then they will call you to tell there is no stock and no known delivery date. I asked them to remove it from the online shop until it is truly available, and they told me they are not allowed to do that.

I strongly suspect someone is giving misleading information (to put it mildly) - I still have a little hope left it's not UBNT though.

[WHT]

2. Is it true (that's basically what one distributor has just told me in an email) that UBNT *requires* distributors to display stock they don't actually have?Yes, I can believe a distributor would have told you that.

No, I can't believe UBNT would require that. I would forward that email to Ben and have him deal with them.

[emsand1]

I have been researching the forums all week and fell in love with the Ubiquiti line mainly due to the active forum. Unfortunately, I spent the last 2 days trying to track down (2) NanoStation5 Loco's with no luck.

www.flytec-usa.com as of 10:50am 10/21/2009 has 30 NanoStation5's so I went with those.

I am not a sales person or affiliated with Fly Tec or Ubiquiti. Just looking to help out. The 5ghz line of almost all Ubiquiti products is on back-order everywhere.

[UBNT-Ben]

I emailed Ben last Friday and haven't received a response yet - OK, I can understand he is probably buried alive in email now. Answering the questions (what exactly is being done to resolve the supply chain issues now - with hard facts, numbers and dates) here on the forum should be more efficient than replying to hundreds of individual emails, as it could help many people do some planning (whether to keep waiting for UBNT or switch to other brands now).

1. When will Bullet5 and WispStation5 be shipped to European distributors, and how many? They were supposed to arrive now, but it seems they still haven't (or in insufficient amount).

2. Is it true (that's basically what one distributor has just told me in an email) that UBNT *requires* distributors to display stock they don't actually have? Example: no Bullet5 in stock, but it's still possible to put some in the basket, place an order and pay for it - only then they will call you to tell there is no stock and no known delivery date. I asked them to remove it from the online shop until it is truly available, and they told me they are not allowed to do that.

I strongly suspect someone is giving misleading information (to put it mildly) - I still have a little hope left it's not UBNT though.

Hi Marek,

Just saw this...Can you forward your email to me? I have not seen any emails from you. I know others from here have emailed me and have received responses.

Bullet5's and WS5's are both being shipped to Europe in next week. Bullet5's should be available now. In a pinch, I can send you a few locations that have in USA as well.

Go ahead and send me your email and I will respond.

Thanks,
Ben

[marekm]

OK, thanks - I've just resent my message, and according to my mail server logs it was accepted by your MX (as was the previous one too, so ask Postini where it is... or check the spam folder).

The distributor in question still has 69 virtual Bullet5's in stock right now... and a lot more NS5, Loco5, WS5 etc. (easy to check, no need to register/login - simply put a large amount in the basket and it will be limited to what is presumably available in stock)

[UBNT-Ben]

Hi Marek,

Just sent you a response. Your emails were for some reason filtered. Thanks for resending.

Regards,
Ben

[jluthman]

Hi guys --

It is noted that Ubiquiti must solve the supply chain issue or face losing more customers quickly.

Everyone in the company recognizes the urgency of the situation and is working hard to move towards a solution.

The message has been received loud and clear.

People are going to complain until it is fixed or find a fix themselves. I know I am getting tired of the problem. Just because you hear the problem, which I do appreciate you mentioning, does not mean there is a solution or set a time line.

[WHT]

Ben told me thay are being air shipped and should appear at distributors this week.

[UBNT-Ben]

Just to clarify...This is for the Loco2's and the Nano2's and not for the 2.4GHz M series products.

Thanks,
Ben

[WHT]

Crap...I was going to order forty Nano M5 radios at the end of the week.

Back to Engenious.....

[UBNT-Mike.Ford]

Crap...I was going to order forty Nano M5 radios at the end of the week.

Back to Engenious.....

The NanoM5's are out there. Ben was refferring to M2 series.

Mike

[UBNT-Ben]

WHT - There are 40 radios here:

http://www.bizsyscon.com/viewproducts.php?searchtext=nsm5

Thanks,
Ben

[mdzidic]

Gosh darn it!!

We are waiting for NS5 Loco 3 month already... It's impossible to find it in EU!!!
Our WISP stopped to work because of UBNT lack of equipement!!

[UBNT-Ben]

Please send me an email - ben.moore@ubnt.com and I can give you additional detail as to availability of the Loco5 in EU.

Thanks,
Ben

[microcom]

I emailed Ben last Friday and haven't received a response yet - OK, I can understand he is probably buried alive in email now. Answering the questions (what exactly is being done to resolve the supply chain issues now - with hard facts, numbers and dates) here on the forum should be more efficient than replying to hundreds of individual emails, as it could help many people do some planning (whether to keep waiting for UBNT or switch to other brands now).

1. When will Bullet5 and WispStation5 be shipped to European distributors, and how many? They were supposed to arrive now, but it seems they still haven't (or in insufficient amount).

2. Is it true (that's basically what one distributor has just told me in an email) that UBNT *requires* distributors to display stock they don't actually have? Example: no Bullet5 in stock, but it's still possible to put some in the basket, place an order and pay for it - only then they will call you to tell there is no stock and no known delivery date. I asked them to remove it from the online shop until it is truly available, and they told me they are not allowed to do that.

I strongly suspect someone is giving misleading information (to put it mildly) - I still have a little hope left it's not UBNT though.
Hi Marekm-

We have both B5 and WS5 in stock (lots of other items, too!)
http://store.microcom.us/bullet5.html
http://store.microcom.us/ws5.html

[WHT]

microcom........

Gee-SUS H. Krist! You have an expected availability of the Loco 5 in FEBRUARY of NEXT YEAR! That's TEN weeks down the road!

I know it not your fault if you can't get them, but the availability time of ten weeks tells me this: Allowing for three weeks to ship from Taiwan to the States, they should start to ship in seven weeks. If it takes four weeks to do a production run, that's three weeks down the road. Sounds like the Loco 5 won't have a production start up for another three weeks.

BSC has 142 in stock, but that's not going to last for another week I bet. Well, there goes another project I was looking at using the Loco 5 radios next month.

[WHT]

God damn it!!

We are waiting for NS5 Loco 3 month already... It's impossible to find it in EU!!!
Our WISP stopped to work because of UBNT lack of equipement!!
I won't be surprise if you don't start for at least another TWO months.

[UBNT-Ben]

mdzidic - Please confirm you were able to get product. Distributors have received.

Thanks,
Ben

[WHT]

Distributors have received WHAT? How MANY of WHAT? What countries?

Will there be any left after one particular distributor fills their back order of 3,000 plus radios?

WISP-Router (for example):
Bullet 2Hp: 708 on back order
Nano 2: 406 on back order
Nano 5: 705 on back order
Nano M5: 372 on back order

What did I mention two weeks ago? Loco 5 not expected until February of next year? After you factor in production times and shipping times, that means the problem was only recently addressed in the past few weeks, in spite of all the complaints over the past 18 months!

I can see this coming. Victimize the manufactures and distributors. WISP owners will be blamed for installation predictions based on unpredictable supply chain problems.

[WHT]

Ben Moore...find me fifty Loco 5 radios.

[UBNT-Mike.Ford]

I'm seriously considering putting a bounty up for B5MHP units as I'm clawing to get some.

Anyone know any distributors out there?


Check streakwave, they should have 1k BM5HP's in stock.

Thanks,

Mike

[marekm]

OK - after a long wait, some devices have finally arrived here - thanks!
Just 3 days ago, I've received a few of each (ordered more than a month ago):
- B5, Test Date: 10/04/09
- WS5, Test Date: 15/10/09
Interestingly, the B5 still ship with 3.3.2 firmware.
Date codes are from mid-September:
- B5, sticker below RJ45 connector: 0939
- WS5, Atheros chip: 0938
So the B5 went quite a long way: 2 weeks from production to test, 6 weeks (!) from test to shipment - perhaps that could be improved in the future.

Anyway, thanks again - still using UBNT after all (at least for now), even though the shortage almost made me try to learn MT :)

[WHT]

Check streakwave, they should have 1k BM5HP's in stock.
Dang it. And we just committed our newspaper's front page write up with Engenius.

Engenius is like a MacDonald's hamburger. It may not be the best, but at least its consistent from month to month.

[UBNT-Ben]

Thanks for the update marekm!

Regards,
Ben

[UBNT-Ben]

WHT -

Streakwave has the Loco5 in stock.

Thanks,
Ben

[WHT]

HAHAAHAH.....They cut me off for being to honest.

[WHT]

Moot point, as of today Tuesday Nov. 24th, Streakwave is sold out of the Loco 5.

[UBNT-Ben]

Yes, they sold the units they had available, but resellers have in the channel now:

http://www.invictuswireless.com/SearchResults.asp?Search=ubiquiti

They will also be getting more early next week.

Thanks,
Ben

[WHT]

Thanks Ben, I'll add Invictus to my distro list.

[webking87]

I really hope I can find some more Nanostation M5 units pretty soon.... i just ran out and have customers waiting for installs.... hopefully i can find just a handful of radios!!!

Does anyone know who might have some?? :icon_frown:

[UBNT-Mike.Ford]

I really hope I can find some more Nanostation M5 units pretty soon.... i just ran out and have customers waiting for installs.... hopefully i can find just a handful of radios!!!

Does anyone know who might have some?? :icon_frown:


Hello,

Check with MicroCom's distribution channel. They sold all of theres to there reseller partners.

Thanks,

Mike

[WHT]

Customer wants me to install around 20 Nano M5 radios by end of year. That means I'll need to have them in my hands in less than two weeks. If I can't find them...

[UBNT-Mike.Ford]

Customer wants me to install around 20 Nano M5 radios by end of year. That means I'll need to have them in my hands in less than two weeks. If I can't find them...


WHT,

They are out there.

Thanks,
Mike

[wireless_guy]

maybe its the chip problem..Atheros is supplying almost all the wireless vendor.

[mhammett]

Well, apparently the problem was a year old when this thread started a year ago. It is still a problem.

[WHT]

Well, apparently the problem was a year old when this thread started a year ago. It is still a problem.Sheee-IT...The problem started in early spring of 2008.