Metrix Communication LLC
623A Broadway Ave East
Seattle, WA 98102

Nanostation 2, Nanostation 2 Loco, Pico2 and Bullet2

Last week, Eric over at ExtremeBoredom.net told me that the Mike and Key Flea Market was happening over the weekend, so after a quick non-planning session, we woke up at 4AM, packed Schuyler’s car (not pictured) full of Nanostations and headed down to Puyallup to show the local HAMs the cheap, unlicensed way to do a long distance data link.   Our last minute planning actually got us a great table next to the girl scout cookies,  and Schuyler’s giant pyramid of NS2s got us a lot of questions.    

I didn’t get a chance to check out the whole show or buy anything fun (I wanted to pick up an oscilliscope for no particular reason) because I was too busy at the booth and slightly dazed from my head cold,  but Schuyler got a box of Metricom hardware and a Tower Beacon (his neighbors will hate him soon).      I did get to meet a lot of new people,  put some faces to email/irc nicks, and get the word out about Metrix, so I’m calling it a successful show, and I look forward to next year.    I might even get my ticket in advance.

The Engenius EOC-1650 reminds us that Engenius has been paying attention and Ubiquiti isn’t the only game in town. The 1650 takes steady aim at the Picostation 2, a product that Ubiquiti has yet to ship. The Engenius unit is small, powerful, and comes with a variety of mounting options.  It is DD-WRT compatible, so if you don’t like their linux based image, you can always swap it out.   Best of all, it exists.

Here are the takeapart pictures

For those of you wondering what the new Loco5 looks like inside,   I took a couple minutes out of the day to snap a few pictures.   No Loco2s yet, so no side by side comparison.   Definitely a lot tighter than the NS5, about 2/3 of the size, but with no external connector.

Bottom line is, you lose some power, some gain, and some flexibility, but it’s smaller and cheaper. Good deal for anyone doing a close clean line of sight bridge, otherwise stick with the Nanostation 5.

I’m sure it’s no surprise to anyone following the saga, but we’ve been extremely conservative in forecasting the arrival of the new Ubiquiti products based on this years delivery of Nanostations. Optimistic folks have been predicting that these will ship in mid December, and we’ve stuck to our story that they will not ship until December 31st at the earliest.

Today, a small handful of Bullet2 and Bullet5s showed up at Metrix. My guess is that this is Ubiquiti’s attempt at a confidence builder, and a sneak preview of what’s coming. Unfortunately, my confidence is still low that we’ll be getting these backorders out before the end of the year. I also learned today that these do not come with POE injectors or power supplies. I had noticed the omission on the specs, so I’m not all that surprised. It is disappointing though. Since we do not have a part number for ubnt poe, I’ll be adding some generic injectors and power supply units to the store in the next few days.  They’re not standard 802.3af, and can take at maximum 23V, so do not use 48V POE with these.

As of right now, expect Bullets, Locos and Picos to ship at the end of the calendar year. I have heard that Routerstations have been pushed until ’sometime in January’. I have no solid estimate on the SR71s.

Because you all love the take-aparts, here’s some shots of the Bullets side by side. The funny wrench is a lens spanner. Don’t use vice-grips. They’re the wrong tool for every job.

Need to get Kismet running? Take a look.

Yes. Metrix will sell all of the new Ubiquiti line, and each product has been priced and placed in the store. I’m just as excited as you are because not only are these products jam packed with features at ridiculously low prices, they’re all small (and we love small). I personally cannot wait to get my hands on a Router Station, as it will make several backburner projects just ‘happen’. USB2 and 3 MiniPCI. Rock.

When will they ship? I just don’t know. I’ve heard that we will get them in December, and that’s what I’ve put in the store, but I honestly think late Q1 2009 is a more likely estimate given Ubiquiti’s performance at supplying nanostations over the past year. If of course, they deliver like last week, it will make for a crazy new year (omfg we have a huge pile of NS2s here. if you’re looking for quantity, contact us today.)