Cambium Wi-Fi in Schools

[synaesthesia]

Jamie at Atom has posted the following on ANME which might offer a slight bit of reassurance:

 

"Spoken to a few people this morning, including UK distributors about this.  Short answer is don't panic yet.  I won't bore with all the details, but they do expect things to sort themselves out.

If I learn anything else, I'll update here"

[colly72]

We looked at them when renewing our WIfi in Spring but discounted them as we were worried about this sort of thing happening.  We ended up renewing our Cisco Meraki network.  Much more expensive but looks to have avoided a headache further down the line.  It's a timely reminder that, even when budgets are stretched, there's more than just the bottom line to consider, when considering critical IT infrastructure in Schools.

 

Hopefully someone will come in and take them on, so their kit can remain under support.

[synaesthesia]

Disagree to a point, Cambium were a very strong prospect. It wasn't that long ago even on here where people thought the same about Ubiquiti who share the same roots, and many people would choose the latter over many of the "big" players regardless of the financial aspect. And it's not like the tech at least wasn't from a strong background, if the name was still Motorola people wouldn't bat an eye.

However it's clear the writing was on the wall in this instance from at least March this year.

 

No apparent updates overnight unfortunately but some research has given me a slightly clearer understanding of the setup. Whilst the US arm "disowned" the UK/EMEA arm effectively it was still the controller/parent company. Section 11 bankruptcy in the states isn't as bad as it sounds, it allows for a large scale restructure which in their case is the dissolution without any severance pay of 53% of their entire global workforce and closure of the EMEA arm as expected.

In March when they were delisted from NASDAQ, they had appealed this - a decision which was refused finally just at the back end of August so they remained delisted despite having apparently caught up with their filing records at SEC (US counterpart of Companies House), they were clearly not convinced by the state of the financials - https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1738177/000119312526389901/cmbmf-20260911.htm

 

There's some good reading here about the devices/platforms themselves - https://wirelessnerd.net/2026/09/14/cambium-s-radios-will-outlive-the-company-the-last-great/ and a few sources on Linkedin are saying that whilst it's absolutely technically possible to migrate over to local VM, it does still need someone to "flick the switch" re licensing, very much worth doing just to cover ourselves as the future of things like cnMaestro is entirely unanswered and uncertain.

 

[Rob_D]

35 minutes ago, synaesthesia said:

It wasn't that long ago even on here where people thought the same about Ubiquiti

That they were a strong prospect? I thought people still thought that, did I miss something?

[FragglePete]

Interesting article, and it makes some good points on the Cambium Stuff.   It's good hardware.

 

It works, and it works really well.  Since having it installed over three years ago, we have had zero problems with it.  No issues.  No one has complained about Wi-Fi performace or any dead spots around our site, the only issues we've had has been down to the NPS server onsite with RADIUS authentication after a dubious Windows Security Update.  Upgrading the firmware on the APs has always worked with no fuss.  Just updated all 94 APs we have to their latest firmware over night, and I've come in this morning with all APs up and running.  

 

Interestingly, I'm getting a new notice in cnMaestro about an update to 6.3.0 happening on Wednesday.  Automated?  Or is someone still plugging away at it.

 

Hope it gets rescued in some form or other.

 

Pete

 

 

[ITGuyNW]

Yeah when we had the Cambium system we had zero complaints whatsoever, it was just that CtC came along and we had to jump ship.

 

I am guessing the setup of having licence costs built into the hardware rather than an ongoing subscription has possibly hurt them.

[synaesthesia]

21 minutes ago, Rob_D said:

That they were a strong prospect? I thought people still thought that, did I miss something?

No sorry, I meant that people used to think they were a bit risky - very much like Cambium, I recall having to convince people that it was a good system especially for the money, and that many local authorities were using them (both in schools and on here).

 

[MichaelAddinell]

1 hour ago, FragglePete said:

Interesting article, and it makes some good points on the Cambium Stuff.   It's good hardware.

 

It works, and it works really well.  Since having it installed over three years ago, we have had zero problems with it.  No issues.  No one has complained about Wi-Fi performace or any dead spots around our site, the only issues we've had has been down to the NPS server onsite with RADIUS authentication after a dubious Windows Security Update.  Upgrading the firmware on the APs has always worked with no fuss.  Just updated all 94 APs we have to their latest firmware over night, and I've come in this morning with all APs up and running.  

 

Interestingly, I'm getting a new notice in cnMaestro about an update to 6.3.0 happening on Wednesday.  Automated?  Or is someone still plugging away at it.

 

Hope it gets rescued in some form or other.

 

Pete

 

 

US is still running although on a much lower staff count. 

Europe has had pretty much all workforce gone with only a couple left, likely until end of month.

 

They are still hoping for a buyout but its really on the edge i would say now. 

 

News is very little from Cambium themselves and anything coming out isnt sounding too good.

 

For anyone wanting to go On-Prem this should be free and below is the guide for this

 

https://www.cambiumnetworks.com/resource/cnmaestro-on-premises-user-guide/

[JazzFlute]

3 minutes ago, MichaelAddinell said:

US is still running although on a much lower staff count. 

Europe has had pretty much all workforce gone with only a couple left, likely until end of month.

 

They are still hoping for a buyout but its really on the edge i would say now. 

 

News is very little from Cambium themselves and anything coming out isnt sounding too good.

 

For anyone wanting to go On-Prem this should be free and below is the guide for this

 

https://www.cambiumnetworks.com/resource/cnmaestro-on-premises-user-guide/

 

That's a lot of pages to look through.  Wonder if cloud management does end that some company's will provide a service to move from cloud to On-Prem

[MichaelAddinell]

1 minute ago, JazzFlute said:

 

That's a lot of pages to look through.  Wonder if cloud management does end that some company's will provide a service to move from cloud to On-Prem

It can be done as a service, but for anyone that want to do it themselves they also can. 

[Fazza]

1 hour ago, MichaelAddinell said:

For anyone wanting to go On-Prem this should be free and below is the guide for this

 

https://www.cambiumnetworks.com/resource/cnmaestro-on-premises-user-guide/

 

My advice for anyone who has a cambium network, download what you need to download ASAP in case it disappears at a later date.

[synaesthesia]

If running Hyper-V, extract the OVA appliance and use the solarwinds V2V app to convert the VMDKs (x2) to VHDX. Secure boot off.

[FragglePete]

3 hours ago, MichaelAddinell said:

US is still running although on a much lower staff count. 

Europe has had pretty much all workforce gone with only a couple left, likely until end of month.

 

They are still hoping for a buyout but its really on the edge i would say now. 

 

News is very little from Cambium themselves and anything coming out isnt sounding too good.

 

For anyone wanting to go On-Prem this should be free and below is the guide for this

 

https://www.cambiumnetworks.com/resource/cnmaestro-on-premises-user-guide/

 

So, do we start panicking yet ?

 

Downloading what I can, but the only thing I can export from cnMaestro is the Wi-Fi Profiles Config.  Seems to be no way for an end user to 'backup' their cnMaestro Cloud set up.

 

Pete

[notalot]

Personally based on what I have heard over the weekend, I downloaded the on-prem software but I'm not stressing about setting it up (bigger fish to fry in September).

Worst case the cloud goes down and the AP's will continue to function but wont get any config changes (I have Cambium at 18 sites both secondary and primary). We also only use PSK and epsk rather than Radius.

 

I'm sure Cambium will make a statement soon.

[MichaelAddinell]

5 minutes ago, FragglePete said:

 

So, do we start panicking yet ?

 

Downloading what I can, but the only thing I can export from cnMaestro is the Wi-Fi Profiles Config.  Seems to be no way for an end user to 'backup' their cnMaestro Cloud set up.

 

Pete

A little bit yes, really not an ideal scenario. 

Getting the On Prem stuff ready is more just to cover should the worst happen. 

 

Let me see if can get some answers in regards to what can be downloaded.

 

Might be a good idea to raise with Cambium Support too to assist while still have the chance. 

With so many now lost jobs its getting harder for the info but i will keep trying

[Andycat]

4 minutes ago, MichaelAddinell said:

A little bit yes, really not an ideal scenario. 

Getting the On Prem stuff ready is more just to cover should the worst happen. 

 

Let me see if can get some answers in regards to what can be downloaded.

 

Might be a good idea to raise with Cambium Support too to assist while still have the chance. 

With so many now lost jobs its getting harder for the info but i will keep trying

 

We're a new install so have support tickets open, but not had any responses since Friday on them.

[DavR]

I've downloaded the server appliance, and latest AP firmwares, just in case, but I've not done anything with them. I'll wait and see what we hear.

 

My main concern is that I've got an outstanding RMA for one AP, and neither Cambium nor the third party supplier who are processing it are giving me any information. Hypothetically planning where I can stand to lose an AP in the layout if I can't get this one replaced, which isn't ideal on a 12 month old system.

[PrimaryNetMan]

RSM UK Restructuring Advisory LLP have been appointed as administrators https://investors.cambiumnetworks.com/node/10551/html 

 

Quote

Although the Administrators will attempt to sell the Company’s assets, including some or all of the Company’s business lines, the Company anticipates that all of the remaining entities part of the CNL group will be wound up in locally administered processes.

 

[colly72]

5 hours ago, synaesthesia said:

Disagree to a point, Cambium were a very strong prospect. It wasn't that long ago even on here where people thought the same about Ubiquiti who share the same roots, and many people would choose the latter over many of the "big" players regardless of the financial aspect. And it's not like the tech at least wasn't from a strong background, if the name was still Motorola people wouldn't bat an eye.

However it's clear the writing was on the wall in this instance from at least March this year.

 

No apparent updates overnight unfortunately but some research has given me a slightly clearer understanding of the setup. Whilst the US arm "disowned" the UK/EMEA arm effectively it was still the controller/parent company. Section 11 bankruptcy in the states isn't as bad as it sounds, it allows for a large scale restructure which in their case is the dissolution without any severance pay of 53% of their entire global workforce and closure of the EMEA arm as expected.

In March when they were delisted from NASDAQ, they had appealed this - a decision which was refused finally just at the back end of August so they remained delisted despite having apparently caught up with their filing records at SEC (US counterpart of Companies House), they were clearly not convinced by the state of the financials - https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1738177/000119312526389901/cmbmf-20260911.htm

 

There's some good reading here about the devices/platforms themselves - https://wirelessnerd.net/2026/09/14/cambium-s-radios-will-outlive-the-company-the-last-great/ and a few sources on Linkedin are saying that whilst it's absolutely technically possible to migrate over to local VM, it does still need someone to "flick the switch" re licensing, very much worth doing just to cover ourselves as the future of things like cnMaestro is entirely unanswered and uncertain.

 

In a roundabout way, I think you're actually part agreeing with what I say (please feel free to correct me!), in that you're arguing that price is not the only consideration but that the product is technically strong too.  I would argue that a vendors financial strength and size is equally relevant and although it's never a guarantee that something like this can't happen, it's important when considering the likelihood of the sh*t hitting the fan.  Cambium might have been born from Motorola but they've been independent for years.

 

It comes down to risk/vendor management.  What's right for one School or institution, might not be right for another. And that's OK, as long as you've been through the process......

[synaesthesia]

Quite right - probably should have said agree to a point  It's been a long couple of weeks!

Ruckus was also similarly thought of in the late noughties/early tens, and even now it's nearly always the name on the tip of peoples tongues ahead of the bigger enterprise players. Not sure why, never could stand that damn finickety system!  But still better than Aruba Central

[FragglePete]

1 hour ago, notalot said:

Worst case the cloud goes down and the AP's will continue to function but wont get any config changes (I have Cambium at 18 sites both secondary and primary). We also only use PSK and epsk rather than Radius.

 

 

That's something I'm trying to understand right now.  The configuration obviously goes down from the controller to the APs themselves, so for PSK it'll work.   I'm wondering what will happen in the case of WPA3 Radius?  Is it the controller doing the authenticating with our on-side NPS Server or are the APs with the configuration doing to direct talking to the NPS server and authenticating users?  So, if the controller does go pop over night, will RADIUS authentication still work?

Pete

[synaesthesia]

I believe so as the configuration is run directly from the device. However without the cloud controller you have no visibility of the devices so you're not longer proactively managing them, you're possibly no longer KCSIE/CE compliant if you can't track what devices are where and used by whom, no guest portal. However if the cloud service goes, will they automatically say NOPE if they can't verify their own license?

I think it's frankly daft to just sit and do nothing assuming it'll all work out - dereliction of duty if anything especially if there's a reasonably simple workaround and even more so working entirely on the assumption that the cloud dropping means everything just ticks along as normal - are you *sure* the licensing isn't strict and only set to cater for short outages of say, 12 to 24 hours?

 

Edited yesterday at 14:24 by synaesthesia

[colly72]

22 minutes ago, synaesthesia said:

Quite right - probably should have said agree to a point  It's been a long couple of weeks!

Ruckus was also similarly thought of in the late noughties/early tens, and even now it's nearly always the name on the tip of peoples tongues ahead of the bigger enterprise players. Not sure why, never could stand that damn finickety system!  But still better than Aruba Central

You could add Aerohive and Meru into the mix too!!

[JazzFlute]

I would have thought that schools that had this installed through CTC would have been contacted by the companies involved, such as Converge, and provided with guidance on the next steps.

[synaesthesia]

1 minute ago, JazzFlute said:

 

I would have thought that schools that had this installed through CTC would have been contacted by the companies involved, such as Converge, and provided with guidance on the next steps.

So far they know about as much as we do - our CtC install is still effectively ongoing, but both our framework supplier and the end installers have been entirely transparent. When they get more information I'm confident they'll pass it on. It seems like difficulty is stemming from the parent company's lack of transparency and/or communication on it, which speaks volumes.