JazzFlute

Is everything working fine, no roaming, connectivity problems etc? Did you move switches on prem too?

Just wondering, has anyone successfully migrated from cloud to on-prem since the announcement? I’m not asking about organisations that were already running on-prem, but specifically those who have installed an on-prem controller and migrated both Access Points and switches. I can’t seem to find anyone who has completed this successfully yet. From the latest update from Cambium, it sounds like there’s hope that cnMaestro and the enterprise product range will continue to be supported. Personally, I’m holding off on making any decisions until there are further announcements, although I’ve backed up everything I can in preparation.

I ended up "helping" with about half of the staff here, but at least it was done properly! 😂 You also get into the whole issue of staff using Outlook on other devices or personal phones, which adds another layer of complexity. A five-minute job can quickly turn into a bit of a nightmare. I think with the new Outlook, you can use the OWA signature as it's available in the drop-down list of signatures to choose from. However, users still need to select it themselves, as it doesn't apply automatically.

Yep, I sent mine in an email along with a short video showing how to add it to OWA and any Outlook apps. That way, staff can add their own name, job title, and other details to the signature themselves.

Only a few class teams to do so done them manually as not a massive chore. The school Data Sync i mentioned got pulled by Microsoft 2 years back and only 3rd party's now do it so will just carry on doing it myself.

Does anyone use School Data Sync (Microsoft) with Arbor to create Class Teams and if yes does it work ok before I start the process.

What cards do you buy?

Think so, if thats the clear layer on top of the ribbons. Always buy the official ribbons so i imagine it is the quality of card im buying.

Maybe it is a female perfume thing I'm not aware of as its all females. Think I'll look on Amazon again for different "expensive" cards.

Does anyone print their own ID/access cards using this printer? I use the manufacturer's colour ribbons, and the print quality is excellent initially. However, I've found that the cards fade quite noticeably after a year or two, even when they're kept in a lanyard holder and aren't subject to any significant wear or rubbing. For the cards themselves, I usually purchase unbranded MIFARE cards from Amazon. They all seem to be fairly similar in quality, regardless of supplier. Has anyone experienced the same issue or found a way to improve the longevity of their cards? Would switching to a different card type, overlay, laminate, or supplier help reduce fading and keep the print quality looking good for longer? Any recommendations would be appreciated.

No, but it does provide some reassurance that the 1st October cliff edge may not happen. Hopefully, it will give the DfE, suppliers, and other stakeholders time to become involved and work towards a solution for everyone. Many schools, including ours, had their Enterprise Wi-Fi installed through CTC, and I doubt there is an expectation that schools can immediately fund a complete replacement with a compliant alternative. The CTC programme was largely aimed at schools with ageing infrastructure and slow network or Wi-Fi performance, many of which did not have the budget to upgrade to modern standards on their own. Given that background, it is difficult to see how those same schools would suddenly have the funding available to design, purchase, and deploy an entirely new wireless solution at short notice.

A quote from Airspan about cnMaestro “We are not buying the entire portfolio that Cambium had, but for everything that we are buying, we’ll continue to support the cloud-based cnMaestro, so any of the customers of these product lines should see no disruption at all,” Jain said.

I’ve just added a new Administrator access account, but when I save the configuration the device attempts to sync and then fails. The network/Internet goes down for a good 10 minutes before coming back online. Even then, the device still shows as offline and requires a power cycle before it appears online again and functions normally. After the reboot, I can see the newly created account, but I’m still unable to log in locally with it. I’ll need to investigate this further, as I can’t keep taking the network offline every time I attempt to make configuration changes.

You definitely got your work cut out then 😂 They use wildix phones and depending on license can put the app on your personal/school mobile phone which is handy

Usually use the M365 CoPilot App and yes sometimes you get that message and usually because it is in demand, not sure you get a better service if you have the full CoPilot License

Not had the best experience with Focus support or account management in the past. On two occasions when moving away from them, additional charges appeared that were not clearly explained. If you do decide to leave, it's worth checking the exit costs carefully, even if you believe your contract has expired. We use Fifteen Group Unified Communications and I've been happy to recommend them. One thing to bear in mind when migrating to any new VoIP system is that you may experience the occasional outage or phone-related issue during the transition and beyond. That's generally the nature of VoIP services, compared to the near 100% uptime many schools were used to with traditional copper phone lines. It's also common for office staff to be sceptical at first and question whether the upgrade is worthwhile, but moving to modern telephony solutions is increasingly necessary and, once established, the benefits usually outweigh the initial teething problems. Unified Communications - Fifteen Group

Cambium Switches – Having read through a number of forum posts, I haven't come across any examples of anyone successfully migrating Cambium switches to an on-premises management solution. I currently have two switches that can only be managed through the cloud. At the time of installation, the engineer advised that they could be managed either via the cloud or locally, but not both simultaneously. I can browse to the login page of both switches using their IP addresses, but I have never been provided with any local administrator credentials, nor were they included in the handover documentation. My understanding is that, because the switches were configured for cloud management from the outset, local credentials may never have been set up. Has anyone been able to log into their switches locally while they are also managed via the cloud, or successfully migrate them from cloud management to an on-premises solution? In addition, the switches have always shown as out of sync when viewing their configuration. From what I recall, the original configuration was applied through cnMaestro, and any attempt to push configuration updates has always failed. When this happens, the network briefly drops, the switches restart, and then everything returns to normal operation. At the time, the installer advised that this was not an issue, but given the current uncertainty around Cambium, I'm interested to know whether others have seen the same behaviour and if there is a recommended way to resolve it. https://community.cambiumnetworks.com/t/guidance-for-cnmaestro-enterprise-customers-updated-18-sep-2026/108849/88

I'd just be cautious about upgrading APs to software versions that aren't specifically recommended. I remember there was an issue around three years ago with one particular release where, once upgraded, it wasn't possible to downgrade to the previous stable version. It took several months before a new software release was issued that resolved the problems. Since then, I've always preferred to stick with the recommended versions, even if newer releases are available, unless there is a specific reason or feature that requires the latest version. This approach tends to minimise the risk of unexpected issues in a live environment.

Definitely not going to move to an on-premises solution without any official announcement. However, I do want to make sure our cloud setup is up to date and organised, just in case data needs to be backed up and downloaded in the future. There is simply too much going on at the moment, especially with it still being the start of the school year.

Going to buy some of these headphones, do you label them or identify them in anyway as planning to give them per student and no stickers "stick" on them?

Haven't got a clue or no documentation regarding local AP Usernames/Passwords. Maybe they are all default when installed🤷🏻‍♂️

I'm a little surprised that there hasn't been, or at least that I haven't seen, any official communication about this from the DfE, vendors, installation partners, CTC partners, or other stakeholders. There is also nothing displayed within CNMaestro itself, which I would have thought would be a relatively straightforward way of notifying customers if there is a potential "cliff-edge" situation approaching. Had I not come across this forum discussion, I would have been completely unaware of the issue, and I suspect many schools are in the same position. It all seems rather strange given the number of schools likely to be affected and the fact that, for many, losing Wi-Fi connectivity would have a significant impact on day-to-day operations.

I got stung with Aerohive too and just crossed my fingers everything kept working but couldn't see or manage annything!

Hopefully, once they have more information and if the on-premises solution proves to be the best option, they will contact all of the schools they have previously worked with and offer it as a service.

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.