4 ms·

The ars article about it has a lot more info about why they're doing it and how it works etc. https://arstechnica.com/features/2018/06/exclusive-plumes-new-sup

The ars article about it has a lot more info about why they're doing it and how it works etc. https://arstechnica.com/features/2018/06/exclusive-plumes-new-superpod-hardware-is-here-and-its-fast/ https://arstechnica.com/features/2018/06/exclusive-plumes-ne...

brentjanderson 8y ago
This helped frame the subscription for me: > ...If you let an annual membership lapse, your pods do not turn into paperweights; they just revert to the same status they had when you first turned them on. That means they'd have a very simple "we found each other, good enough" topology rather than a more optimal one determined by Plume's cloud NOC; you'd also lose any other features dependent on the NOC, like client-specific rulesets. > The other perk of a membership in good standing is a rolling lifetime warranty for all pods... even after the original design is no longer manufactured. If you have a v1 pod that fails in 2022, you'll get a replacement with whatever 802.11ax-compliant replacement design is current then, for example. > I'd recommend that anybody who's super angry about the "membership" concept to look into an apples-to-apples comparison that encompasses this lifetime cost. For example, in this article I compared a four-Superpod startup pack at $259. Add a $200 membership and it's $459 compared to the cost of an Eero + 2 Beacons (currently $389) or an Orbi RBK-53 (currently $530). If you're on the fence, you can make the initial buy with an annual membership and upgrade the annual to lifetime with a prorated refund of the remaining time on the annual. There's also a 60-day full-refund policy on both the hardware and the membership fee if you decide the system is not for you. This seems a bit better than my initial impression, but I hope their messaging around the subscription frames it similarly to this article.
- wmf 8y ago
  I wonder if out-of-subscription pods will get security updates or not.
  - dmitrygr 8y ago
    I'm willing to put down real money on a bet that none of them will. There's no money to be made by writing updates. Just ask Samsung:-)
- choward 8y ago
  > Update June 12th, 12:10PM ET: After publication, a Plume representative reached out to say that the company had changes its policies between my phone call with Diner and today. The company will, in fact, require a subscription for Plume Pods to stay functional.
  - onychomys 8y ago
    Sheesh. They just got taken back off my list. That's just so dumb.

brentjanderson 8y ago

This helped frame the subscription for me: > ...If you let an annual membership lapse, your pods do not turn into paperweights; they just revert to the same status they had when you first turned them on. That means they'd have a very simple "we found each other, good enough" topology rather than a more optimal one determined by Plume's cloud NOC; you'd also lose any other features dependent on the NOC, like client-specific rulesets. > The other perk of a membership in good standing is a rolling lifetime warranty for all pods... even after the original design is no longer manufactured. If you have a v1 pod that fails in 2022, you'll get a replacement with whatever 802.11ax-compliant replacement design is current then, for example. > I'd recommend that anybody who's super angry about the "membership" concept to look into an apples-to-apples comparison that encompasses this lifetime cost. For example, in this article I compared a four-Superpod startup pack at $259. Add a $200 membership and it's $459 compared to the cost of an Eero + 2 Beacons (currently $389) or an Orbi RBK-53 (currently $530). If you're on the fence, you can make the initial buy with an annual membership and upgrade the annual to lifetime with a prorated refund of the remaining time on the annual. There's also a 60-day full-refund policy on both the hardware and the membership fee if you decide the system is not for you. This seems a bit better than my initial impression, but I hope their messaging around the subscription frames it similarly to this article.

wmf 8y ago
I wonder if out-of-subscription pods will get security updates or not.
- dmitrygr 8y ago
  I'm willing to put down real money on a bet that none of them will. There's no money to be made by writing updates. Just ask Samsung:-)
choward 8y ago
> Update June 12th, 12:10PM ET: After publication, a Plume representative reached out to say that the company had changes its policies between my phone call with Diner and today. The company will, in fact, require a subscription for Plume Pods to stay functional.
- onychomys 8y ago
  Sheesh. They just got taken back off my list. That's just so dumb.