4 ms·

> And you have to pay for certification This is the thing that got me down and it seems to be the biggest barrier to entry for commercializing hardware product

by dom96 3y ago

> And you have to pay for certification This is the thing that got me down and it seems to be the biggest barrier to entry for commercializing hardware products. The CE/FCC certification is killer.

konschubert 3y ago
CE is much worse than FCC. Maybe the US Market would work as a start? I can recommend Sunfire Testing for certification. They are used to working with hackers. If you want you can email me and I can maybe help with you with some advice.
- throwaway71271 3y ago
  thats a great reference, thanks!
- anymouse123456 3y ago
  We just had a great experience working with US TECH (https://ustech-lab.com https://ustech-lab.com). The price was reasonable (for what it is), the main contact was great, they were very fast and super flexible with our delays. I know they offer CE, but we just went for FCC on unintentional emitters. It wasn't nearly as challenging as we thought it would be. Expect to pay something around $2,500 to $5,000 depending on how labor intensive your tests are, or become.
  - dom96 3y ago
    > Expect to pay something around $2,500 to $5,000 Yeah, that's what's discouraging. For something that is effectively a hobby project, spending many thousands of dollars is too much of a risk, when you're not even sure people will buy the thing you created.
    - anymouse123456 3y ago
      Agreed. It's really frustrating. FWIW, I've done some digging and at least it's not just a mafia shakedown (like the USB-IF charging thousands for an artificially scarce numeral). The equipment and expertise are both expensive and time consuming. DIY is possible, but would cost considerably more. I'm a little surprised I haven't heard about a single start-up accelerator that has cert gear available...
- dom96 3y ago
  Sadly I am in the UK. I guess I could certify it with the FCC anyway, but my aim was to sell locally initially.
seabass-labrax 3y ago
Would you mind elaborating on what felt problematic, please? I looked into the CE requirements a few years ago and it didn't seem like a large barrier for small electronic devices - nothing that wouldn't be expected in a safe design already, such as ensuring proper earthing or using lead-free components. I'm curious to know what you found so that I don't have any unpleasant surprises should I go ahead with a hardware product! Maybe konschubert also has experiences they could share here.
- konschubert 3y ago
  The issue is that verification costs 10K, no matter if you use a pre-certified radio or not.

by dom96 3y ago

> And you have to pay for certification This is the thing that got me down and it seems to be the biggest barrier to entry for commercializing hardware products. The CE/FCC certification is killer.

konschubert 3y ago

CE is much worse than FCC. Maybe the US Market would work as a start? I can recommend Sunfire Testing for certification. They are used to working with hackers. If you want you can email me and I can maybe help with you with some advice.

throwaway71271 3y ago
thats a great reference, thanks!
anymouse123456 3y ago
We just had a great experience working with US TECH (https://ustech-lab.com https://ustech-lab.com). The price was reasonable (for what it is), the main contact was great, they were very fast and super flexible with our delays. I know they offer CE, but we just went for FCC on unintentional emitters. It wasn't nearly as challenging as we thought it would be. Expect to pay something around $2,500 to $5,000 depending on how labor intensive your tests are, or become.
- dom96 3y ago
  > Expect to pay something around $2,500 to $5,000 Yeah, that's what's discouraging. For something that is effectively a hobby project, spending many thousands of dollars is too much of a risk, when you're not even sure people will buy the thing you created.
  - anymouse123456 3y ago
    Agreed. It's really frustrating. FWIW, I've done some digging and at least it's not just a mafia shakedown (like the USB-IF charging thousands for an artificially scarce numeral). The equipment and expertise are both expensive and time consuming. DIY is possible, but would cost considerably more. I'm a little surprised I haven't heard about a single start-up accelerator that has cert gear available...
dom96 3y ago
Sadly I am in the UK. I guess I could certify it with the FCC anyway, but my aim was to sell locally initially.

seabass-labrax 3y ago

Would you mind elaborating on what felt problematic, please? I looked into the CE requirements a few years ago and it didn't seem like a large barrier for small electronic devices - nothing that wouldn't be expected in a safe design already, such as ensuring proper earthing or using lead-free components. I'm curious to know what you found so that I don't have any unpleasant surprises should I go ahead with a hardware product! Maybe konschubert also has experiences they could share here.

konschubert 3y ago
The issue is that verification costs 10K, no matter if you use a pre-certified radio or not.