Ubiquiti Networks (NASDAQ: UBNT) is a multinational technology company started in 2003. Based in Silicon Valley they are a manufacturer of wireless products whose primary focus centers on underserved and emerging markets.
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Ubiquiti Networks formally entered the wireless technology market in June 2005, after announcing its "Super Range" mini-PCI radio card series. The SR2 and SR5 cards were quickly adopted by OEMs and WISPs worldwide due to its disruptive pricing and versatility with existing boards by WRAP, Soekris, Mikrotik and other companies. Operating at the 2.4 and 5.8 GHz bands, the "Super Range" modules would be the first in a long line of Ubiquiti products to use the Atheros chipset.[1]
In January 2006, Ubiquiti Networks announced Freedom Frequency, a new technology which permitted the implementation of frequencies as high as 60 GHz on its radio modules. This encouraged the release of the SR9, a separate card operating at 900 MHz non-standard 802.11 band.
After extending the supported frequencies to the 4.9 GHz band with the SR4 card, Ubiquiti announced the "Xtreme Range" new series featuring two more mini-PCI cards, the XR2 and XR5. Robert J. Pera, CEO of Ubiquiti, attributed improvements to sensitivity, temperature rating and noise immunity to the "customer interactions and shared field testing experiences" as well as "real world scenarios using the Linux MADWIFI driver."[2]
Ubiquiti Networks introduced the PowerStation in May 2007, its first product to feature an integrated radio/antenna design, In the same year, Ubiquiti released more XR cards for the licensed bands to deal with congestion seen in the 2.4 GHz and 5.8 GHz bands. The company received significant attention in August 2007 when a group of Italian amateur radio operators set a distance world record for point-to-point links in the 5.8 GHz spectrum. Using two XR5 cards and a pair of 35 dBi dish antennas, the Italian team was able to establish a 304 km link at data rates between 4-5 Mbps.[3]
In 2008, Ubiquiti announced several new additions to its 802.11 b/g lineup, including the Bullet, NanoStation, NanoStation Loco, PicoStation and RouterStation. What would prove to be characteristic to Ubiquiti products, the Legacy radios were priced cheaply so as to encourage scalability.
The following year gave rise to AirMax, Ubiquiti’s proprietary MIMO TDMA polling technology. The new protocol presented an entire lineup of radio/antenna systems, building on the 802.11 b/g series, including the Rocket M. In order to train Ubiquiti customers, AirMax conferences were held in Chicago, Prague, Warsaw and Madrid. Shortly before the end of 2009, Ubiquiti announced the NanoBridge M and AirGrid M.
Over the course of 2010, AirMax conferences were held in Europe, Asia, and North and South America, including San Jose, where Ubiquiti headquarters are located. More client-based products, including the AirWire, WifiStation and Power AP N, were released. Ubiquiti also began supporting AirMax products for the 900 MHz and 3 GHz bands. In the fourth quarter, Ubiquiti announced its TOUGHCable, AirSync technology and UniFi indoor wireless system. Using GPS technology, AirSync effectively eliminated AP interference experienced by co-located APs. Nominated by fellow wireless companies at WISPAPALOOZA 2010, Ubiquiti won awards for best manufacturer as well as product of the year.[4]
In 2011, Ubiquiti released new antennas for its M series devices as well as new models for the NanoBridge series. In August, outdoor and mini UniFi APs were announced, as well as AirCam/AirVision, an IP camera/NVR software. For a second consecutive year, Ubiquiti received the WISPA Manufacturer of the Year award. During October, Ubiquiti hosted an AirMax conference in Las Vegas, where it announced several new technologies: Rocket Titanium, a Rocket M5 with Gigabit Ethernet ports, TOUGHSwitch, a POE switch, EdgeOS, an advanced routing platform based on Vyatta, UniFi & AirCam Pro series, as well as AirControl, a software-method for managing Ubiquiti devices. These products are scheduled for an end of 2011/first half of 2012 release.
On October 13, 2011, Ubiquiti Networks declared its IPO at 7.04 million shares, $15 per share.[5]
In 2010 and 2011, Ubiquiti Networks was chosen as the WISPA Manufacturer of the Year due to its “popular product line and new innovative products”.[6]