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Network cost analysis — prepared for
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Ron Andrews · Meter Partner
202-441-7683
Meter network cost calculator

What is your network actually costing you?

Switches, wireless, and firewall across all your locations — the LAN layer, not your ISP bill. Adjust your location count to see the full picture: hardware, licensing, MSP labor, and downtime — side by side with Meter's all-in subscription.

Number of locations
← drag to adjust →
150
Years to model
← drag to adjust →
3 years
Annual cost comparison
Status quo
Cisco / Meraki LAN + MSP?A Managed Service Provider — a third-party IT company that manages your Cisco gear. They markup hardware, charge hourly for support tickets, and you still own every escalation.
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per year (OpEx?Operating expense: recurring costs like licensing and MSP labor. Excludes the ~$4,200/site hardware purchase, which hits every 3 years as CapEx. only)
+ CapEx?Capital expenditure: an upfront hardware purchase. Cisco/Meraki switches and APs require full replacement roughly every 3 years — ~$4,200/site. refresh
Middle man
Traditional MSP?A managed service provider resells Cisco hardware (with markup), manages your dashboard, and bills per ticket or project. No hardware included, no SLA on resolution time — you still open the ticket.
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per year (est.)
The upgrade
Meter (all-in?All-in means: switches, APs, firewall, PDUs, cellular backup, installation, 24/7 proactive monitoring, lifecycle upgrades, and ISP support — one flat monthly per-site fee. Nothing extra, ever.)
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per year, zero CapEx
Save $— /yr ? Annual OpEx savings vs. Cisco + MSP. The full picture — including CapEx elimination from never buying hardware again — is in the breakdown below.
Cisco / Meraki LAN + MSP (annual OpEx) —
Traditional MSP (annual) —
Meter subscription (annual) —
3-year total cost of ownership
Estimated LAN infrastructure savings vs. Cisco / Meraki over 3 years
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CapEx?CapEx: zero hardware purchases ever — Cisco requires ~$4,200/site every 3 years. With Meter, hardware is included in the subscription. elimination + OpEx?OpEx: Meter's flat per-site subscription replaces Meraki licensing fees (~$1,140/site/yr) and MSP labor costs. reduction
Meter 3-yr total
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Cisco hardware CapEx?Upfront cost to purchase Cisco/Meraki switches, APs, and routers — required roughly every 3 years. Industry benchmark: ~$4,200/site. With Meter, this line is $0. (over 3 yrs) —
Meraki licensing?Cisco charges ~$1,140/site/yr to maintain software access, security updates, and Meraki dashboard visibility. This fee typically increases 15–25% at renewal — and it's non-optional. (annual × 3 yrs) —
MSP / IT labor (network tickets)?IT/MSP time resolving network issues — estimated at ~23 tickets/month per 50 locations. Benchmark: $620K/yr for a 50-location group, scaled to your count. Meter owns all tickets 24/7. —
Network downtime cost (est.)?Based on 0.8 outages/location/yr × 35 min avg resolution × $240/hr per location in lost productivity. Conservative industry estimate — clinical and operational downtime is often higher. —
Cisco / Meraki total (3 yrs) —
Azure Marketplace Azure customer? Buy Meter through your Microsoft subscription.

Meter is available on the Azure Marketplace and fully transactable through Microsoft — clearing procurement in minutes. If your organization has a Microsoft Azure Consumption Commitment (MACC)?A pre-paid contract with Microsoft to spend a set amount on Azure services. Meter qualifies — so budget you've already committed to Microsoft can pay for your Meter subscription. No new vendor approval, no new CapEx line., Meter spend counts toward it, meaning you may be able to purchase using budget you've already committed to Microsoft. No new vendor approvals, no new CapEx line.

Run the numbers for your org.

Call me and I'll walk through it for your specific situation.

Ron Andrews · Meter Partner
202-441-7683
Call now →
Methodology: Cisco/Meraki hardware: $4,200/site on 3-yr refresh cycle. Meraki licensing: $1,140/site/yr. MSP/IT labor: estimated at $620K base for 50 locations, scaled proportionally. Network downtime: 0.8 outages/location/yr × 35 min avg resolution × $240/hr per location. Meter subscription: $400/site/mo all-in. Traditional MSP estimated at ~30% premium over Cisco OpEx. All figures are conservative industry benchmarks for illustrative purposes. Actual costs vary by contract, region, and configuration. Costs reflect on-premise LAN infrastructure only (switches, wireless APs, firewall, and managed support). WAN/ISP costs are excluded from this comparison. Note: Meter also simplifies ISP coordination and management — included in the subscription at no extra cost.

© Ron Andrews · Meter Partner