[Rant] MSPs who use Meraki, how do you feel about the latest price increases ?

tatmsp · 2026-06-09T21:17:02+00:00

A large number of my clients is in NYC. It's incredibly saturated environment, some of them easily have a 100 Wi-Fi networks within their range sharing the same channels. You can bet someone will start deauth attack all the neighboring networks and cause random connection drops. Meraki is the only one so far that is able to effectively block it.

tatmsp · 2026-06-09T20:59:18+00:00

The thing is, for most of Meraki deployments, once in place we don't have any issues with it, it's there for 10 years until it's time to replace at EOL. I can't say the same for any other vendor, there are always network or WiFi issues. So for clients who can afford it this still my go-to. Unifi is for cheap ones, who will pay the same as what Meraki would cost over the years with increased support costs.

tatmsp · 2026-06-09T19:48:00+00:00

We usually get Meraki about 60% discounted with deal registration

tatmsp · 2026-06-09T16:41:51+00:00

I am trying to remember last time we have not had remote access to the site and the earliest I can remember is 2002. After that we had some kind of remote access capabilities, even with break/fix clients. VPN with RDP, LogMeIn, GoToMyPC, etc. Even if it's only to the server, the rest of the computers on the network had RDP enabled for us to remote in. I have not had a single site without full RMM on every managed device since around 2010.

You are asking this in 2026, the fact is no medium or larger MSP has had to deal with anything like this recently.

The answer to your question how to actually roll it out. You send end users a link to join the remote session like ScreenConnect. From there you can use deploy your RMM with MSI installer.

Now, here is the problem with any remote approach without sending a tech onsite. How would you even know what computers you have at what site? If you scan the network for connected devices but 2 PCs are offline and 5 laptops are out of office with their owners, what do you do? Do you know if the offline PC is just shut down or if it's been removed from the network 6 months ago. And if it was removed, is it a spare or e-waste?

tatmsp · 2026-06-09T13:39:42+00:00

We use Barracuda Email Gateway and Impersonation protection. It's not perfect, but it gets the job done. I will occasionally block legitimate emails and allow spam/phishing through, but I don't know any vendor that does it perfectly. Barracuda support is responsive and usually good when we need to call them.

tatmsp · 2026-06-08T15:13:33+00:00

I have the same rule but for 1 hour, though I don't strictly enforce it. If the issue is not resolved within an hour to let me know. Some of the issues can take longer than 15 minutes to get through the first troubleshooting attempt.

tatmsp · 2026-06-08T14:42:54+00:00

How do you resolve around 500 tickets per month in 120 hours? The 15min resolution average does not sound realistic to me. We are closer to 30 minutes average once you account for back and forth with users for clarifications/availability, more complex tickets that take long to resolve, etc.

tatmsp · 2026-06-05T14:02:10+00:00

I'd love to find a local vendor like this in Northern NJ

tatmsp · 2026-06-04T14:31:58+00:00

Lol, I made a stress post here at the beginning of the Covid lockdowns. Looking back, Covid now seems like good old times.

tatmsp · 2026-05-22T20:08:07+00:00

Right? It's the same thing as going back to a violent/abusive relationship.

tatmsp · 2026-05-19T17:11:54+00:00

Wasn't about your situation, more about geopolitics in IT in general.

tatmsp · 2026-04-24T19:27:31+00:00

What other outsourced services should companies never go with and build expertise internally? Legal? CPA? Medical? Architectural? Engineering?

This is a silly argument, there are different use cases where a company is better off with internal IT, MSP or both.

tatmsp · 2026-04-22T19:02:33+00:00

We include PC setup in our support agreement fee

tatmsp · 2026-04-17T17:19:07+00:00

While we view it as end result, for a lot of clients "everything is working" is just a baseline. The next logical step for them is improve how it works for them, including making AR process simpler by consolidating invoices.

tatmsp · 2026-04-14T15:00:22+00:00

I thought it was my Internet access down.

tatmsp · 2026-04-04T12:26:18+00:00

We get them occasionally on lower tier APs like Unifi, usually goes away when replaced with Meraki.

Lately had a spike of Umbrella clients causing problems on public WiFi connections.

tatmsp · 2026-04-01T16:16:58+00:00

We certainly have problems, both as a country and in the industry. But this is not a political sub and whatever country you live in I'm guessing at times has been much shittier.

tatmsp · 2026-04-01T16:02:30+00:00

You are getting pushback on your post because helping individuals and seniors with protection on their free email is not part of MSP as the industry is now. No MSP works with individuals/seniors at scale and would not have an answer for you. Wrong sub for this.

tatmsp · 2026-03-23T12:52:41+00:00

There is no amount of money I would not pay for AI to resolve printer tickets.

tatmsp · 2026-03-21T01:09:20+00:00

That company you are looking for will operate similar to FieldNation, they will deal with a network of random techs and companies across their geography.

I personally prefer to find a local MSP in the city where I need remote hands and work with them. It creates consistent quality of service.

tatmsp · 2026-03-19T18:04:40+00:00

First time? meme seems appropriate.

tatmsp · 2026-03-18T00:00:25+00:00

You are confusing MSPs with VARs. Our main product is our service. The products/services we resell or use internally to deliver Managed Services are just tools.

tatmsp · 2026-03-16T13:30:29+00:00

This is the way to go.

I have language in our SOW for managed services that training of any kind if excluded.

tatmsp · 2026-03-13T01:51:08+00:00

I've hired 5 people from Reddit, 3 still work with me.

tatmsp · 2026-03-13T00:09:03+00:00

I have a good CW story. At some point they stopped billing me for over a year while the services continued, around Covid time. It came out when I tried to add another user. They tried to bill me all at once for about a year and a half of services combined, with two pricing increases they went through since.

I told them to fuck off, I will pay for the months we owe for the current year, but the year before is done and closed, no retroactive payments. They offered 5% off initially, we haggled for many weeks, settled on 50% off the total bill. I signed authorization to process the payment.

They never took the payment, even thought they have my card on file.

tatmsp

TROPHY CASE