Why cutting corners on infrastructure leads to support headaches and long-term losses, by Riaan van Staden, Senior Network Engineer at Duxbury Networking. 

When it comes to building a network, price is always a consideration, especially in the current economic climate. But there's a difference between smart spending and short-term saving. Opting for cheap, untested networking equipment might feel like a win up front, but it often comes at a far greater cost in the long run.

We’ve seen it time and again in the field. A business or reseller installs budget devices to reduce upfront expenditure. Six months later, the calls start. Coverage is patchy. Devices drop off the network. Power issues escalate. And suddenly, the “cost-effective” choice becomes a support nightmare. And this isn’t just a nightmare for the customer, but for the partner who installed it.

The hidden cost of cheap gear usually isn’t visible on the invoice. It shows up in repeated callouts, extended troubleshooting sessions, and hours spent trying to track down technical support from vendors with little or no local presence. Firmware updates may be unavailable or unsupported. Integration with existing platforms becomes a guessing game. And the pressure falls squarely on your team to make things work.

These support issues aren’t just inconvenient but expensive as well. A Gartner-backed study estimates that network downtime costs businesses an average of $5,600 per minute, while 70% of unplanned outages now cost over $100,000. And locally, the pain is just as real. According to another study, a single internet outage can cost South African SMEs around R223,000 per incident. Add to that the R25,000 in quarterly losses that businesses are already absorbing due to unpredictability around loadshedding, and the risk of cutting corners becomes crystal clear.

The reality is that networking infrastructure isn’t just a once-off investment. It’s the backbone of business operations. When performance falters, productivity suffers. When security is compromised, the entire organisation is at risk. And when gear fails, replacements and service calls quickly chew into margins.

Cheap devices typically lack the hardware resilience, firmware reliability, and local support ecosystems that businesses need to stay online and secure. They’re also more prone to overheating, inconsistent power draw (a big concern with PoE deployments), and compatibility issues with modern protocols. Over time, the cost of managing this complexity outweighs any initial savings.

From a reseller perspective, the reputational risk is just as high. End-users rarely blame the brand. Instead, they blame the company that made the recommendation. And when something breaks, it’s your phone that rings first. Over time, this erodes trust and can cost far more than the small savings achieved at the start.

That’s why at Duxbury, we work closely with our partners to ensure that the products they specify are reliable, fit for purpose, and supported locally. Whether it’s an enterprise-grade switch, a mid-market Wi-Fi solution, or a surveillance deployment in a high-risk area, we prioritise long-term performance over short-term pricing.

It’s not about spending more. It’s about spending smart. And ensuring your infrastructure is built to last.

If you're tired of dealing with gear that lets you down, talk to us about solutions that deliver on performance, price and peace of mind. Our team is here to help you get it right the first time.