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MeterUp25: Meter Unleashes Nine New Hardware Platforms
Meter completely redesigned its hardware stack in less than a year, introducing nine new platforms for access points, switches, firewalls, and gateways that can further reshape the competitive landscape.
24/11/2025
Key Highlights:
Meter hardware design is highly meticulous, focusing on engineering precision across port placement, air movement, and power management to ensure performance and extended durability.
This integrated approach forms a cohesive system intended to eliminate the fragmented, labor-intensive experience of piecing together disparate legacy networking equipment.
The new F-Series Firewalls offer built-in High Availability and significantly high stateful throughput (up to 50+ Gbps on the F1) while maintaining virtually noiseless operation (sub-20 dBA).
The S-Series Switches standardize on multi-gigabit (2.5 GbE) port speeds with high-speed uplinks (up to 25 Gbps) and PoE++ across all ports for efficient Wi-Fi 7 power delivery.
The A-Series Access Points introduce Wi-Fi 7 capabilities and feature custom circuitry enabling high radio rejection (120 dB) for extremely stable, high-throughput 5 GHz and 6 GHz operation.
The News
At MeterUp 2025, Meter unveiled a complete redesign of its hardware stack: nine new platforms, designed and developed in less than a year, spanning access points, switches, firewalls, and gateways. In early 2026, the new hardware will begin rolling out to customers as part of their monthly service. For more information, read the Meter blog by Joshua Markell, Jenny Ouk, Saman Saeidi, and Saied Haddad.
Analyst Take
In less than a year, Meter completely redesigned its hardware stack, unveiling nine new platforms encompassing access points, switches, firewalls, and gateways. The design of each device is the result of thousands of deliberate engineering choices, ranging from the placement of ports and the dynamics of air movement to the specific operation of the cooling fan and efficient power management. Collectively, these elements are built to form a cohesive hardware system that is meticulously engineered for advantageous performance, extended durability, and flexible integration into Meter's unified network stack.
This integrated approach is fundamentally driven by the goal of achieving superior customer outcomes. Meter aims to eliminate the fragmented, labor-intensive experience characteristic of legacy networking, which often forces customers to manually piece together disparate equipment and spend significant time resolving complex configuration issues. Furthermore, I find that designing and manufacturing the hardware internally enables Meter to leverage shared architectures and components, ensuring enhanced speed, reliability, and consistent performance across the entire technology stack, which benefits both the customer and the company.
Drill Down into the Nine New Hardware Platforms
F-Series (Firewalls)
The new Meter Firewalls offer built-in high availability and significantly higher throughput while maintaining virtually noiseless operation and a durable design. The series includes:
F1: An ultra-high-performance firewall for demanding sites, offering 50+ Gbps stateful firewall throughput and 13+ Gbps IDS/IPS. It features 4 x SFP56 (50Gbps) uplinks, 4 x SFP (1Gbps), and 4 x 2.5 GbE (one dedicated PoE+ for the G1 Gateway), all while maintaining sub-20 dBA acoustic performance.
F2: Built on the same architecture as the F1 for standard deployments, this model provides 20+ Gbps stateful firewall throughput and 13+ Gbps IDS/IPS without sacrificing security. It includes 4 x SFP+ (10Gbps), 4 x SFP (1Gbps), and 4 x 2.5 GbE with dedicated PoE+ for G1, also operating at sub-20 dBA.
F3: The first dual-in-one chassis firewall to include built-in High Availability (HA), simplifying installation for smaller or space-constrained locations. It delivers Dual 20 Gbps stateful firewall throughput and Dual 13+ Gbps IDS/IPS, featuring dual $4 \times \text{SFP}+$ (10Gbps) and dual $3 \times 2.5\text{GbE}$ (with dedicated G1 PoE+ ports), and operates at sub-20 dBA.
S-Series (Switches)
Meter Switches are designed to ensure predictable performance in dense network environments by being multi-gig by default.
S1: Engineered specifically to power efficient Wi-Fi 7 deployments, this switch features 24 x 2.5 GbE ports with PoE++ across all ports, providing a total budget of 720 W (up to 60 W/port). It includes 6 x SFP28 (25Gbps) uplinks and operates at sub-20 dBA.
S2: This model doubles the port density with 48 x 2.5 GbE, offering 6 x SFP28 (25Gbps) uplinks, and is designed to be virtually silent with sub-20 dBA at normal operation.
S3: A Core Switch that is compact, powerful, and silent at normal operation. It features 6 x SFP28 (25Gbps) and 6 x SFP + (10Gbps) ports for everyday operations.
A-Series (Access Points)
The new Meter Access Points now offer Wi-Fi 7 capabilities and achieve extremely high throughput through custom circuitry that enables strict isolation between the 5 GHz and 6 GHz radio bands.
A1: A premium access point for high-demand indoor settings, featuring $2 \times 2$ Tri-Band operation (2.4GHz, 5GHz, and 6GHz), 120dB of 5GHz/6GHz rejection, and 2.5 Gbps throughput.
A2: Designed for hospitality sites, this model offers the same performance as the A1 with simpler installation, providing 2 x 2 Tri-Band, 120 dB of rejection, 4 x 1 GbE ports, and 1 x PoE out.
G-Series (Gateway)
The Meter Gateway (G1) enables out-of-band management for the entire network stack, facilitating quick site connectivity and redundant failover WAN. It is built to operate reliably in harsh, rugged environments.
G1: Provides over 1.2 Gbps throughput, features 2 X 2.5 GbE PoE Ports, includes internal antennas, supports multiple SIM options, and is Waterproof/IP67 rated for outdoor use.
From my perspective, the launch of Meter's nine new hardware platforms significantly raises the performance bar across the firewall, switch, and AP market segments, primarily by targeting the needs of AI-ready, high-density networks. The firewall segment is challenged by the introduction of the F1, with its 50+ Gbps stateful throughput, and the F3, featuring breakthrough dual-in-one chassis with built-in HA, directly addressing complexity and latency issues.
Similarly, the switch market is pressured to standardize on multi-gigabit speeds, as Meter’s S-Series features 2.5 GbE as the default port speed, includes 25 Gbps uplinks, and universally supports PoE++ for efficient Wi-Fi 7 power delivery. This push for ultra-high throughput and HA without sacrificing acoustics (sub-20 dBA operation) can compel competing vendors to accelerate their own portfolio refreshes.
The most disruptive impact, however, stems from Meter's core Network-as-a-Service (NaaS) business model, which is fundamentally tied to this new hardware stack. By bundling the high-spec, custom-engineered Wi-Fi 7 APs (like the A1, with its high 5GHz/6GHz radio rejection) and the entire suite of firewall and switch gear into a single monthly subscription, Meter eliminates the traditional networking headaches of high CapEx, product fragmentation, and manual configuration. This model directly threatens the legacy distribution channel of traditional vendors by shifting the customer focus from managing complex product SKUs and capital depreciation to simply focusing on the desired network outcome, with Meter bearing the risk and cost of future hardware upgrades.
Meter: Altering the Full-Stack Enterprise NaaS Competitive Landscape
Meter’s new platform offerings contend against a wide array of competitive solutions. For instance, Cisco Meraki is the dominant player in cloud-managed networking for SMB and mid-market companies. Akin to Meter, it offers a full stack of APs, switches, and firewalls managed from a single, simple cloud dashboard. Meraki primarily operates on a subscription model for the software/support, but the customer buys the hardware. Meter's model includes the hardware as part of the service fee, providing a key differentiator.
Moreover, HPE Aruba's Instant On is a dedicated product line for SMBs, offering simple, managed APs and switches. It competes heavily on ease of use and price point against the higher-end enterprise solutions. I expect Meter, alongside other rivals, to spotlight that HPE’s integration of Juniper enterprise NaaS-related solutions can create uncertainty related to unified management and licensing experience related to its cross-pollination approach across Juniper Mist and Aruba Central. Nile Access Service is a pure NaaS model similar to Meter by offering the network hardware (APs, switches) and the ongoing managed service for a subscription fee.
Ubiquiti (UniFi) prioritizes performance and a full stack (APs, switches, security gateway/firewall) managed from a single controller, all at a competitive price point with no recurring licensing fees for the management software. This helps Ubiquiti target the cost-conscious SMBs that want to own and manage its own hardware, directly challenging the subscription cost of the NaaS model. Fortinet’s FortiGate/FortiAP/FortiSwitch portfolio is positioned as a security-first, integrated platform. Fortinet typically leads its sales motion with FortiGate firewall, which can also act as the controller for its APs and switches, targeting security-conscious SMBs that want a cohesive security fabric from a single vendor, often preferred for environments needing advanced firewall features.
From my perspective, Meter’s nine new platforms will oblige its rivals to adjust their portfolio development, marketing, and pricing strategies to counter Meter’s bold redesigned portfolio mix underlined by the agility of its subscription model. This includes Meter’s ability to manage the entire network lifecycle, including designing the network, manufacturing its own integrated hardware (APs, switches, firewalls), handling ISP negotiations, and providing proactive, full-stack monitoring and support for a single, predictable monthly subscription fee. This can remove all capital expenditure risk and operational burden from the customer.
By designing and building its own hardware (with an "Apple-like" aesthetic) and unified operating system, Meter achieves a level of tight integration and optimization that reduces complexity, minimizes troubleshooting, and enables features such as automated digital twin provisioning (designing the network virtually before installation) that rivals relying on disparate, off-the-shelf components are challenged to directly counter.
Looking Ahead
Overall, I believe that Meter’s commitment to hardware as a craft combining human expertise with engineering precision, yields Meter devices that embody countless hours of meticulous intent and rigorous testing. This dedication to highly reliable, secure, and scalable hardware can prove integral to reimagining enterprise networking, liberating customers from managing complex SKUs and configurations. As a result, every design choice supports the thousands of networks that Meter customers rely on daily, which can enable them to focus primarily on their business outcomes.
I expect that Meter can improve its competitiveness and SMB ecosystem influence over the next 12 months by strategically scaling its channel partner program and expanding the integrations available on its platform. To further move the needle in challenging major rivals such as Cisco Meraki, Meter should consider diversifying its direct sales model by recruiting and enabling key Managed Service Providers (MSPs) and System Integrators (SIs) to sell and service its Full-Stack Network-as-a-Service (NaaS) offering.
Simultaneously, it must use its unified platform to quickly onboard a wider variety of popular business and security applications, such as Identity and Access Management and Security Information and Event Management tools, through easy-to-use APIs, making Meter a more attractive, sticky, and complete solution for SMB/enterprise IT ecosystems.
Ron Westfall | VP and Practice Leader for Infrastructure and Networking
Ron Westfall is a prominent analyst figure in technology and business transformation. Recognized as a Top 20 Analyst by AR Insights and a Tech Target contributor, his insights are featured in major media such as CNBC, Schwab Network, and NMG Media.
His expertise covers transformative fields such as Hybrid Cloud, AI Networking, Security Infrastructure, Edge Cloud Computing, Wireline/Wireless Connectivity, and 5G-IoT. Ron bridges the gap between C-suite strategic goals and the practical needs of end users and partners, driving technology ROI for leading organizations.