Get full cellular backup cost visibility for sites. Include installation, activation, taxes, and contingencies easily. See term totals and monthly spend in seconds now.
| Input | Value |
|---|---|
| Sites | 3 |
| Term | 24 months |
| Routers per site | 1 |
| Hardware per router | $520 |
| Install per site | $180 |
| SIMs per site | 1 |
| Plan per SIM | $35/mo |
| Included data | 25 GB |
| Expected data | 18 GB/site |
| Monitoring | $12/site/mo |
| Maintenance | $40/site/yr |
| Escalation | 3% |
| Tax | 8% |
| Contingency | 5% |
Upfront subtotal
Upfront = Sites × Routers/Site × Hardware + Sites × Install + Sites × SIMs/Site × Activation
Monthly recurring base
MonthlyBase = (Sites × SIMs/Site × Plan) + (Sites × Monitoring) + Overage
OverageGB = max(0, (Sites × ExpectedData/Site) − (Sites × SIMs/Site × IncludedData))
Overage = OverageGB × OverageRate
Recurring total with escalation
RecurringSum = Σ(MonthlyBase × (1 + Escalation)^(YearIndex)) for each month in term
YearIndex = floor((Month−1)/12)
Maintenance (pro-rated)
Maintenance = Sites × AnnualMaintenance × (TermMonths/12)
Grand total
Discount = RecurringSubtotal × (Discount%)
BaseTotal = Upfront + RecurringSubtotal − Discount
Tax = BaseTotal × (Tax%)
Contingency = (BaseTotal + Tax) × (Contingency%)
GrandTotal = BaseTotal + Tax + Contingency
Construction schedules rely on stable links for cameras, access control, telemetry, and reporting. This calculator converts those needs into defensible cost allowances per site and per month. Use it during preconstruction to compare single‑carrier and dual‑carrier designs and document the preferred scope. Pair results with vendor quotes and keep a dated snapshot for change orders, especially on long, multi‑site programs later.
Expected data is the key driver. Enter outage-only data for failover designs, or full routed traffic for primary cellular use.
Upfront totals combine gateway hardware, site installation labor, and SIM activation. Multiply routers per site when you need redundancy or separate WAN paths. For multi-site rollouts, installation dominates early cash flow when antenna mounting, power work, and commissioning are included.
Stage installation by phase, but keep hardware as a consolidated purchase line for better pricing.
Monthly costs include plan fees, monitoring, and overage. Overage occurs when expected site usage exceeds included data across all SIMs. The calculator computes overage gigabytes as the positive difference, then multiplies by the per‑GB rate.
Use realistic consumption for video alerts, remote desktop sessions, and cloud synchronization. If usage is uncertain, model two scenarios and adjust contingency.
Contracts often run 12 to 36 months, with annual increases on service. The calculator applies escalation by year index across the term, producing a more accurate total than a flat monthly multiply. Annual maintenance is prorated by term months to reflect inspections, firmware updates, and replacement spares.
Taxes and contingency are layered after base costs to reflect procurement realities and scope uncertainty. Contingency can cover shipping, permits, carrier change fees, and rework after layout changes. When you estimate downtime avoided and an hourly impact rate, the benefit view estimates savings and a simple payback in months.
This helps justify redundancy for critical trailers, batching systems, and safety communications, where outages delay pours, inspections, and closeout documentation.
Start with device counts and traffic types. For failover, estimate outage hours and average Mbps during outages. For always‑on routing, use monthly WAN reports or router analytics, then add a buffer for peak days.
Use dual SIM when coverage is uncertain, outages are costly, or you need carrier diversity. Compare the extra plan cost against downtime savings or avoided site visits for troubleshooting.
Escalation typically applies to recurring service charges. Keep hardware and installation as upfront costs unless your contract bundles them. If monitoring is contracted separately, apply escalation only where your vendor increases annually.
Set the term months to the active period and prorate maintenance accordingly. If sites ramp up gradually, run separate scenarios for each phase and sum totals, rather than averaging everything into one term.
For stable scopes, 3–7% is common. Use higher contingency when site conditions change, permits are unknown, or data usage varies widely. Document why you chose it so stakeholders understand the risk coverage.
Yes, as a simple estimate. Enter realistic downtime hours avoided and a defensible hourly impact cost. Treat payback as directional and validate with field incident logs, schedule impacts, and any penalty clauses.
Important Note: All the Calculators listed in this site are for educational purpose only and we do not guarentee the accuracy of results. Please do consult with other sources as well.