Meraki 'Partner' Will not allow proper access to portal

[Bob_Jones]

Hi guys!

New to Meraki and just hired on to manage a network that is having serious issues. Network is comprised of 20 MR76's and 7 Meraki switches and a MX85. 

Problem is, the Meraki partner we lease the system from has done everything possible to prevent us from using the dashboard to manage the network. When I finally got access from them, it's missing everything. I had the fella on the phone and asked him how I would adjust power levels on one of the radios and he told me 'the entire time I've been here we've never allowed anyone to do that'. 

The portal access I have is ridiculous. No switch access/can't see them. No radio access/can't see them. As you can imagine, diagnosing network issues is not possible. 

I'm assuming we have 20 MR76's because I can't even see them in the portal. I literally had to go outside, walk the property and count them. 

Can this be fixed at Meraki or am I forced to fight with the ISP/Cable Co ? At this point, not impressed with what I'm seeing, that's for certain. 

[ww]

That would be something to discus with your service provider up front of buying the managed service.

If your not the owner of the equipement i dont think meraki can help you. 

[Bob_Jones]

I was brought in about a year after the network was installed. At this point I'm about to recommend that my employer stop paying the monthly lease....

You should see my admin interface. I liken it to them giving me a box of crayons....in the meantime, I have 6 month old issues with clients that cannot be addressed....

Interestingly enough, I appear to have full access to the MX, so if their concern was that I could destroy the network, it seems they have already given me the ability to do that, just not to diagnose or repair issues at the AP or switch level...

[DarrenOC]

@Bob_Jones , unfortunately this is where you need to look at the MSP terms and conditions and what was signed off on.  If  you stop paying they’ll simply cut you off.  Worth exploring if you can buy the eqpt and licenses and cut them out of the loop?

[Bob_Jones]

First, thanks for the advice everyone 🙂

This is where it gets interesting. The contract with the provider states they are obligated to give us access to the portal. They also absolved themselves of any responsibility by the actions of the person using the portal. When you read between the lines you understand that they understand that the person using the portal can take down the network. 

But it appears that over the last year they probably still had issues with pinheads using the portal to screw things up and so no, they give you more/less read only access to the portal. Think crayons. 

I suspect I'm going to have to go to the CEO level to get anything done. 

[mlefebvre]

"access to the portal" is not necessarily "full access", this is very typical of a standardized MSP setup where you receive restricted access to the Meraki dashboard and the rest is for the MSP and you are expected to open tickets with the MSP for issues you can't resolve yourself, this is part of the service you are paying for. Also Meraki will not give you additional dashboard access, this is entirely between you and your MSP.