Windows 365 Bandwidth Costs: Azure Network Connection (ANC) vs Microsoft-Hosted Network (MHN)

Licences get all the attention in a Windows 365 plan, but outbound data can quietly become a real Azure line item, or a hard ceiling your users bump into. Here is how each network option handles it.

• What is outbound data?
• ANC pricing
• MHN allowance
• Side by side
• Which to choose
• Cost tips

When organisations plan a Windows 365 Cloud PC rollout, most of the cost conversation centres on licences: which vCPU, RAM and storage SKU, how many users, and for how long. Network egress rarely makes the first slide. How you are treated depends on one design decision: where your Cloud PCs are connected. Windows 365 offers two options, Azure Network Connection (ANC), also called “bring your own network”, and Microsoft-hosted network (MHN).

First, what is “outbound data”?

Outbound data transfer (egress) is traffic that leaves the Azure datacenter hosting your Cloud PC and goes to a destination such as the internet, an on-premises site or another cloud. Traffic flowing into Azure is generally free. The remote display stream, plus anything a user downloads, syncs or uploads from the Cloud PC to destinations outside Azure, all contribute to outbound traffic.

Option 1: Bring your own network (ANC)

With ANC, the Cloud PC’s network interface lives in a virtual network in your Azure subscription. You get full control over routing, DNS, firewalls and connectivity to on-premises resources through ExpressRoute or VPN. The trade-off: you are charged for outbound network bandwidth through your Azure subscription, at standard Azure bandwidth rates.

Pricing is tiered per month, for traffic whose source continent is North America or Europe going to any destination:

Two things to notice. The rate drops as volume grows, so large estates get volume discounts automatically. And rates depend on the source continent: the table reflects traffic originating in North America and Europe, while other regions are priced differently.

A quick worked example

Suppose your Cloud PCs together send 15 TB outbound in a month (using 1 TB = 1,000 GB for simplicity):

First 100 GB ............ free
Next 10,000 GB x $0.087 .. $870.00
Remaining 4,900 GB x $0.083 .. $406.70
---------------------------------
Estimated monthly egress ..... ~$1,276.70

A smaller pilot sending 2 TB would pay for 1,900 GB at $0.087, roughly $165.30. Modest at first, but it adds up for data-heavy workloads such as media editing, large downloads or cloud backups.

Option 2: Microsoft-hosted network (MHN)

With MHN, Microsoft hosts and manages the network. There is no VNet to build, no subnet to size and no Azure subscription to configure for networking, which makes it the fastest route to a working Cloud PC.

Billing is simpler too: you are not charged for outbound network bandwidth on a Microsoft-hosted network. Instead, each Cloud PC gets a monthly egress allowance based on its RAM configuration:

ANC vs MHN: side by side

Which one should you choose?

Bandwidth cost should be one input, not the only one.

• Choose MHN when users mostly work with SaaS and web apps, you do not need on-premises access, and you want the simplest setup. Check that your heaviest users stay inside their allowance.
• Choose ANC when Cloud PCs must reach on-premises systems, run behind your own firewall stack, or meet traffic-inspection compliance needs. Then budget for egress: estimate average monthly outbound data per user, multiply by fleet size, and apply the tier pricing.
• Mix both when your estate is varied: task workers and contractors on MHN, power users and corporate-network-dependent staff on ANC.

Tips to keep bandwidth costs under control

1. Measure before you commit. Pilot with a representative group and capture real outbound data per user per month.
2. Right-size by workload. On MHN, RAM size drives your allowance, so a data-heavy user may need a bigger SKU for the allowance alone.
3. Keep data close. Place storage and apps in the same Azure region as your Cloud PCs.
4. Monitor continuously. Use Azure Cost Management alerts on ANC subscriptions to catch anomalies early.
5. Re-check the pricing page. Rates and allowances can change, so validate before finalising a budget.

Pricing and allowances are based on Microsoft’s published Windows 365 information at the time of writing. Always confirm current rates on the Azure bandwidth pricing page.