End of support for MR's - was 7 years now only 4 years ?

[pjc]

I've noticed that the normal 7 years end of support life for the MR's (Mr18, MR32 etc) has now been reduced to only 4 years from end of sale in the latest published list for the MR33 and MR42

https://documentation.meraki.com/General_Administration/Other_Topics/Meraki_End-of-Life_(EOL)_Produc...

Is this the new standard now ?  So if you buy models just before end of sale they are only good for 4 years before you have to replace them ?

When and why did this policy change ?

[BrandonS]

I doubt anyone in these forums including employees will be able to tell you why.  I also don't think there is any law or regulation requiring Cisco to support anything for any specific length of time.  That said, consider the difference between end of sale, end of life and end of support.  End of support typically goes much longer and I think you can find Meraki devices still supported after 10 or more years.  

As long as you can purchase a license it is supported, but if the hardware fails it may be subject to being replaced by a different device if the original device is no longer 

available or being made.

Best.

[PhilipDAth]

>As long as you can purchase a license it is supported,

There is no model-specific licence for an MR.  An MR licence can be used for any MR model.

Once the end of support date has passed, even if you have a licence, it won't be supported.  It is likely to keep working, but there wont be any software updates, and if it breaks - tough luck.

[BrandonS]

Thanks @PhilipDAth that makes sense for MR. I think MX and MS if they sell you the license they will cover the hardware with it though, right? I know some licenses are labeled EOS but can still be purchased making me think if the MX or MS failed Meraki would replace with same or similar. 

[dfurasek]

I have to say that this is not cool on Meraki's part. With the MR34, the period between end-of-sale (10/2016) and end-of-support (10/2023) was seven years. With the MR42 (the designated replacement model for the MR34), that period has indeed been reduced to four years, as outlined here:

https://documentation.meraki.com/@api/deki/files/18680/MR42_EOS_Notice_updated_June_2022.pdf

Interestingly, that very same document contradicts itself by stating the following:

"End-of-Support Date (EOST): The last date a product will be affirmatively supported by Cisco Meraki, typically five (5) years following the EOS Date."

We're replacing our last remaining MR34 devices this year, and we could really use an extra year to get all of our MR42 devices replaced. I'm typically not one to complain, but I think I would really like to try pushing to get end-of-support for the MR42 pushed out one more year until 2027. Are there any recommendations on how to best and most effectively go about making such a request?

[TBHPTL]

I would not call it a contradiction. You can't ignore the word 'typically'... It gives them wiggle room.

[cmr]

When did you buy them?  We had moved to WiFI6 APs by early 2020, partly for new features, partly as they had shorter lead times for us.  We always try not to buy models near their end of sale (though sometimes do get it wrong) to benefit from the longest possible product life.  As an example the most recent models we have bought are CW9166 for high density areas and MR44 for low density as in our opinion the other CW916x models are less good value for what they offer.

[dfurasek]

In general, we were purchasing the MR42 from 2016 through 2018. I realize that some of these will be ten years old in 2026, but what bothers me is that the amount of time between the end-of-sales announcement and the end-of-support date is significantly less for the MR42 when compared to what it was for the MR34. For what it's worth, I was told on the phone by a Meraki rep as recently as late 2020 that nothing had been said (internally or externally) about the retiring of the MR42, but that conversation unfortunately ended up being not long before the MR42 end-of-sales announcement. One way or another, we'll deal with it, but I'm just a bit surprised by the timeline. The other piece of the puzzle for us is that these AP replacements are typically something that we like to do while our schools are out for summer, but the end-of-support date in July (versus October for the MR34) might make things a little tight...