Hi @johnsnow88 

Thanks for posting in our business forum.

johnsnow88 wrote

  @MR.S 

 

Yes nothing last forever but with business gear at the very least, support is provided for X years and the customers knows the EOL or can purchase extended support. But with tplink we don't have official EOL dates and its up to the customer to figure out, whats worse is that EOL gear is still being sold since the product is the same just the revision is changed so someone can get EOL gear from old stock from say Amazon and not even know its no longer supported. If I buy tplink smart plugs or switches now, some of the products have 8 or more hardware revisions, meaning allot of customers will not be getting firmware updates but the model has not changed. If I buy the same model today I get updates but if I bought it 5 years ago then I get no updates, yet the product is the same. How is your average customer supposed to know the difference between hardware revisions and know it won't get firmware updates because tplink changed the hardware but not the model. 

Some of your points do not stand up.

Not sure what models you were looking at. I took a brief look and I found out Kasa smart switch only got 4 versions on one of the models. I did not read all the lists. So, which model got 8?

Second, smart switch, what features do you need to have that many frequent firmware updates? So, basically, the IoT stuff would be a part of integration. Even there is a hardware revision but the features/functions remain the same or with a little improvement, there is no need to replace the old one unless the new features are must-need.

Smart switch does not need to be powerful with hardware specs and functions won't be a lot. It is all about your config and smart action scheme. It's easy and I don't think it can compare with the gears like the router.

I am not sure I posted in this thread that ER605 V1 was discontinued because of hardware limits and cannot add more features. That's why V2 revisioned.

https://community.tp-link.com/en/business/forum/topic/647444

You can always ask us about the revisions. The support team takes care of such queries.

johnsnow88 wrote

  @MR.S 

 

Another example, the PS5 has had multiple hardware revisions before the release of the slim this year, functionally and support did not change with the revisions changes. It functions exactly the same as the first version, it gets firmware updates exactly the same as the first version, to the end customer nothing is different.

 

This is exactly what happened when I bought the 245 V1 EAPs, within a few months of purchase I found out they were EOL and got screwed, have some ubiquiti gear that I bought with the EAP v1 and it still got updates in 2023 because they have proper EOL dates and if products get hardware revisions they don't drop support for the older revisions again because its still the same product or sold as the same product. 

 

I'll end my rant here, its not about support lasting forever but rather informing the customer when support will end and not re-releasing new products under the same model when hardware and software support is actually different. 

May I know what UBNT gear you have? So I can take a look at their firmware support. You mean in 2024(or 2023), they still provide firmware with new features and function enhancement? Keeps adding new features?

When did you purchase the EAP245? It was way older than Omada was released. Omada was introduced in around 2020. 245 V1 was before the Omada release so it does not support the Omada controller and will never be supported. If you purchased the EAP245 V1 after 2020, I really doubt that your purchase source is not authorized.

245 V3 was supported till Q1 2022 and then marked as EOL due to chipset shortage and got a revision. V4 which is available on the official website.

About the notification on whether we will end the firmware support on certain models/versions, which seems to be your main concern in this context, I'll try to bring this attention to the management team. As for me and our forum team, this concern may not fall into our duty and obligation. I have explained the situation well and I have tried my best.

Hi @MR.S 

Thanks for posting in our business forum.

MR.S wrote

  @johnsnow88 

 

 

The fact that products become EOL is not so unusual, it applies to all suppliers, nothing lasts forever. but I don't quite understand that the ER605v1 is EOL due to poor performance at the same time as they come with an ER605W with extremely poor performance.. if you compare these, it is an ER605v1 with wifi.

 

in fact, the performance is worse on ER605W than the ER605v1

Some models are not gonna be available in EU or NA regions. It is customized for certain areas to meet basic network needs.

Which means ER605W plays the role here. It is not the core player in the mainstream.

Hi @MR.S 

Thanks for posting in our business forum.

MR.S wrote

  @Clive_A 

 

May I know what UBNT gear you have? So I can take a look at their firmware support. You mean in 2024(or 2023), they still provide firmware with new features and function enhancement? Keeps adding new features?

 

 

 

 

 

I can help you with that. marked in red, device released before 2018. I have customer that by this in 2017 .. anyhow. this device is updated for les than a month.

and yepp they get the latest future like PPSK and so on. 

but the most important for me, they have only one version. UAP-AC-PRO is a UAP-AC-PRO,  not 5 different access point. and when one of my customer have lets say 5 U6 PRO and need to expand with more access point i want the same model, ok I just order 3 more U6 Pro and I get exact the same access point if you understand.

 

 

 

 

same with switches

 

 

OK. I see. So UBNT was once out of stock during the COVID because UBNT does not want to use a different chipset and would like to keep the consistency for the whole time. So, this model I took a look which received its first release in 2018 and kept selling for the last 6 years did not see a hardware change it.

We are on a different track where we may not keep a storage of the chipset or stock. And if the chipset sells out or the chipset stops manufacturing, we will seek a different alternative.

OFC you know if the chipset is different, it is hard to keep the consistency in the firmware.

This is up to the management team. I hope that they can pick up a long-term CPU and increase the price as well to provide a longer life span. If I don't recall wrong, ER8411 and some other high-end models are using the Cortex. That seems to be good news for a longer life span.

Update:

Hmmm about the UBNT UAP-AC-Lite, it does not have too much enhancement and firmware updates about the features since 2021. Most are bug fixes.

If compare ER605 and DM, that would be 5 times more cheaper. ER7206 and DM, 2-3 times cheaper. ER7206 still gets updates.

Hi @johnsnow88 

johnsnow88 wrote

  @Clive_A 

 

The edgerouter series still got firmware updates in 2023. Its a very outdated lineup by todays standards but if i was to go out and buy a replacement one today it is exactly the same hardware as the one i have already purchased, that's exactly what i want from business gear.

 

The HS200 has had 4 hardware revisions and the HS103 by looks of things has had 5.

 

These are functionally not the same product do to chipsets and firmware differences, so why label them the same?

If you take a look at the mainland store of our brand, there are tons of revisions with a different model number instead of hardware revisions. Naming would be more tricky than our foreign brand.

So the company decided not to do this in the foreign market, so it would not repeat this confusion. And there is a lot more to take into consideration when you develop and distribute things around the world. TP-Link is not only focusing on the NA and EU but all countries.

Why label them the same?

1. Building up the brand name and a product line with loyal customers is not easy. So, we don't wanna make the product line confusing to the customers. HS201, HS202, HS203? So which one do you buy? Do we need to put a product page for every new revision? 

2. The functions and performance remain the same and why would we change the model number? Some revisions are made to pass certain states' or countries' regulations or local laws. This does not hurt when you purchase because you would not get it. Any better ideas for avoiding hardware revisions?

3. What features do you look for in IoT or some models that don't need fancy stuff? If the firmware has provided what's been supported on the app.

If you say the 2B products like Omada, most still get updates but you cannot avoid the fact that some models are not popular and quickly lose the focus and market. As the management, what would you do? But for most other models, they still get the updates.

IMO, ER605 V1 is more like a product to see if people are into this solution and if yes, get some better models. Like ER7206 V1 it still gets updates. What do you say about that? Anyway, it is not as good as other models any other models are better than the ER605 V1. ER7212PC was originally not targeting the public market because it was tailored for our contract users. I don't know why it was later distributed to the public market but it was not made for the public market originally.

Omada Pro is also the tailored stuff with long-term support and not open to the public.

johnsnow88 wrote

  @Clive_A 

 

Again going back to the EAP 225/245 V1, VLANs are broken in the last released firmware, I had to buy new hardware to fix what could have been updated in firmware. Why wasn't that fixed? Why can't you use those EAPs with the latest Omada when v3 work just fine and it's still the same model number. Why do i need to figure out i cannot use V1 with the latest omada, since it is the same model and product it should work and function the same as newer revisions otherwise it's not the same product and should not be labled as such. Why doesn't tplink provide official EOL notices for hardware?

 

Are you going to refund the purchase for a broken product?

 

You don't have to figure it out if you don't think it is necessary. You are avoiding the facts and don't wanna hear them. I don't bother explaining it.

Do you find a brand to refund you after years of use? Is this a charity?

If you want a guarantee about the life span which I cannot give you, you can contact the sales team, place a bulk order(hundred pcs), and sign the contract for customized firmware and long-term support(LTS), we have cases like this.

In conclusion, if you think, from what you learned, Omada is not mature/pro enough to meet your expectations/definition of business, so drop the idea and pick UBNT, Mikrotek or Meraki. They are expensive but solid and mature and can easily meet your needs. For a project, that's not easy to blow your budget. It is your choice to pick what you prefer and I don't interfere or affect your judgement. And I only explain what happened on our forum and brand based on the facts and knowledge I know.

We are not as old and pro in 2B hardware as Huawei, Meraki, Cisco, and Aruba. We would keep updating the system if the hardware can be exploited to meet features that are common in a business environment.

Hope you can find your best choice while we improve and work on our brand. It's a shame that we cannot meet your expectations. Thanks for considering.