New firewall hardware – Sophos XG 86(w) and XG 106(w)
Sales of the two smallest XG models, the XG 85(w) and 105(w), will be discontinued mid-year. Sophos is already introducing its successors, the XG 86(w) and the XG 106(w), which can be pre-ordered from us starting today.
Which models are affected?
Before we get to the innovations, let’s take a quick look at which models we are talking about here in the first place:
- New: XG 86 Rev. 1 – Previously: XG 85 Rev. 3
- New: XG 86w Rev. 1 – Previously: XG 85 Rev. 3
- New: XG 106 Rev. 1 – Previously: XG 105 Rev. 3
- New: XG 106w Rev. 1 – Previously: XG 105w Rev. 3
XG 86
The XG 85 was almost unusable until now. We could only approve the use of this hardware for a maximum of 3 users. But even then, we personally would have always advised the XG 105. The hardware of the XG 85 is simply too weak in terms of performance in our opinion. If you take a quick look at the Sophos forums, you can see that this is not just our opinion.
Sophos itself has now probably noticed that it urgently needs a hardware update here and has reacted with the XG 86 and XG 86w as successors. Visually, everything remains the same, but performance-wise, the new firewalls now have twice as much RAM and storage:
- RAM: Instead of 2 GB RAM, 4 GB are now installed.
- eMMC memory: Instead of 8 GB of memory, 16 GB are now available.
XG 106
The XG 105 wasn’t exactly a performance monster either, but it was quite usable as an entry-level model. Nothing was changed in terms of design on the XG 106 either. However, it receives a RAM update:
- RAM: Instead of 2 GB RAM, 4 GB are now installed.
Availability and prices
The new hardware will be available starting April 9, 2019, according to Sophos. However, experience shows that it could take some time before these devices are shipped by Sophos and arrive in the warehouse. We do not expect this to happen until mid-May at the earliest. Nevertheless, you can already pre-order the new firewalls via our website. We will ship the new hardware models as soon as we receive them!
- Sophos XG 86
- Sophos XG 86w
- Sophos XG 106
- Sophos XG 106w
Since we can now also send all products in our store to customers in Germany, the pre-order is of course valid for Swiss, Liechtenstein, as well as German! You can also read our blogpost on this topic: Avanet Shop: Welcome Germany! 🇩🇪
The new hardware comes with firmware version 17.5 MR3 and has become a bit more expensive compared to the previous models. Sophos cites the double memory and the increased RAM as the reason here.
End of sales of the XG 85(w) and XG 105(w)
The new models replace the current XG 85(w) and 105(w) appliances. The end-of-sale date is August 17, 2019. Depending on how the remaining stocks are, maybe sooner.
SG with UTM
Just as there was no counterpart for the SG series for the XG 85, there will also be no SG 86 or SG 106 firewalls. Malicious tongues would not miss the opportunity at this point to once again emphasize the strategic death of the SG series and the UTM operating system. 🤭
More information:
