Sophos AP6 Access Points become much cheaper
The Sophos Access Points of the AP6 series will be reduced in price by almost 60% on April 8th. Central subscriptions for the Access Points will also be between 60-80% cheaper.
Difficult start for the AP6 Access Points
Sophos is certainly not a manufacturer known for its Access Points. Nevertheless, in the past there have always been solid products at a fair price-performance ratio, which was sufficient for the majority of our customers.
The introduction of the Sophos AP6 series with Wi-Fi 6 and the associated changes have provided a lot of discussion material for existing customers as well as for us as Sophos partners.
A few months ago, Sophos belatedly launched the long-awaited AP6 series, which supports the Wi-Fi 6 standard. Compared to the previous models of the APX series, however, it is noticeable that a Central Subscription is now required to manage the AP6 Access Points via the cloud – a clear change from the previous practice, where management for the APX series was provided free of charge or at least subsequently free of charge.
The AP6 models were launched at prices that were almost double or, in the case of some models, even more than double the previous models. Plus the cost of the necessary cloud subscription, which accounts for 10% of the price of the Access Points. This pricing made the new models unattractive for many of our existing customers, especially as management via a firewall is no longer possible and a central license is required to manage multiple Access Points.
The prices for the AP6 Access Points were comparable to those of the competitors, but the functions and performance were not.
My opinion
Wi-Fi 7
Just 6 months after the launch of the AP6 series with Wi-Fi 6, the Wi-Fi 7 standard was adopted and some manufacturers already have devices on the market, further challenging the attractiveness and longevity of Sophos solutions.
Sophos has also announced the End-of-Life for the APX series, although the devices are still being sold. This has caused displeasure among many existing customers and us as a partner, especially as the promised 5-year guarantee cannot be kept.
Sophos of course mentions this in the Warranty Policies, but this does not change the fact that the majority of users believe that if you have a 5-year warranty, the product can also be operated for 5 years without restrictions.
https://www.sophos.com/en-us/legal/hardware-warranty-policy
Price reductions in response to criticism
In response, a significant price reduction for Access Points and subscriptions has now been announced, which will take effect from April 8, 2024. For some models of Access Points, the reduction amounts to almost 60%, while prices for subscriptions will be reduced by around 60%. These measures make Sophos Access Points much more attractive again.
Prices from April 2024
| Model | Old price | New price | Difference |
| Sophos AP6 420 | 610 | 260 | 57.38 % |
| Sophos AP6 420E | 765 | 499 | 34.77 % |
| Sophos AP6 840 | 1150 | 685 | 40.43 % |
| Sophos AP6 840E | 1300 | 999 | 23.15 % |
| Sophos AP6 420X Outdoor | 1150 | 899 | 21.83 % |
Questionable End-of-Life strategy
Although the announced price reductions are a step in the right direction, the criticism of the handling of the End-of-Life for Sophos products remains. It turns out that the time of purchase is decisive for the useful life of the hardware, as Sophos quickly sets End of Sale products after the introduction of new hardware, which is of course logical. However, this is followed by a very close End of Life date. However, the past has shown (APX, XG) that this is not always set in stone, which does not necessarily make things any better.
We hope that Sophos will take this feedback seriously and adopt a more transparent and customer-friendly approach to product lifecycles in the future.
We also hope that we can look forward to new features for Sophos Central Wireless in the future, as development seems to have come to a bit of a standstill at the moment.
