Sophos Wireless: Removal of License Requirement in Sophos Central

Products•Sophos Central•Sophos Wireless

Subscription-free management of Sophos Access Points from October

Sep 09 2021 By

The global pandemic has forced organizations to rethink their approach to connectivity, access, and IT management. With more solutions moving to the cloud, and workforces becoming more distributed, the need for flexible, remote management and scalable connectivity has grown.

Sophos Wireless is the ideal way to deploy secure, scalable Wi-Fi networks. Extending the network to a new location is as simple as adding an additional access point. This makes it the perfect choice for today’s dynamic IT environments, where the ability to adapt to change is essential.

Our cloud-managed Wi-Fi solution comes with an advanced feature set over our controller/firewall-managed solutions with:

  • Unlimited scalability
  • Enhanced RF management, troubleshooting and diagnostics
  • Extended guest access and security features
  • Maintenance-free, always-on access

The Licensing Guide under sophos.com/wireless includes a full feature comparison matrix.

Removal of license enforcement in Sophos Central

Last month, we introduced a global 100% discount code for termed Central Wireless Standard subscriptions. At the beginning of October, we are implementing the changes in Sophos Central to remove the license requirement for both termed and MSP subscriptions completely.

What this changes for you and your customers

After the October Sophos Central release, Sophos Wireless will be available in all Sophos Central accounts. A license key and activation will no longer be required.

Existing Wireless customers will still see their licenses in Sophos Central but with a usage count of 0 (zero), as they are no longer enforced.

Customers and partners will be able to register any number of supported Sophos AP and APX Series access points – which they need to purchase, if they don’t already own them – this means that you can still generate billings with Wireless (hardware).

The currently supported access points in Sophos Central are:

  • APX Series: APX 120, 320, 530, 740 plus the APX 320X (outdoor)
  • AP Series: AP 15, 15C, 55, 55C, 100, 100C, 100X (outdoor)

The legacy AP Series models are no longer sold and will be EOL from March 31, 2023, but can still be managed until that date.

Price List Changes

The following subscriptions will be marked with a mid-October final purchase date in the next price list (2021-3.0):

  • Central Wireless Standard (for APX)
  • Central Wireless Standard – Entry
  • Central Wireless Standard – Performance

This date gives the necessary notice about the price list change; however, you can use the discount code until that date (or at least until the license requirement is removed) to provide the termed license for free.

Frequently Asked Questions

What communications are we planning?

We will send emails to all partners who have sold any access point on September 15th/16th.

We decided not to restrict the communications to partners who have sold Central Wireless only as we want broader awareness of this change, and also expect that some of you will have customers who could benefit from moving their APs from their firewall to Sophos Central.

We are not planning any customer communication at this time. However, some targeted customer communications may be planned on a regional basis.

Will we credit customers for the remaining term on any purchased licenses?

No. We are not changing a customer’s use of the product they purchased, just making it so that they can potentially use it for longer than their purchased term at no additional cost.

How does a Sophos Central customer who has never used Wireless access the product?

From October, all customers should see Wireless in the Sophos Central product navigation. They will just need an access point to get started.

Can a customer move their access points from their firewall to Sophos Central?

Yes, absolutely, as long as the access points are supported. They must first completely delete them from the firewall before they can be registered in Sophos Central.

After that, the necessary steps for registration are:

  1. In Sophos Central, click Wireless, then select Access Points in the navigation menu
  2. Click the Register button at the top right of the screen to bring up the Access Point Registration
  3. Follow the steps in the wizard
  4. Bulk registration is possible for up to 30 APs by uploading a list of serial numbers in a csv file. The prompt for this can be found in the registration wizard

Where can I find a feature comparison for Central Wireless vs. SFOS/Sophos UTM?

The Licensing Guide, which is available on the Partner Portal and is also linked from sophos.com/wireless, contains a full feature comparison. As soon as the Central Wireless subscriptions are removed, it will be updated to reflect the changes.

 

Should you have additional questions, your local Sophos sales team or distributor will be happy to help.

About the Author

Sophos is a global leader and innovator of advanced security solutions for defeating cyberattacks, including Managed Detection and Response (MDR) and incident response services and a broad portfolio of endpoint, network, email, and cloud security technologies. As one of the largest pure-play cybersecurity providers, Sophos defends more than 600,000 organizations and more than 100 million users worldwide from active adversaries, ransomware, phishing, malware, and more. Sophos’ services and products connect through the Sophos Central management console and are powered by Sophos X-Ops, the company’s cross-domain threat intelligence unit. Sophos X-Ops intelligence optimizes the entire Sophos Adaptive Cybersecurity Ecosystem, which includes a centralized data lake that leverages a rich set of open APIs available to customers, partners, developers, and other cybersecurity and information technology vendors. Sophos provides cybersecurity-as-a-service to organizations needing fully managed security solutions. Customers can also manage their cybersecurity directly with Sophos’ security operations platform or use a hybrid approach by supplementing their in-house teams with Sophos’ services, including threat hunting and remediation. Sophos sells through reseller partners and managed service providers (MSPs) worldwide. Sophos is headquartered in Oxford, U.K. More information is available at www.sophos.com.