IMPORTANT: SonicWave (Cloud-Managed) stops clients connecting when you stop paying for support
Just so you are aware that if you're using SonicWaves and managed by the cloud, and you stop paying for support you may find at some point in the near future that your clients cannot access the wireless network. The only way to get around this is to pay for support. It doesn't happen immediately after support expires, but maybe the next time the AP gets a firmware update or reboots.
In the early days of cloud management it was muted that this may be the case but then SonicWall decided to not follow the Meraki lead which upsets many customers who have paid for an access point which then stops working.
What should happen after support expires is that your SonicWave should continue to work as normal but you cannot make any changes via the portal (which is entirely acceptable).
I've now had 2 instances of this happening and been asking for an official response from SonicWall for weeks but no response.
Answers
@sonictek
I'm an innocent bystander here, not a SonicWall employee, but as a decade-long SonicWall partner, I have deployed SonicWaves to my clients.
Here's the FAQ:
I would be saddened and quite alarmed to learn it was not telling me the truth...
Hi Larry, it's happened to others as well so is definitely a problem. I don't think SonicWall have done this on purpose (I hope), but maybe some code that's not been changed/removed after it was decided not to go down that route.
Hello @sonictek, I'm sorry to hear about this inconvenience. Typically we would request that you contact support but I understand that this is a unique scenario (no support causing the issue). @shiprasahu93, @Saravanan, and @Sohrab do you have any input on this?
Kind Regards,
@micah - SonicWall's Self-Service Sr. Manager
Hi @sonictek
Nothing on licensing has changed. Upon license expiry traffic continues to flow, and there will be no service interruption.
The KB is still valid: https://www.sonicwall.com/support/knowledge-base/200629042827257/
There is a high probability that your access point has been reset (to factory default) while the license had been expired. In this case, the AP is unable to retrieve the configuration from cloud portal as the license has been expired.
Message me, and we can follow up to see if the AP reset is the case.
Thanks
@Sohrab
Already messaged you twice Sohrab in the past (as have other people within SonicWall), with no response. The device hasn't reset to factory as it still gives out the same SSID's and as soon as you add a support licence it starts working - without making any changes to the config.
The same issue has been seen by others as well.
Still no response from SonicWall 😕
Still no response from SonicWall (yes, we have tried escalating through official channels and no response that way either).
I decided that my own SonicWave 231o expensive access point was no good as a brick, so I purchased support for it (couldn't wait any longer), and after a quick reboot it's all miraculously working again. Almost like SonicWall have code that stops your cloud managed AP from working at all if you don't keep paying. Be aware.
How does licensing impact SonicWave devices that are firewall managed these days? I have several that are listed under my NSA-3600 as "Associated Devices". Some are near expiration, one recently expired. I don't seem to find a way to associate them with my new NSA-3700 even if I delete from the 3600 (tried with one of them). I am concerned that the APs are no longer covered under the firewall licensing.
They are all running from the 3700 at this time. The expired one shows a status of "Operational (License Expired)" on the 3700. There happen to be no devices connecting to that AP so I will need to go see if it is permitting connections.
Fundamental Question: Do I need to pay for relicensing all if the APs even if they are managed from a fully licensed SW Firewall?
I should add to my previous post that it is only the SonicWave devices that will not associate with my NSA-3700 after being unassociated from my NSA-3600. The SonicPoint devices were able to associate with the 3700.
You shouldn't need a valid support licence on AP's for them to work when firewall-managed. That's certainly been true up to the Gen 6.x firewalls. All our Gen 7 appliances have cloud-managed AP's so I can't confirm either way on Gen 7 for local AP's.
If you converted the config from the NSA 3600 it should work, but I would still check all the zones and profiles, and reset the AP's to factory.
Still no response from SonicWall.
Another access point has stopped passing traffic since support expired. Still no response from SonicWall.
@Sohrab what's going on regarding a solution to this problem? It's been 5 months since originally posted.
Sohrab has recently left SonicWall.
Obviously that's news to me, thanks.
@Micah who is now in charge of WNM? (And if the user ID is no longer valid, why is the hyperlink active?)
Hey @sonictek,
SonicWaves should not become a brick when they do not renew WNM support license. WNM 3.5 also has updates that will allow users to upgrade the software and recover their last known good configuration even after they reset the device.
Please, post back with your findings so we can continue to improve our products.
Kind Regards,
@micah - SonicWall's Self-Service Sr. Manager