Home Cisco router WITHOUT licensing

[walter44]

I work in a Cisco shop, so I am familiar with Cisco stuff at the CCNA level, and some CCNP stuff.

I am ditching the crappy ubiquiti home gear I have because when something goes wrong, I can never tell why.

I have never been involved in the licensing of Cisco gear, it's just never been anything I've dealt with. I recently was gifted a 4321 with an 8 switchport module, but it appears to have "Smart licensing" enabled. I do not need or want support, but I don't want things to stop working unexpectedly at any point in the future. I also do not want to somehow get in trouble and jeopardize my career for using something I may not be entitled to.

The ask here is "What home cisco router and POE switch can I use that's the most full featured, with no need for licensing or support".

Cisco no longer sells the best, most stable gear, they sell licenses and support. The 3850 line makes me think they intentionally introduce bugs so you HAVE to have support. I'm over it. (Remember when you actually OWNED stuff???)

What gear do you guys use at home without the need for licensing or support?

[M02@rt37]

Hello @walter44,

For routers, you might consider the Cisco ISR 4000 series, which doesn't require Smart Licensing for basic functionality. As for switches, the Cisco Catalyst 2960 series is a reliable choice without mandatory licensing. Just make sure to verify the specific model's features and requirements before purchasing.

https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/products/collateral/routers/4000-series-integrated-services-routers-isr/data_sheet-c78-732542.html

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://www.cisco.com/c/dam/global/fr_fr/assets/documents/pdfs/pme/gamme_switching.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwji5azJmNyAAxUPVKQEHZy8BgsQFnoECA0QAQ&usg=AOvVaw34qfxVUSxeBnppfgLGnvMc

It is true that networking equipment has evolved to include subscription-based models, but there are still options available that provide essential features without the need for ongoing licensing or support.

[balaji.bandi]

ISR 4K router after certain version everything smart License you need License to use for the Router features and each License has bandwidth limit depends on the usage.

what exactly you trying to do  (as you mentioned you replacing with ubiquity home gear) - what feature that you are using here ?

Wireless and Wired ? DHCP and NAT ?

[Ramblin Tech]

FWIW... customers have never "owned" copies of Cisco IOS, as copies have always been licensed by Cisco for customers to use. That is, when you procured IOS from Cisco, you were really obtaining a non-transferable RTU license to run IOS on a Cisco platform with all copyrights to it being retained by Cisco (Cisco is not unique in this view of software ownership vs RTU licensing).

In prehistoric times, IOS license enforcement was based on the honor system: do not run IOS if you did not pay Cisco for it, nor run an advanced feature set if you did not pay for that. While there was no enforcement of licensing built into ancient IOS, legally there has always been a requirement to pay Cisco for a license, even if you bought the gear second-hand (or received it for free), as whomever sold the gear second-hand (or gave it away for free) had no legal right to distribute Cisco's copyrighted IOS (according to Cisco's EULA).

License enforcement via PAKs or Smart Licensing came along later to try to capture revenue that Cisco management felt was being lost, causing immense friction with some customer segments. But it is what it is now; Cisco's financials (and Street expectations) are anchored on a recurring-revenue model based on software renewals and I do not see how they come back from that easily.

But realistically, nobody in Cisco is coming after a home user who is running a basement lab or even their residential broadband access on unlicensed software, as that is a net money loser to chase after.

[v.snijder]

Adding to that : You also don't need a support contract, to be able to use (or switch to) smart licensing.

The account is free to create for anyone.

[balaji.bandi]

@v.snijder  - Just noticed in the community that you addressing the post which was more than year old - Do you think the user still watiing for year later for the reply without an solution for an year ? just wondering what will benfit here ?

Have a look the post when was posted example :

[v.snijder]

I never look at time posted. As this is a support forum, not a breaking news site.

People will end up here through Google, or other means. Not only the original poster.

I was investigating myself if a service contract is needed for migrating to smart licensing. Could not find any clear answer anywhere. So ... here it is... I speak to You : People from the future, reading this.

[Ramblin Tech]

In nearly all cases, a service contract is required to entitle your Cisco login account to download new software images. For some fixed-platforms, Cisco has offered "lifetime" software upgrades to the original purchaser/licensee of the equipment to counter market pressure from competitors. That is, the original purchaser of those specific platforms would not need a contract to upgrade.

If the image in your gear already supports Smart Licensing, then I believe no contact will be necessary to create a Smart Account to make use of it. However, if a software upgrade is required to enable Smart Licensing, then in almost all instances, a contract will be required to get that upgrade.

Not so much a message from the future as a voice from the past.