So every year, I end up scrambling at the last minute to renew my IC2 subscriptions on my various Peplink devices. I currently have 6 devices in InControl 2, and 1 needs renewal on May 1 (aka today) and 2 of them need renewal on May 2 (tomorrow).
Imagine my delight when I got the email announcing automatic renewals for such subscriptions. Yay, no more forgetting! And yet, the end of the month snuck up on me yet again. Last night, I was able to renew the IC2 subscription for my MAX BR1 and set it up for autorenewal, which makes me very happy.
However, even though I was able to get an IC2 only renewal for the MAX Transit and Transit Duo via 5Gstore last year, I can no longer find it on their site (it was listed as ICS-011 at 5gstore before), and when I search the peplink store with the serial numbers of the 2 devices, it is not present there either. These units have not been under warranty for quite some time (2017-07-25 and 2017-08-10). In the peplink store, the cheapest option I can find for the Duo is EssentialCare 1yr, for more than 5 times what I paid for IC2 only access a year ago! For the regular transit, it’s only a little over 3 times what I paid for IC2 only access a year ago.
I know with a fusionhub, and 5 peplink devices, and networks in several locations, it might sound like I have money to throw at network gear, or that I might be a business with a large budget for this stuff. I do not have such deep pockets. I do not need the extra warranty. I really just want to purchase what I purchased a year ago, then do it again in a year, and keep the existing equipment operational as long as I can.
Long term, I really want to move to primecare covered equipment, and just stick with that. In fact, for my employer that is the plan in the coming fiscal year. (My employer has deeper pockets than I do, and 26 sites to outfit, so it’ll be a nice chunk of change.) However, I know of no way to move my existing Transit units into primecare status, and I see no incentive for Peplink to do so.
In previous years, I thought I had read that a unit that had been out of warranty for a period of time could not have warranty coverage added. Has this changed? If not, how can adding warranty for out of warranty equipment be my only option?
Has the affordable IC2 only subscription for these two devices truly been eliminated? If so, why? Is it just a money grab. or is there a legitimate reason behind it? Just because I can’t see any reason beyond a money grab, doesn’t mean there isn’t one. If the IC2 only subscription still exists, why can’t I sign up for it via the store for the serial numbers I have?
Yes, I really should have dealt with this sooner this year, it has been a crazy time. There’s been a death of a coworker, and a complete reorganization because of that, which has resulted in my being way busier than normal this time of year. I had to deprioritize taking care of my personal equipment while handling things for work. I also had in the back of my mind that I would just pop in, buy the same thing I did last year, and be good to go. Bad assumption on my part that availability would remain unchanged…
I’m really hoping that I can get IC2 access renewed for these two Transit devices soon, and that it doesn’t cost me over 8 times what it did last year.
Since I suspect this won’t be resolved prior to my existing subscription ending tomorrow, will my IC2 configured PepVPN/SpeedFusion links unconfigure themselves, or will they keep working? As long as the vpn links are working, I’ll have management access into the remote units, otherwise I’ll be in a world of hurt, since one unit is a 700 mile drive to get to.
Thank you in advance for any assistance,
Jim