I think it was in year 2007 when we purchased our first HP switches and later access points. In those days the devices were labeled with "Procurve", "Colubris", "3Com", "MSM".
Nowadays we have hundreds of HP 5400zl, HP 8200zl, HP 25xx, HP 3500yl, HP 6200yl, ... 3Com 4800G / HP E4800 / HP 5500-EI, 3Com 2928 SFP Plus / HP V1910, HP 1800, 1810, ... , all purchased until 2013, still running, rock stable.
Nowadays those switches are said to be "legacy".
=> No they are not. Guess what they do: switching and routing, or powering our IEEE 802.11be access points.
Sometimes an integrated fan failed. Then we created a ticket at HPE's support homepage. And guess what: We got those devices replaced.
How can this be you will ask? => The products were sold with "Lifetime Warranty" "* For as long as you own the product, with next-business-day advance replacement (available in most countries)."
Now it's 2026 and we were hinted at this document:
"Product Warranty Update for HPE Aruba Networking Products" saying:
- "To simplify and standardize our warranty experience, effective January 15, 2027, all HPE Aruba Networking products currently covered by the HPE Lifetime Warranty (LTW) will move to a Limited Lifetime Warranty (LLTW), aligning warranty models across the HPE Networking portfolio. "
=> New duration: "Limited Lifetime Warranty1 (EOS + 5 years)"
= What does this mean to us?
Our "legacy* hardware's warranty will end on January 15, 2027
- So HPE decided to silently simply do so? Have I missed the news on your homepages? No mail from our long term HPE partner?
Yes, we are disappointed. We have lost our trust. We will not wait that in one day the "LLTW" becomes an even lesser "LLLTW".