Cisco Meraki MX64 End-of-Support: Plan Your Refresh

Still running a Meraki MX64 or MX64W?

If there's a trusty little Cisco Meraki MX64 or MX64W quietly humming away in your comms cupboard, you're in good company. Plenty of Australian small businesses are still running these units happily — and that's fine. They're solid appliances that have done years of reliable service.

But there's a date worth pencilling into your planning calendar: 26 July 2027. That's when the MX64 and MX64W reach End-of-Support. It's now June 2026, so you've got roughly a year to plan a sensible, unrushed refresh. This isn't a panic post — it's a friendly nudge to start the conversation early so you can do it on your terms.

End-of-Sale vs End-of-Support: what actually matters

These two terms get muddled, so let's be clear.

• End-of-Sale means you can no longer buy the device new. The MX64 and MX64W hit End-of-Sale back on 26 July 2022. If you already own one, this date doesn't really affect you.
• End-of-Support is the one that bites. For the MX64/MX64W, that's 26 July 2027.

After End-of-Support, your device:

• Stops receiving firmware and — critically — security updates
• Is no longer eligible for Cisco support
• Can't be replaced under warranty or RMA

The appliance won't suddenly stop working on 27 July 2027. It'll keep routing traffic just like it always has. The problem is subtler than that: an internet-facing firewall that no longer receives security patches slowly becomes a liability. New vulnerabilities get discovered, but no fixes arrive for your hardware. It quietly turns from an asset into a risk — and that's exactly the kind of thing you don't want to discover the hard way.

For the record, the MX65 and the larger MX84 are affected too — and the MX84's End-of-Support date of 31 October 2026 is actually sooner than the MX64's. If you're running an MX84, its natural successors are the current MX95 and MX105, the newer multi-gigabit appliances (with SFP WAN ports) that replaced that mid-range tier. That said, the MX64/MX64W is the model most small businesses still run, so it's our focus here.

The natural upgrade path: MX67, MX68 and MX75

Good news — the replacement story is straightforward. The MX67 is the current, fully supported successor to the MX64, and the broader MX67/MX68 family (plus the larger MX75) are all current models with plenty of life ahead of them. None of these are end-of-life.

Depending on your site, the usual options are:

• MERAKI MX67 (MX67-HW) — the direct, like-for-like replacement for a standard MX64.
• MERAKI MX68 (MX68-HW) — a step up with more ports, ideal for slightly larger sites.
• MERAKI MX75 (MX75-HW) — for branch sites that have outgrown the small-appliance tier.

And if cellular failover matters to you (more on that next):

• MERAKI MX67C (MX67C-HW-WW) — MX67 with built-in LTE and a SIM slot.
• MERAKI MX68CW (MX68CW-HW-WW) — MX68 with built-in LTE plus Wi-Fi.

The USB modem catch (a second reason to act)

Here's a wrinkle that's independent of the 2027 date. Many MX64/MX64W setups relied on a third-party USB cellular modem for internet failover — a cheap, cheerful way to keep the office online when the primary link dropped.

That path is going away. Recent Meraki firmware has dropped support for third-party USB modems, and the MX64/MX64W have no built-in SIM slot. So if your failover depended on a USB dongle, that safety net is disappearing regardless of End-of-Support.

If that's you, it's a double nudge to refresh. Your options are:

• Move to a current MX with built-in cellular — an MX67C or MX68CW, both of which have a SIM slot.
• Pair a current MX with a dedicated Meraki MG cellular gateway for failover.

We've written more on both — see our post on Meraki ending USB modem support and our MG cellular gateway guide.

Why plan now rather than wait until 2027

A year sounds like ages, but it disappears fast when you factor in real-world logistics:

• Lead times — hardware availability can vary, and you don't want to be hunting for stock at the deadline.
• Budgeting — a network refresh is a capital purchase that's far easier to slot into a planned financial year than to scramble for.
• Staged rollouts — if you run multiple sites, you'll want to schedule the migration site-by-site, not all at once in a weekend panic.

Leaving a fleet refresh to the last minute is exactly how businesses end up rushing, overpaying for expedited shipping, and cutting corners on testing. Starting the conversation now means you control the timeline.

The EOFY and tax angle (general info, not advice)

Important caveat first: what follows is general information only — it is not tax advice. Please confirm your eligibility, timing and the current rules with your accountant or the ATO before making decisions.

The Australian End-of-Financial-Year (30 June) is a natural moment to budget for capital purchases like a network refresh. A couple of things worth knowing:

• The federal $20,000 instant asset write-off lets eligible small businesses (aggregated annual turnover under $10 million) immediately deduct the cost of eligible assets first used or installed ready for use by 30 June 2026. Note the wording carefully — it's a strict installed ready for use deadline, not merely ordered.
• As things currently stand, this $20,000 threshold is legislated to revert to just $1,000 from 1 July 2026 unless the government extends it. So the tax treatment may be less generous in the new financial year.
• State-based or industry digital/technology grants also pop up from time to time and are worth a look.

Now, an honest reality check on timing. Because EOFY is only days away as we publish this, a multi-site refresh realistically cannot be installed ready for use in time to claim it this financial year. For most businesses, this is a plan-now-for-the-new-financial-year exercise — which is yet another reason to start early rather than leave it. Get the conversation going with your accountant so the budgeting and timing line up properly.

A quick planning checklist

Here's a practical starting point:

• Inventory which MX models and firmware versions you're running across all sites.
• Flag any MX64/MX64W units (and older MX65/MX84 if present).
• Note which sites rely on a USB modem for failover — those need attention sooner.
• Decide standard vs built-in-cellular replacements per site (MX67 vs MX67C, MX68 vs MX68CW).
• Plan a staged, zero-touch rollout for multi-site fleets.
• Talk to your accountant about timing and deductibility before you commit.

References

• Cisco Meraki — End-of-Life (EOL) Products and Dates
• Australian Taxation Office — $20,000 instant asset write-off for 2025–26

How TYO Store can help

We specialise in Cisco Meraki, and we're happy to help you do this properly rather than at the last minute. We can:

• Audit your Meraki fleet and identify your exact End-of-Support exposure
• Plan a staged refresh that fits your sites and your financial year
• Talk EOFY and refresh pricing honestly with you
• Supply the right current gear — Meraki or another manufacturer if it suits you better — with zero-touch rollout so deployment is painless

If there's an MX64 or MX64W still ticking away in your business, now's the ideal time for a no-pressure chat. Get in touch with TYO Store and we'll help you map out a refresh that's calm, considered and on your schedule.