The Catalyst 3850 copper models are already past their last day of support. Three more families, the 3650, the 2960 Plus and the SG350 line, all run out on October 31, 2026. Here is every current date from Cisco's bulletins, what each one changes, and what your options look like.
The three dates that matter most right now: Catalyst 3850 copper switches lost all support on October 31, 2025. The Catalyst 3650, 2960 Plus and small-business SG350 all reach last day of support on October 31, 2026, under three months from now. The 2960-X and 2960-XR follow on October 31, 2027.
Cisco publishes these dates one bulletin per family, dozens of separate notices, several of them amended after the fact. This page pulls every current date into one table so you can check a whole estate in one pass. Dates verified against Cisco's published bulletins and Meraki's EOL register as of August 11, 2026.
Running old access points too? See the companion table: Cisco access point end of life dates →
| Product line | End of sale | Software fixes end | Last day of support | Status today | Cisco's replacement |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Catalyst access switches | |||||
| Catalyst 2960-S / 2960-SF | Nov 6, 2015 | Nov 5, 2016 | Nov 30, 2020 | Unsupported | Catalyst 9200 |
| Catalyst 2960 Plus | Oct 31, 2021 | Oct 31, 2022 | Oct 31, 2026 | 3 months left | Catalyst 1000 |
| Catalyst 2960-X / 2960-XR | Oct 31, 2022 | Security fixes to Oct 31, 2027 | Oct 31, 2027 | 15 months left | Catalyst 9200L / 9200 |
| Catalyst 3560-X / 3750-X | Oct 30, 2016 | Oct 30, 2017 | Oct 31, 2021 | Unsupported | Catalyst 9300 |
| Catalyst 3650 (all models) | Oct 31, 2021 | Oct 31, 2022 | Oct 31, 2026 | 3 months left | Catalyst 9300L |
| Catalyst 3850 copper (24 / 48 port) | Oct 30, 2020 | Oct 30, 2021 | Oct 31, 2025 | Unsupported | Catalyst 9300 |
| Catalyst 3850 fiber (12S / 24S / XS) | Apr 30, 2022 | Apr 30, 2023 | Apr 30, 2027 | 8 months left | Catalyst 9300 / 9300X / 9500 |
| Catalyst chassis & core | |||||
| Catalyst 4500-E + Sup8-E | Oct 30, 2020 | Oct 30, 2021 | Oct 31, 2025 (Sup9-E: Oct 31, 2026) | Unsupported | Catalyst 9400 |
| Catalyst 6500-E + Sup2T | Oct 30, 2020 | Oct 30, 2021 | Oct 31, 2025 | Unsupported | Catalyst 9600 |
| Catalyst 6807-XL + Sup6T | Apr 30, 2022 | Apr 30, 2023 | Apr 30, 2027 | 8 months left | Catalyst 9600 |
| Catalyst 9K (current generation) | |||||
| Catalyst 9200 / 9300 (all switch models) | Not announced | n/a | Not announced | Current | n/a |
| Catalyst 9400 Supervisor 1 / 1XL | Apr 30, 2025 | Apr 30, 2026 | Apr 30, 2030 | Off sale, to 2030 | C9400X-SUP-2 |
| Catalyst 9500-12Q / 24Q / 40X | Apr 30, 2024 | Apr 30, 2025 | Apr 30, 2029 | Off sale, to 2029 | C9500-32QC / 48Y4C |
| Catalyst 9500-16X | Apr 30, 2026 | Apr 30, 2027 | Apr 30, 2031 | Off sale, to 2031 | C9500-24Y4C |
| Small business lines | |||||
| SG350 / SF350 | Oct 30, 2021 | Oct 30, 2022 | Oct 31, 2026 | 3 months left | Catalyst 1300 (via CBS350) |
| SG350X / SG550X | Jul 30, 2022 | Jul 30, 2023 | Jul 31, 2027 | 12 months left | Catalyst 1300 |
| Cisco Business CBS250 | By wave, to Jan 31, 2025 | By wave, to Jan 31, 2026 | Oct 31, 2029 | Off sale, to 2029 | Catalyst 1200 |
| Cisco Business CBS350 | By wave, to Jan 31, 2025 | By wave, to Jan 31, 2026 | May 31 / Oct 31, 2029 | Off sale, to 2029 | Catalyst 1300 |
| Meraki MS switches | |||||
| Meraki MS120 / MS125 | Mar 28, 2025 | With support end | Mar 28, 2030 | Off sale, to 2030 | Meraki MS130 |
| Meraki MS210 / MS225 | Apr 30, 2026 | With support end | Apr 30, 2031 | Off sale, to 2031 | Meraki MS150 |
October 31, 2026 is a pile-up. The Catalyst 3650, the 2960 Plus and the SG350 small-business line all lose support the same day, under three months from now. A refresh quoted today ships and installs with little room to spare, and everyone else holding this gear is on the same clock. Waiting until October means doing this unsupported.
Mixed 3850 stacks are half dead. Cisco split the 3850 into two bulletins: the copper 24 and 48 port models lost support October 31, 2025, while the fiber 12S/24S/XS models stay supported until April 30, 2027. If your stacks mix both, the dead half decides how supported the stack really is. Check by exact model number, not by family name.
The last day Cisco takes orders. The switch keeps working and keeps support, but expansions and spares now come from a shrinking secondary market. For stackable switches this matters early: you cannot grow a stack you cannot buy.
The last day Cisco ships routine bug fixes. Security patches sometimes run longer (the 2960-X gets them to its 2027 support end), but once fixes stop, every new vulnerability stays open. Compliance frameworks key on this date.
The end of the line: no TAC cases, no RMA replacements, no help even on a paid contract. Cisco's word for dead. Anything running past this date is entirely your risk to carry.
Switches sit under everything: VLANs, phones, Wi-Fi, cameras, door controllers. An unpatched switch vulnerability is a foothold into all of it, and past end of maintenance the patch never comes.
PCI DSS 4.0, HIPAA reviews and cyber insurance questionnaires ask whether network components are vendor-supported. A closet full of 3850s answers that question for you, in writing, every renewal.
No RMA means a failed switch is a scramble: secondary-market sourcing, config restore onto near-matching hardware, and downtime while it happens. Stacks make it worse, because replacements must match closely enough to join.
The licensing model changed underneath you. Your 3650s and 3850s ran on licenses you bought once. Every Catalyst 9K ships subscription-first: Network Essentials or Advantage, DNA terms, renewals. The quote for "the same closet, newer" now carries a recurring line that never existed in the old budget.
Stacks move as one. A 9300 will not stack with a 3850. You cannot replace the dead half of a stack and keep the rest; the whole stack goes at once, which turns a per-switch decision into a per-closet project with cutover windows and rollback plans.
Your access points are on their own clocks. New Wi-Fi 6E and 7 APs want multigigabit ports and 30 to 40 watts of PoE that 2960-X and 3850 closets often cannot deliver, and the old Aironet APs plugged into them have their own 2027 deadlines. The two refreshes cascade into each other. Check the companion table: Cisco access point end of life dates →
Lead times eat your runway. Quote cycles, supply queues and installer scheduling put a mid-size switch refresh at one to two quarters end to end, and the October 2026 pile-up puts extra demand in exactly that window. We cover this in network hardware lead times →
Or stop owning the refresh cycle entirely. Network as a Service replaces bought switches with a managed subscription: the provider supplies and installs current hardware, runs it, and refreshes it when it ages out. End of life dates become the provider's problem, and the surprise capex spike becomes a flat monthly price. See what NaaS is → or estimate the monthly cost →
Already unsupported. Every quarter these stay in production is unpatched perimeter you are choosing to keep. Front of the queue, this budget cycle, whether that is a refresh or a managed exit.
Support ends October 31, 2026. The comfortable window has already closed; a decision made this month still lands tight. Decide now between a 9300L/1300 refresh and a subscription that takes the deadline off your plate.
Supported to October 31, 2027, and unusually, security fixes run all the way to that date. You have one full budget cycle. Use it to plan rather than react: PoE needs, stack sizes, and whether you want to own the next generation at all.
Supported to April 30, 2027. These are core and aggregation boxes, so the replacement is a project, not a swap. Scope it this quarter to install comfortably before the date.
Off sale, but supported until 2027 to 2029. The catch is spares: the replacement ladder (CBS, then Catalyst 1200/1300) moved twice in four years. Standardize forward once, deliberately, instead of chasing each wave.
No announced dates on any 9200/9300 switch model. Watch the 9400/9500 supervisor notices if you run chassis, and note Meraki MS120 through MS225 are off sale with support to 2030/31. Nothing urgent; keep licensing current.
An independent advisor can map your closet against these dates and price both paths, refresh and NaaS, with real quotes from multiple providers. No vendor pitch, no cost, no obligation.