Catalyst 9200 and 9300 switches ship with a perpetual network licence (Network Essentials on -E models, Network Advantage on -A) and need a Cisco DNA (or Cisco Catalyst) subscription in Essentials or Advantage for 3, 5 or 7 years, bought with the switch. If the subscription lapses, Cisco says the switch keeps working with its network features. Catalyst 9800 controllers need a Cisco DNA subscription for each access point. Meraki devices need a Meraki licence to be managed at all, and an expired Meraki organisation is shut down after a 30-day grace period.
Quick pick: 48-port Catalyst 9300 on Network Essentials → C9300-DNA-E-48-3Y; Meraki access point → LIC-ENT-5YR; 48-port Meraki MS150 → LIC-MS150-48-3Y. ARC IP Networks is a Cisco Registered Partner and supplies new, genuine Cisco with a GST tax invoice.
Cisco and Meraki licensing at a glance
The licence model depends on how the hardware is managed. These are the rules Cisco and Meraki publish for the products we sell.
| Platform | What you buy | Terms | When the term ends |
|---|---|---|---|
| Catalyst 9200 / 9300 (Cisco IOS XE) | Perpetual Network Essentials or Advantage + Cisco DNA or Cisco Catalyst subscription | 3, 5 or 7 years | Switch keeps working with Network Stack features; renew for subscription features and support |
| Catalyst 9300-M / 9200L-M (Meraki mode) | Meraki Enterprise or Advanced licence | 1, 3, 5, 7 or 10 years | Meraki grace period, then shutdown |
| Catalyst 9800 wireless controller | Cisco DNA subscription per access point; optional perpetual Performance licence (9800-L) | 3, 5 or 7 years | Cisco DNA features expire; Network Essentials and Advantage features remain |
| Meraki MR, MS, MX, MG, MV | One Meraki licence per device | Mostly 1, 3, 5, 7 or 10 years | 30-day grace period, then shutdown |
Sources: Cisco Catalyst 9200 and 9300 data sheets and ordering guide, Catalyst 9800-L data sheet, Cisco's switching and wireless subscription FAQ, and Meraki licensing documentation.
Catalyst 9200 and 9300: two licences per switch
Cisco builds every Catalyst 9200 and 9300 order from two parts. The network stack licence is perpetual and comes with the hardware: the suffix tells you which, so the C9300-48U-E ships Network Essentials and the C9300X-48HX-A ships Network Advantage. Network Essentials provides foundational Layer 2 and Layer 3 switching, automation, visibility and security; Network Advantage adds advanced routing, segmentation, multicast, scale and security.
The second part is the Cisco DNA or Cisco Catalyst subscription, chosen at the time of order for 3, 5 or 7 years. Cisco makes it mandatory for Catalyst 9300 models and says a Catalyst 9000 cannot be bought with the base OS alone and a subscription added later. The subscription tier must correspond with the network licence: Network Essentials pairs with either Essentials or Advantage, while Network Advantage needs Advantage. Cisco also says customers receive 24x7 TAC support and software release updates with these subscriptions, and that Cisco Catalyst Center is not required just to use them.
Cisco DNA Essentials vs Advantage
Cisco DNA Essentials provides foundational automation, management, visibility and assurance. Cisco DNA Advantage adds advanced assurance, analytics, policy-based automation, segmentation and application visibility, and includes everything in Essentials. Selected rows from Cisco's Catalyst 9300 feature table:
| Feature | Essentials | Advantage |
|---|---|---|
| Full Flexible NetFlow, EEM | Yes | Yes |
| Plug-and-Play day-0 automation, inventory and configuration management | Yes | Yes |
| Basic assurance health dashboards (network, client, application) | Yes | Yes |
| ERSPAN, AVC (NBAR2), application hosting, Wireshark | No | Yes |
| Encrypted Traffic Analytics and IPsec | No | Yes |
| SD-Access policy-based automation for wired and wireless | No | Yes |
| Cisco ThousandEyes Network and Application Synthetics | No | Yes |
| Patch management in Cisco Catalyst Center | No | Yes |
Source: Cisco Catalyst 9300 data sheet, Cisco Catalyst and Cisco DNA package features.
For a typical Australian office, school or council site that is managed from the CLI, Essentials is usually the starting point. Advantage makes sense when you run SD-Access, want ThousandEyes visibility, or need IPsec on a Catalyst 9300X, which also needs the C9000-HSEC licence. This is an ARC IP Networks suggestion; we can check it against your design.
Reading a Cisco DNA licence part number
The part number names the switch family, tier, port count and term. C9300-DNA-E-48-3Y is Cisco DNA Essentials for a 48-port C9300 copper switch with modular uplinks, for 3 years; C9300-DNA-A-48-5Y is Advantage for 5 years. Fixed-uplink C9300L switches use C9300L licences such as C9300L-DNA-E-48-3Y, the 25G C9300X SKUs use C9300-DNA-L-E-3Y, and 1G fibre models use the 24S and 48S licences. The Catalyst 9200 follows the same pattern, for example C9200L-DNA-E-48-3Y for a 48-port C9200L, and the compact C9200CX has 8 and 12-port licences.
To move up a tier, Cisco sells upgrade licences such as C9200L-48-E-A-3, which upgrades a 48-port C9200L from Network and Cisco DNA Essentials to Network and Cisco DNA Advantage for 3 years. Keep stacks consistent: Cisco only stacks Catalyst 9200L, 9200 and 9300 switches with others at the same licence level.
What happens when a Catalyst subscription expires?
This is the question we hear most. Cisco's subscription FAQ says that if a customer does not renew, the switch continues to function with all Network Stack features intact, and Layer 2 and Layer 3 services keep working because they are tied to the perpetual Network Essentials or Network Advantage licence. What stops is the subscription itself: customers must renew to keep receiving support and subscription features. Cisco offers 3, 5 and 7-year terms at purchase, and lists a 1-year subscription as an option at renewal. A customer who bought Advantage and renews at Essentials keeps the Network Advantage stack features.
Catalyst 9800 access point licences
No licence is needed to boot a Catalyst 9800 controller, but Cisco requires a Cisco DNA subscription for each access point that connects to it, for 3, 5 or 7 years, and a Smart Account is mandatory. When the subscription expires, Cisco says the Cisco DNA features expire while the Network Essentials and Network Advantage features remain, and the controllers and access points continue to function. The C9800-L-C-K9 supports 250 access points as standard; the perpetual LIC-C9800L-PERF= Performance licence raises it to 500 access points and 10,000 clients, and in a High Availability pair both controllers need one. See our Cisco Wi-Fi access points guide.
Meraki licences: one per device, by product line
Meraki states that every Meraki hardware component requires a cloud licence to be managed. How the licence maps to hardware depends on the product line:
- MR access points and MV cameras: one licence class for every model, such as LIC-ENT-5YR for any MR. MR Advanced (LIC-MR-ADV-3Y) adds features such as AI-RRM and Adaptive Policy, and MR Upgrade turns Enterprise into Advanced.
- MS switches: a licence per model class, not transferable between models, in Enterprise or Advanced. For example LIC-MS150-48-3Y covers one 48-port MS150. Meraki notes MS130 Advanced is not available in 7 and 10-year terms.
- MX appliances: a licence per model in Enterprise, Advanced Security or Secure SD-WAN Plus, such as LIC-MX95-SEC-3Y. An MX warm spare pair needs only one licence; MS switches in a warm spare pair need two.
- Catalyst 9300-M: Meraki-mode Catalyst switches take Meraki Enterprise or Advanced licences such as LIC-C9300-48E-3Y, in 1, 3, 5, 7 or 10-year terms, ordered separately from the switch.
Meraki's main model is co-termination: every licence in an organisation shares one expiry date. Meraki averages the licences by device count, so in its own example two access points on 1-year licences plus one on a 5-year licence, all applied the same day, give a shared term of 851 days. Licence time starts when the order is processed, not when you claim it, so waiting gains nothing. Meraki no longer accepts conversions to per-device licensing, where each device has its own expiry and one-day licences such as LIC-ENT-1D are used to line dates up.
What happens when a Meraki licence expires?
Meraki is stricter than Catalyst. If an organisation passes its co-term date, or has more devices than licences, it enters a 30-day grace period in which clients notice no difference. If licensing is not restored by the end of it, the organisation is shut down until proper licensing is applied, and Meraki's FAQ says the hardware stops passing traffic to the internet. After an expiry, Meraki says the only way back into compliance is new licensing for the active devices. In per-device organisations, only the expired device shuts down, and time spent in the grace period is deducted from the new licence. Put the co-term date in the calendar well before EOFY budgets close.
A licence is not a warranty: Meraki keeps the two separate, and hardware warranty is stated per model on each product page. More in Cisco Meraki explained.
Which licence for which hardware?
Examples for common orders. ARC IP Networks quotes the exact licence with every order.
| Hardware | Licence to order | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| C9300-48U-E | C9300-DNA-E-48-3Y or C9300-DNA-A-48-3Y | Network Essentials pairs with either tier |
| C9300X-48HX-A | Cisco DNA Advantage, 48-port | Network Advantage needs Advantage; add C9000-HSEC for IPsec |
| C9200L-48P-4X-E | C9200L-DNA-E-48-3Y | Upgrade later with C9200L-48-E-A-3 |
| C9300-24P-M | LIC-C9300-24E-3Y | Meraki mode, managed from the dashboard |
| C9800-L-C-K9 | Cisco DNA subscription per access point | LIC-C9800L-PERF= above 250 access points |
| MS150-48FP-4G | LIC-MS150-48-3Y | Enterprise; Advanced adds Adaptive Policy |
| MR78-HW | LIC-ENT-5YR | Any MR model |
| MX95 | LIC-MX95-SEC-3Y | Advanced Security: IDS/IPS and content filtering |
Why buy Cisco from ARC IP Networks
- Cisco Registered Partner: genuine Cisco supplied through Cisco's authorised Australian distribution.
- New only: every unit is new, genuine Cisco stock.
- Every product page built from Cisco's own data sheets, with the warranty stated for each model.
- Licensing help: we quote the Cisco DNA, Catalyst, Meraki or Webex licence your hardware needs.
- GST tax invoice on every order, with trade and project pricing for installers and integrators.
See the full range on our Cisco Australia hub, or read where to buy Cisco in Australia. Questions? Call 1300 100 440 or email info@arcip.com.au.
Shop Cisco and Meraki licences
Licences are delivered electronically. Live Australian pricing (inc. GST) is on each product page, or ask us to quote them with your hardware.
For 48-port Catalyst 9300 copper switches
Adds SD-Access, ThousandEyes and analytics
For 48-port Catalyst 9200L switches
500 access points, 10,000 clients, perpetual
Meraki dashboard management, 3 years
Licence and support for one MS150 48-port
IDS/IPS, content filtering, malware protection
Common questions
Straight answers from the ARC IP Networks team. Last reviewed October 2026.
Catalyst 9200 and 9300 switches include a perpetual Network Essentials or Network Advantage licence, and Cisco requires a Cisco DNA or Cisco Catalyst subscription of 3, 5 or 7 years with the hardware. Catalyst 1200 and 1300 switches need no licence.
Essentials provides foundational automation, management, visibility and assurance. Advantage includes Essentials and adds advanced assurance, analytics, policy-based automation with SD-Access, segmentation, application visibility and ThousandEyes.
Cisco says the switch continues to function with all Network Stack features intact, and Layer 2 and Layer 3 services keep working. You lose the subscription features and Cisco software support until you renew.
No. Cisco says a software subscription must be bought with a Catalyst 9000 switch; it cannot be added later to a base-OS-only order.
No. Every Meraki device needs a valid licence to be managed. If licences expire, the organisation has a 30-day grace period and is then shut down until licensing is applied.
Co-termination gives every licence in a Meraki organisation one shared expiry date, calculated by averaging the licence time across the licensed devices.
No. MR licences are model-agnostic, so one MR Enterprise or MR Advanced licence covers any Meraki MR access point. Switch, MX and MG licences are specific to the model.
ARC IP Networks is a Cisco Registered Partner and supplies new, genuine Cisco with a GST tax invoice. We quote the Cisco DNA, Catalyst, Meraki or Webex licence your hardware needs. Call 1300 100 440 or email info@arcip.com.au.
Not sure which licence you need?
Send us your hardware list or your Meraki co-term date. ARC IP Networks will match the Cisco or Meraki licences and terms and quote with trade pricing for installers and IT providers. Call 1300 100 440 or email info@arcip.com.au.