Manufacturer support for partners

R&S®NC Community partners will continue to receive our free technical manufacturer support for devices purchased before July 1, 2026 for additional two years – provided the devices have not yet reached End of Life status. This means that, for existing installations, no additional action is initially required: existing devices can continue to be operated and supported as usual. 

Only after this transitional period, starting from June 30, 2028, should you purchase at least the R&S®NC Support Access support product for each device that is to continue receiving support. Our service staff will also be happy to personally provide detailed information about these changes as part of a support case.

As of July 1, 2026, you have the option to register existing devices in the new registration portal so you can keep track of their support level at any time. Existing devices will automatically be assigned the support level “Existing product support” in the overview. This ensures that existing support entitlements remain centrally visible and manageable.

All partners will continue to receive manufacturer support for R&S Networks and Cybersecurity devices delivered before July 1, 2026 for an additional two years (at the latest until the device reaches EOL). For these devices, you can therefore continue to contact us directly during service hours – as usual via the support portal or by phone.

Our free digital self-service offerings – such as the Knowledge Base, the AI chatbot, or the registration website – will of course continue to be available around the clock and will be continuously expanded. For example, there is a new feature in the area of registrations: as of July 1, 2026, you are able to use the new registration portal for R&S®NC Support licenses. If existing devices are recorded there, they will automatically receive the support level “Existing product support”, provided that no additional support variants (e.g. R&S®NC Support Direct) are registered on the device. This allows you to keep track of all support entitlements centrally and clearly.

When a device reaches the lifecycle status End of Life (generally 5 years after End of Sale), all entitlement to manufacturer support ends – regardless of the duration of any transitional arrangement. The transitional period until June 30, 2028 only applies to devices that have not reached End of Life status by that date.

The decisive factor for classification as an “existing device before July 1, 2026” is the delivery date from distribution. This date is recorded when the device is packaged and shipped by the distributor. If this date is before July 1, 2026, the device falls under the transitional arrangement and will continue to receive technical manufacturer support for partners during the defined period (maximum of two years or until the device reaches EOL).

For partners to make use of the transitional arrangement, the decisive factor is not the date of commissioning, but the delivery date from distribution. If the device was shipped by distribution before July 1, 2026, it is considered an existing device regardless of the installation date and falls under the transitional arrangement.

The key difference lies in the target group and the scope of services – especially regarding response times. Choosing the appropriate support variant is also a deliberate decision with regard to availability and operational reliability and therefore represents active operational risk management:

R&S®NC Support Access is specifically designed for partners and provides basic coverage for devices of any type with personal best-effort support during service hours. Thanks to the runtime calculation starting only at the beginning of the next quarter, partners can easily keep track of renewals and benefit from up to 90 days of bonus usage.

R&S®NC Support Direct provides a higher level of predictability and risk reduction through prioritized SLA support including guaranteed response times — either during service hours or around the clock with a 24/7 emergency hotline. The Advanced variants additionally include advance replacement of defective devices in the event of a fault. R&S®NC Support Direct can be used by both partners and end customers and is particularly suitable for business-critical devices.

Security updates during the term are included in all support variants to support long-term investment planning. All R&S®NC Support variants can be managed via the new registration portal. A detailed overview of all R&S®NC Support variants can be found in our Service & Support Overview.

Yes, an upgrade from R&S®NC Support Access to higher-value support variants such as R&S®NC Support Direct is possible at any time through the purchase and registration of a R&S®NC Support Direct variant. This allows you to flexibly adapt your support concept to increasing requirements or changing operational risks – for example in the case of higher availability requirements, defined response times, or the need for extended 24/7 accessibility.

When upgrading to R&S®NC Support Direct, a new term begins; any existing R&S®NC Support Access term is replaced.

Currently, no API integration is available for the registration portal. At present, usage is exclusively via the web interface. However, a corresponding API integration is already planned.

Yes, this is easily possible. The registration portal supports the management and registration of multiple devices via bulk import. As already familiar from the previous registration website, you can conveniently register and edit devices via CSV upload. This allows even larger device inventories to be managed quickly, in a standardized manner, and with significantly reduced administrative effort. Especially for larger installations, this ensures efficient processing and gives you a constant overview of your R&S®NC Support bookings.

Yes. All email addresses stored in your company’s Partner Portal (PRM) can register in the registration portal. Authorized users will see the same centralized dashboard and have access to the same device and R&S®NC Support information. This ensures that multiple people within your company can work with the portal simultaneously and transparently.