Juniper MX204 End of Life: MX204 vs MX301 vs MX304 Replacement Guide

Published September 2026. Lifecycle dates are from Juniper end-of-life announcement TSB107750; specifications are from Juniper’s MX204, MX301/MX301-M and MX304 hardware documentation.

On June 15, 2026, Juniper announced end of life for the MX204. The last day to order a new one from Juniper is June 15, 2027; hardware failure analysis ends June 15, 2028, engineering support ends June 15, 2030, the last supported software release is Junos 27, and end of support is June 30, 2032 for the current MX204-HW-BASE SKUs. If you run MX204s, that gives you a clear decision to make in the next nine months: keep the platform running on refurbished units through 2032, move to the new fixed-configuration MX301, or step up to the modular MX304. This guide lays out all three with Juniper’s own numbers, and explains where refurbished MX204s come from once the channel stops shipping them.

What the MX204 End-of-Life Dates Actually Mean

Two points matter for planning. First, the MX204 remains a fully supportable Juniper platform for six more years, so there is no technical reason to rip it out in 2027. Second, once the last order date passes, every MX204 that enters service, whether a growth unit or a shelf spare, has to come from the secondary market. Fleets that plan that sparing early get better units at better prices than fleets that scramble after a failure. Our end of life vs end of service guide explains each Juniper milestone in more detail.

MX204 vs MX301 vs MX304 at a Glance

All three run Junos OS rather than Junos OS Evolved, so configurations, automation and operational habits carry over. The differences are capacity, port speeds, encryption and modularity.

Option 1: Keep the MX204 and Spare It

For sites that need 100G-and-below edge routing, the MX204 is not going anywhere technically. It is supported by Juniper until mid-2032, the Junos 27 release train will be maintained until 2030, and the refurbished market is deep because the MX204 was one of Juniper’s highest-volume routers. Staying makes sense when the port mix still fits (four 100G plus eight 10G), when the site has no 400G or MACsec requirement, and when the budget favors a few thousand dollars of spares over a platform migration.

The practical step is to buy cold spares before you need them. After June 15, 2027, a failed MX204 cannot be replaced through the channel, and lead times on the secondary market lengthen whenever a large operator refreshes and floods the buy side or, more often, when demand spikes and supply does not. Our MX204 guide covers the model variants (MX204-HW-BASE, -R and -IR, AC and DC power) so you spare the right one.

Option 2: Move to the MX301 (Fixed, 1.6 Tbps)

Juniper’s MX301 hardware guide describes the MX301 and MX301-M as enhancing the capabilities of the MX204, and that is the right way to think about it: the same 1U fixed form factor and the same Junos OS, with four times the throughput, four native 400GbE ports, sixteen SFP ports that run at 1, 10, 25 or 50GbE, and line-rate MACsec on every WAN port. The MX301 carries 128 GB of memory; the MX301-M carries 64 GB and is otherwise identical.

Choose the MX301 when the site is staying a compact edge site but needs 400G uplinks, 25/50G hand-offs or encryption, or when it has simply outgrown 400 Gbps. Because the platform is new, refurbished supply is limited; we quote the MX301-HW-BASE and MX301-M-HW-BASE bundles on request.

Option 3: Step Up to the MX304 (Modular, 4.8 Tbps)

The MX304 is the modular answer: three MX304-LMIC16 slots, each 16 x 100GbE or 4 x 400GbE, for up to 4.8 Tbps in 2U, with one or two field-replaceable Routing Engines and AC, DC or HVAC/HVDC power in 1+1. It is the platform for aggregation, peering and DCI roles where port count will keep growing, or where redundant Routing Engines are a requirement. The trade-off against the MX301 is rack space, power and price for capacity a compact edge site may never use.

The MX304 has been shipping long enough that refurbished chassis and LMICs are available; see the MX304-BASE page and our MX304 category.

Which Way to Go

Where Refurbished MX204s Come From After the Last Order Date

When Juniper stops shipping a platform, the secondary market becomes the supply chain for it, and BrightStar Systems is built for exactly that. We buy MX204s from operators who are migrating to the MX301 and MX304, test every unit on our 9-point process, and sell them with our 1-year in-house warranty for end users. That means:

• Spares and growth units after June 15, 2027, when no distributor can take an order.
• AC and DC versions and the MX204 variants you already run, so a spare drops into an existing site without re-engineering.
• A buy-back path for the MX204s you retire when you do migrate: we purchase used Juniper MX equipment outright, which offsets the cost of the MX301 or MX304 that replaces it.

Browse the MX204 category, request a quote for MX204, MX301 or MX304 hardware, or sell us the MX204s you are retiring.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is the Juniper MX204 end of life?
Yes. Juniper announced end of life on June 15, 2026 (TSB107750). The last order date is June 15, 2027 and end of support is June 30, 2032.

Can I still buy an MX204 after June 2027?
Not new from Juniper or its distributors. Refurbished MX204s remain available from BrightStar Systems, tested and covered by our 1-year in-house warranty for end users.

What is the replacement for the MX204?
Juniper’s MX301 hardware guide positions the MX301 and MX301-M as enhancing the MX204’s capabilities: same 1U fixed form factor and Junos OS, 1.6 Tbps, 400GbE ports and MACsec. The modular MX304 is the step up for aggregation roles.

Do the MX301 and MX304 run the same software as the MX204?
Yes, all three run Junos OS (not Junos OS Evolved).

How long will Juniper support the MX204?
Until June 30, 2032 for the current SKUs, with engineering support (bug fixes) through June 15, 2030 and Junos 27 as the last supported release.