Bulk Networking Equipment Supplier

Yes. Every switch and router is reset to factory defaults before it ships, so no previous owner configuration, credentials or logging remains on the unit.

This is not only good practice, it protects both sides. Second hand network equipment that still holds a running configuration can carry VLAN layouts, routing detail, SNMP strings, access control lists and management credentials belonging to the organisation that decommissioned it. That is their exposure. It is also your problem, because a device that boots into somebody else's configuration is not usable until it has been wiped anyway.

Resetting also clears stored logs and any saved certificates or keys.

If you need units delivered on a particular firmware version rather than whatever they were last running, say so at quote stage, since firmware level often matters more for compatibility than the hardware revision does.

Tell us which platform the optics need to work in and we will confirm coding before quoting.

Optical transceivers carry a small EEPROM identifying the vendor, and many switches check it. A module that is physically and optically correct will sit in the port and refuse to come up because the switch does not recognise the coding, and some platforms log this as an unsupported transceiver rather than as an error, which makes it a slow fault to diagnose.

Coding is specific to the switch vendor, and occasionally to a platform family within a vendor, so the same optic can work in one switch and not in another from the same manufacturer.

Send the switch model along with the optic type, reach and connector you need. A transceiver that will not come up in your switch is worth nothing to you, and we would rather establish that before you buy than after.

Yes. Send the full bill of materials and we will quote it as one package rather than line by line.

Quoting a refresh as a whole works better for both sides. It lets us find the parts of the list that sit together in the same decommission, which is normally where the price improves, and it avoids the situation where the switches are agreed and delivered while the optics and cabling are still being priced separately three weeks later.

Include the items that are easy to leave off a bill of materials and then hold up an install: rails, cable management, power distribution, direct attach cables, and the specific optic types needed at both ends of every link.

If the refresh is phased, send the schedule as well, so stock can be held or staged rather than quoted twice.

Yes. Every unit is powered up, port tested and graded before it leaves us.

Port testing is the part worth being specific about. A switch that powers on and passes a management check can still have individual dead ports, and on a 48 port unit that is easy to miss if only a sample is checked. Testing every port means a failure is found here rather than during your install, where it is far more expensive to deal with.

Power supplies and fans are checked as well, since these are the components that fail first in equipment that has run continuously for years. On units with redundant supplies, both are tested rather than only the one that happens to be seated.

Condition and test results go on the manifest, and anything that does not pass does not ship as working stock.