How can I check if a combined services router is ready to sell without breaking anything?
How can I check if a combined services router is ready to sell without breaking anything?
I have an item that my family wants me to sell, but I don't know enough about this thing to test it right. I'm great at helping with tech support for home PCs, phones, tablets, modems, routers, TVs, and other stuff like that. I know how to work on motherboards and the Windows device manager, so I can figure out why a TV in your living room isn't showing The Discovery Channel. But I've never done enterprise level hardware (if that's even the right word). Honestly, I wouldn't even know where to find the power switch on a rack-mounted server.
According to Google, what we're looking at is an HP aggregated services router, 920 series. My family member has it because they are part owner in a business that used it. It was made in 2016 and looks like it's in very good shape. Here are some questions:
1. The router has two identical power cord connectors. They look like C14s. Can I plug in a pair of standard PC power cords and just see if the device turns on? Is it possible using the wrong cord could cause damage? The label says "Input: 100-240v ~ 2A-1A 60/50Hz".
2. If it works, how do I confirm it's functioning properly? Can I just connect it to a Windows 7 PC with an ethernet cable? What should I do then? Find its IP address and log in like I would on a normal consumer router?
3. Once I get to the login screen, how do I find the password? Is there a default password for something like this?
4. Since the router was used for business purposes, will I need to wipe any data, passwords, or settings off it before passing it to my next owner?
A six year old business router is already past the end of support by HP (probably). Hopefully you aren't expecting much value right now. Your description "HP aggregated services router, 920 series" doesn't really match anything obvious. Most HP network hardware has a Jxxxx model number. That would help us identify exactly what you are talking about. Could it be a Cisco ASR 920 router?
Commercial routers are really hard to sell on the used side unless you just want to study for a cert. The main problem is that without a yearly service contract, you can't get any kind of firmware support. Also, if you buy them from someone other than an official reseller, it's very expensive to sign up for a contract, and sometimes even after paying a lot, they won't give one. Since these contracts cover both software and hardware, it feels like trying to insure a car right after a crash. Most business people who use that kind of equipment will probably not even consider buying from the gray market. You might be able to sell them overseas, but everyone has some way to wipe the configurations, though it varies a lot and many devices still rely on line mode terminals for basic settings.
Oops, yeah, it is a Cisco, not an HP. My apologies. The other specs I pasted in came from my notes or pictures, but I added "HP" because that's how it looked to me. I shouldn't have trusted what I remembered. Now about its price on the open market... I'm a little lost here. Here is a similar model that just sold on eBay for $1600. And here is one that went for around $380. Neither listing mentioned support, so I assume neither came with any. Do you think it's possible the buyers were just silly and didn't get what support meant?
There are many different submodels, and Cisco actually sells devices with physical ports you cannot use unless you pay extra for them. So the device might say it has eight 10g bit ports but you must pay for each port individually. They likely also have different software feature versions. I know for example the license things like number of vpn end clients than connect. You basically have to pay for each vpn user that can connect. There are all kinds of other things they like to charge separate fees for. From a quick look these are all end of life a couple years back. They are not going to provide any kind of software patch after july of this year and that assume you are already on a software contract already. This type of equipment drops massively in price when cisco drops support. No business will place equipment like this in there network when there might be a future vulnerability that will never be fixed/patched.