2nd Hand / Used Devices

Everything Else Ask Tim
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We highly discourage purchasing used Peplink devices. Peplink cannot guarantee the source or quality of these devices, it may also put you at risk.

What is the risk of purchasing a used Peplink device?

We cannot verify the source or quality of the used devices, and will not be able to determine if the device is obtained through illegal means or if the hardware has been modified in any way.
There are cases that the used device may still be registered with its previous owner and is still connected to their InControl 2 organization. Your data may be accessible by the previous owner.

Why can’t I access InControl 2 with used devices?

It’s possible that the previous registered owner hasn’t cleared their record and the used device is still registered with its previous owner.

Can I request Peplink to release the device from the previous owner’s InControl 2?

Due to security and privacy concerns, Peplink cannot change the InControl 2 registrations on behalf of the original owner.

If I can’t use InControl 2, how can I configure my device?

You can still log in to the device via Web admin. If you are using MAX series products, you can open a web browser and enter the router IP address https://192.168.50.1; for Balance series products, the IP address is https://192.168.1.1

I purchased a used Peplink device and cannot register to InControl 2, what should I do?

If you are able to contact the original owner, you can request them to remove their registration in InControl in order to register it under your name. More information on removing devices from InControl can be found here.

However, even if you can’t reach the original owner, you can still configure the device’s settings via web admin.
We still highly recommend that you return the product(s) to the seller or point of purchase and obtain a new device from our certified partners.

So I shouldn’t buy used devices, then where should I buy Peplink devices?

You can purchase official Peplink products globally from any of our certified partners, listed here

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In my opinion, there should be a better process for this. For example, an exception request is submitted, Peplink contacts the IC2 admin, then the previous registered admin can approve or deny, if they don’t respond within say 15 days or so, then it gets automatically removed from IC2, maybe after 1-3 emails, so the new owner can then use IC2. It can be automatically done via email. I am sure the Peplink team is capable, after all the forum is now coded and managed by Peplink themselves.

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Used devices are a hit/miss sometimes large companies cycle through the equipment every couple of years and get rid of their older stock (ie. law enforcement agencies, some corps), while its true most will forget to release IC2 or are beyond the service agreement for IC2.

You can still do everything you need to locally, firmware update, SSID/Passwords, WIFI as WAN, and even remote with port forwarding.

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For example, an exception request is submitted, Peplink contacts the IC2 admin, then the previous registered admin can approve or deny, if they don’t respond within say 15 days or so, then it gets automatically removed from IC2, maybe after 1-3 emails, so the new owner can then use IC2.

I would really freak out if someone managed to spoof the system and was ever able to add a piece of equipment I owned to their incontrol if I didn’t respond to an unexpected email within x-days. I typically don’t ever click a link or respond to an email now if I didn’t initiate or expect it, so if an email supposedly came from peplink that I didn’t initiate, I’d probably not respond to it by default.

Is there (already) a software mechanism to add a second factor to the serial number to prove the person has the physical device and admin login access to the physical device before adding it to a new incontrol?

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I agree on the second factor.

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I agree. And they had a way to do this previously, which worked fine. They required a picture of the silver tag on the unit and a diagnostic report from the unit in addition to proof of purchase.

I guess they realized they were maybe able to convince some people to buy a new unit instead of a used one when they removed this option.

Personally, I think it is not the way to go in this consumer society we live in. I wish they would revert back to how it was before.

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That sounds like it was a good process.

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I agree that buying used devices is not a good idea. However, there does need to be a mechanism in place to have Peplink reassign a device in the In Control System. I had a recent incident where a contract technician installed a Pepwave as part of a bigger project and for whatever reason they registered it in In Control using their info and email instead of working with the customer to get it set up under the customer info. Unfortunatelty in the past we have had an employee killed in a non work related car wreck - what if he had devices regsitered with his email and password? I do not know see this happening too often, but there needs to be a procedure in place.

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