Occasionally, you might need to reset your switch to factory settings because your current firmware won’t work, you’ve forgotten the IP address or password, or some other reason.

Resetting an EnGenius switch can be as straightforward as holding down the factory reset button on the front of the switch. However, it won’t work if you don’t hold down the button for the correct amount of time.

If a simple reset doesn’t work, you can circumvent the button altogether and use the white console cable, which comes with every EnGenius switch. You will need to purchase a 9-pin RS232 serial port and download PuTTY, an SSH and telnet client. Use the settings indicated in the image below and replace COM3 with your serial port.

Next, login to the switch using your admin username and password, and, in the Command Line Interface (CLI), issue the following command:

Would you reboot the device and restore to default config?

Click “y” for YES.

This procedure should reset your switch to factory default.