Switch – Netgear FSM726A Reset to Factory Defaults

netgearswitch

I have a Netgear FSM726A v2 switch, there are several vlans already configured, and I need to reset to get all the traffic in the same vlan.

I do not have a console cable or telnet access. I tried switching it off and on, pressed the reset button for a while, but nothing changed. I hope there's some way to do a hardware reset.

I do not need to keep the current configuration, I'd rather reset it to the factory defaults. How can I do this?

Best Answer

Unfortunately the manual doesn't actually cover much more than how to plug the unit in, it doesn't say how to reset the switch to factory defaults. The reset button does nothing but reboot the switch, just like unplugging and plugging back in.

To reset the password you need a console cable:

  1. Plug it in, fire up your favorite terminal software.
  2. Reboot the switch, during boot mash the ESC key.
  3. If prompted what to boot from, select Flash, and continue with previous step.
  4. When you get the ">" prompt, enter "EmergencyPasswordReset"
  5. It'll ask if you're sure, follow the prompts.

This will only reset the password (blank password). That'll get your into the configuration where you can change things to however you like.

On a side note: Most network guys avoid Netgear like the plague because of BS like this. Their equipment is very difficult to configure, uses odd semantics, is completely unintuitive, very poorly documented, and their phone support is just as bad. In the future get ProCurve, Cisco, or even PowerConnect switches.

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