Network refreshes generate mountains of old switches, routers, firewalls, and access points. Most of it ends up in a closet, a cage, or a shelf somewhere — sitting there for years because nobody knows what to do with it and it seems wrong to just throw it away.
Here’s the thing about network equipment: unlike most IT hardware, a lot of it has significant resale value. That five-year-old Cisco Catalyst 9300 you just decommissioned? Someone will pay real money for it.
Why Network Equipment Is Different
Most IT equipment depreciates rapidly. A five-year-old desktop is borderline e-waste. But enterprise networking gear holds its value because:
Long support lifecycles. Cisco, Juniper, and Arista support their enterprise products for years. A switch that’s five years old may still receive security patches.
Interchangeable deployment. A Catalyst 9200 works the same in a Fortune 500 company as it does in a mid-market business. Unlike servers, there’s no performance degradation concern.
High new-equipment costs. Enterprise switches and firewalls are expensive. A used unit at 40-60% of retail is attractive to businesses that don’t need the latest model.
Standardized configurations. Unlike servers (which have custom RAM, drive, and CPU configurations), network switches are largely uniform within a model. This makes the secondary market liquid and efficient.
The takeaway: your old network equipment may be worth more than you think, and a recycler who understands this will give it a second life rather than shredding it.
Security Considerations
Before any network device leaves your building, reset it to factory defaults. This is critical because networking equipment stores:
Passwords and credentials. Admin passwords, SNMP community strings, RADIUS/TACACS+ shared secrets, VPN pre-shared keys, and local user accounts.
Network topology information. Routing tables, VLAN configurations, ACLs, and firewall rules reveal your network architecture.
Certificates and keys. SSL/TLS certificates, SSH keys, and VPN certificates may be stored on the device.
SNMP data. If SNMP was configured (and it usually was), the device knows a lot about your network.
For Cisco devices: write erase followed by reload handles most models. For Palo Alto firewalls: factory reset from maintenance mode. For Juniper: request system zeroize. Check the vendor documentation for your specific model.
This is one area where being thorough matters. A misconfigured firewall with your VPN credentials on it is a much bigger risk than a hard drive with old spreadsheets.
What Has Resale Value vs. What Gets Recycled
Not all network equipment is created equal. Here’s a rough guide:
High resale value:
- Enterprise Cisco switches (Catalyst 9000 series, Nexus)
- Juniper EX and QFX series
- Arista 7000 series
- Palo Alto and Fortinet firewalls (current generation)
- Meraki access points (if license is transferable)
Moderate value:
- Previous-generation enterprise switches (Catalyst 3850, 4500)
- Mid-range firewalls
- Enterprise wireless controllers
- Older but current-support routers
Low/no resale value (recycled for materials):
- Consumer/SOHO routers and switches
- Very old enterprise gear (10+ years)
- End-of-support/end-of-life models
- Damaged equipment
A good recycler triages equipment rather than treating it all the same. Equipment with residual market value gets refurbished and resold. The remainder is recycled responsibly for materials.
How to Prepare Network Equipment
Factory reset everything. This is non-negotiable. See the security section above.
Keep power cables. Power cables and console cables add value and make equipment more useful to the next owner.
Remove rack mount ears if they’re separate. If the rack ears are proprietary (like Cisco’s), keep them with the device — they’re surprisingly expensive to replace.
Label or inventory if possible. A simple spreadsheet of model numbers and serial numbers helps us process equipment faster and gets you better documentation.
Bundle accessories. SFP modules, stacking cables, redundant power supplies — keep them with the devices they came from.
GreenIT Pickup Takes Network Equipment
We pick up all networking gear as part of our free IT equipment pickup service across Dallas-Fort Worth. Switches, routers, firewalls, access points, wireless controllers, load balancers — we take it all.
Equipment with residual market value is refurbished and resold through our enterprise hardware division, giving it a second life rather than unnecessary destruction. Equipment without resale value is responsibly recycled for materials recovery.
Get Started
Have a stack of old network equipment? Whether it’s a closet refresh or a full campus network overhaul, we’ll pick it all up for free. Call (817) 527-8600 or submit a pickup request.