Hi all,

I'm looking at purchasing a couple of used Mikrotik products (router and switch) and was wondering if the licenses they include are transferable? If the previous owner has activated the license (if this is indeed what has to be done) under their account details, will I have any issue getting ownership of the license?

Also, is it possible to re-install the RouterOS with a fresh, clean download, to be sure that the route hasn't had malicious modifications made to the OS?

Thanks,

tifkat

All RouterBoard hardware devices come with pre-installed licenses which are already active when shipped from factory. And they are not transferable.

It is possible to install non-default license on RouterBoard devices, but most of time this doesn't make any sense. Another reason to install separately purchased license is when one is installing CHR / x86 version of ROS on a generic virtual / physical machine. Those licenses have to be activated (activation process involves user's account at Mikrotik), but when activated they are non-transferable and they are not tied to any user account any more.

In short: MT licenses are, after they are installed, tied to particular piece of hardware and one doesn't need any user account at MT.

It is possible to perform clean install of RouterOS via netinstall. It wipes off all the previous configuration (and replaces it with factory default if this option is selected). It also installs wanted version of ROS. The process preserves license installed on device.

Most importantly: Mikrotik licenses are bound to the hardware. For most devices this simply means device itself, but for x86 it's HDD, SSD or USB key where ROS was installed. You can replace original license by purchasing new one for the same hardware ID and when entered, it will replace old one. Only possible issue I see is if someone accidentally puts demo license to some device, overriding the fully working old one. In that case you can get your original license key back in your mikrotik account (create account on mikrotik.com) or contact the support.
I have never seen counterfeit license on Mikrotik hardware and I bought quite a lot of them used, even from flea market etc.. with one exception: Old WRAP or PC engines boards. They often used pirated ROS 3.30 that can't be updated to any other version, so beware of any cheap CF cards with ROS level 6 licenses.
And yes, using netinstall is the first thing to do to any used hardware, wiping everything to default configuration...

To make it completely clear, normally you don't need to worry about licenses at all. Devices have them, but it just tells what features and limits are available. Mostly just limits like number or VPN tunnels, otherwise all versions have same features, nothing is locked. I think the only major exception is that wireless devices with L3 license can't work as APs for multiple clients.

Licenses don't have to be registered, activated or anything (except CHR). They are valid for anyone who currently has the device. So if you buy used device, license is included and you can just enjoy using it.

The non-transferable part applies to when someone buys license for x86 device or higher than built-in license for others. The latter usually doesn't make sense, because price of upgrade can be higher than price of whole new and better device with higher license included. New license then becomes part of device and can't be transferred to another.

Thanks all for your replies. If the seller ever gets back to me with a shipping price, I will look into the net install.

If he doesn't I'll buy a hex s.