Factory Reset my Cisco 1841 Router, Serial cable required?

Question

Is it possible to connect to my Factory Reset Cisco 1841 router without the blue com cable? For instance is there a default IP address I can connect through one of the ethernet interfaces? I just did a "write erase" comman

Answer 1

You need to find a Cisco serial cable if you just did a wr erase. The next time this router boots, it will have no interface or password configuration on it, which means you're stuck with no access to it unless you log back on and do a wr mem to save the running configuration to nvram.

A factory reset requires a console connection because this erases the config on the router; you need console access to build the initial configuration.

9600-8-N-1

Use PuTTY for serial terminal emulation; hyperterm is an abomination.

Answer 2

As Mike already said: You have to do basic configuration using the cable. Most business-stuff has no default ip-address set. You typically see this only on SOHO equipment.

As for how to get a cable see my answer on question Is Selling Old Cisco Routers a Security Issue?

P.S. If you have HP ProCurve switches around the office: Their cables (the grey ones) are compatible as well.