When it comes to warranties for business and enterprise-grade IT kit in Australia, the prevailing attitude seems to be: don’t worry about it.
And why would you? Most networking gear is solid state and will last a lifetime. So why don’t more brands offer a lifetime warranty? TP-Link’s Omada Pro answers that question very simply: by offering a Limited Lifetime Warranty (LLW).
This warranty applies to Omada Pro controllers, access points, routers, and switches. A quick refresher on warranty law: A lifetime warranty covers a product for the lifetime of that product, which is generally the time that product stays in production, and some years after that date. In TP-Link’s case, that means the whole period the Omada Pro device is in production, plus five years after it is discontinued.
The “limited” aspect of the warranty means the warranty only applies to the hardware’s case and internal parts. External accessories like power supplies, modules, and other accessories, are covered under their own warranties. These are usually TP-Link’s three-year limited warranty, but naturally you should check the small print before making any purchase decision for your business.
Troubleshooting and returns
A limited lifetime warranty is great on paper, but it’s also only as good as the return merchandise authorisation (RMA) support behind it. TP-Link offers a toll-free hotline on 1300 875 465 where they’ll help businesses first troubleshoot a problematic device, to get a case number they can take to their reseller. And if the reseller won’t accept the return or there’s a problem, TP-Link can also process the warranty claim directly.
As with the company’s other warranties, if an Omada Pro device is found to be defective and is covered by the LLW, customers can choose whether to get the device repaired, or simply replaced.
Naturally there are some conditions that disqualify devices, but it’s nothing especially surprising: Don’t kick it down the stairs (unusual wear and tear), don’t try to service it yourself, don’t “jailbreak” it or use open-source software instead of what comes pre-loaded, and so on. One to watch out for is damage caused by transportation – so make sure your Omada Pro device isn’t damaged out of the box when you get it.
Backing themselves for life
A Limited Lifetime Warranty is also about peace of mind. After all, TP-Link isn’t offering such an extended warranty because it expects a lot of Omada Pro devices to fail – the exact opposite in fact.
What a Limited Lifetime Warranty says is that TP-Link expects Omada Pro to be so reliable, you won’t ever have to get it repaired or replaced, and that it will just keep plugging along until you choose to upgrade your network (hopefully with the next generation of Omada Pro devices, right?).
There’s something especially frustrating about networking gear that doesn’t work properly or having your network “go down” as a small business. Troubleshooting a router or trying to work out why an access point has a green light but no internet – it’s not just costing your business money in lost productivity; it feels like a waste of time. These things should just work!
TP-Link is essentially making the claim that Omada Pro devices WILL just work, for years on end. And that has to look like a good deal, for any Aussie or NZ business.
Read more TP-Link articles on Small Business Answers.