About Us
What we do
OEM Optic has supplied brand-compatible optical transceivers and cables since 2009, drawing on more than twenty years of work in compatible optics. We sell direct to the people who install the parts — no distributor, no reseller in between.
The catalogue runs to over 1,400 part numbers across more than fifty brands, from 1G SFP through to 800G OSFP and QSFP-DD, including direct attach and active optical cables.
We write the coding tools ourselves
A transceiver's optics are governed by the same MSA regardless of who built the module. What differs is the identification data in its EEPROM — vendor, part number, serial, revision — and that is the only thing your switch reads to decide what has been plugged in.
Most sellers of compatible optics buy modules already coded by whoever manufactured them. We do not. We have built our own EEPROM generators, covering Cisco from 1G through 800G, HP with its checksum scheme, and every other brand in the catalogue. When a platform changes what it expects, we can respond to it directly instead of waiting on someone upstream.
That matters because manufacturing hardware and understanding switch-vendor compatibility are two different disciplines. Suppliers are very good at the first. The second moves constantly, and it is the part that decides whether a module comes up cleanly or becomes an afternoon of troubleshooting.
It also means we are not limited to the catalogue. Parts for platforms we do not list, cables coded for a different vendor at each end, and other non-standard requirements can be coded to order.
Every unit, not every batch
Each module is coded individually — vendor identification, part number and its own serial — and then tested on the platform it is sold for before it is packed. Not a sample from the batch. Every one.
Done properly the result behaves exactly like the original: the port comes up, DOM reports transmit and receive power, and there is no service unsupported-transceiver to add and no warning in the log. That is the difference between compatible optics done properly and the reputation they sometimes carry. There is more on how this works in our guide to coding and warranty.
What is on the bench
The lab holds live equipment from the lines we code for — Cisco Catalyst, Nexus and ASR; Juniper EX, QFX and MX; and multiple platforms each from Arista, HPE, Aruba, Dell, Extreme, Brocade, Fortinet and Gigamon.
Alongside the switches sit servers carrying host adapters from Intel, Broadcom, Mellanox, Solarflare, QLogic and AMD. That matters more than it sounds: a module that comes up cleanly in a switch port does not always come up in a NIC, and a seller without host adapters on hand has no way of knowing.
Testing happens on real fibre with real instrumentation — spools at the reaches the parts are rated for, optical power meters and inspection scopes — rather than on a bench that only proves a link light comes on.
Shipping and returns
Orders ship from Southern California. In-stock orders usually go out the same business day, with free ground shipping to the lower 48 on orders over $100.
Returns are uncommon here, and that is mostly a consequence of what we choose to stock rather than luck. If a part does need to come back, turnaround depends on the module and what is on the shelf — get in touch and we will tell you where you stand the same day rather than leaving you to guess.
Warranty
Every transceiver and cable we sell carries a lifetime warranty. Not three years, not a limited term — for as long as you own the part. If one fails, we replace it.
Who you are dealing with
We have been coding compatible optics for over twenty years, and incorporated OEM Optic in 2009. The EEPROM generators behind every part on this site are ones we wrote — Cisco from 1G to 800G, HP with its checksum, and the other brands we carry. Most sellers in this market buy their modules already coded and take the supplier's word for it.
That is also why the catalogue is narrower than it could be. We list the parts we can code and test without drama, and we leave alone the ones that would turn into a support problem for you and a headache for us. It is a smaller catalogue than some, and it is the reason very little comes back.
If you are not sure whether something will work in your switch, ask. You will get an answer from someone who has actually put that part into that platform.
Josh Abbott
OEM Optic, Inc.
Questions before you buy
If you are not sure a part will work in a particular switch, ask first. We would rather answer a question than process a return.