Why OEM Optic
When you need a transceiver, you are choosing between three things: the module with the switch vendor's name on it, a module like ours, and whatever is cheapest on a marketplace listing. The first works and costs four times what it should. The third is a coin toss. Here is why the middle is not a compromise.
Against the OEM part
The optics inside are built to the same MSA. The reach, the wavelengths, the connector, the digital diagnostics — all of it is defined by the standard, not by whose logo is on the case. What the switch vendor sells you on top of that is the identification data in the module's EEPROM, and a price that reflects it.
We write that identification ourselves, using EEPROM generators we built — Cisco from 1G through 800G, HP with its checksum scheme, and every other brand we carry. Each module is coded individually, with its own vendor data, part number and serial, then tested on the platform it is sold for before it is packed. Every unit, not a sample from the batch. The bench is described here.
The result behaves like the original: the port comes up, digital optical monitoring reports transmit and receive power, and show interface transceiver returns what you expect. No service unsupported-transceiver. No unsupported-transceiver warnings filling your log. No extra configuration anywhere.
Against the cheap end of the market
That last paragraph is the whole difference. A badly coded module is where the folklore about third-party optics comes from — the ones that need a hidden command to pass traffic, or that throw warnings on every reload, or that come up on one line card and not the next. That is not what compatible optics are; it is what compatible optics are like when nobody does the coding properly.
Most of the market resells modules coded by whoever manufactured them, which means nobody in the chain can fix a compatibility problem when one appears. It shows up again afterwards: a marketplace seller has no lab, no way to recode a part for a platform they did not anticipate, and a warranty that lasts as long as their storefront does.
| Switch vendor | OEM Optic | Marketplace listing | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Optical performance | To MSA | To MSA | Usually |
| Who codes the module | The vendor | We do, in house | A factory upstream |
| Coded per unit | Yes | Yes | Often generic |
| Extra switch commands needed | None | None | Frequently |
| Tested on the platform | Yes | Yes, switches and NICs | No |
| Coded to order | No | Yes | No |
| Warranty | Typically limited | Lifetime | 30–90 days |
| Someone to call | With a contract | Yes | No |
We do not list everything
You will find gaps in this catalogue, and they are deliberate. We stock the parts we can code and test without drama and leave alone the ones that would become a support problem — product lines with messy generational splits, or categories where the economics stopped making sense. Active copper cables are gone for that reason: at the reaches where passive twinax runs out, an active optical cable is now cheaper and better.
A catalogue that lists everything is easy to build. It is also how you end up with a part nobody has actually tested on the platform you are putting it in.
If it is not listed, ask anyway
Because we own the coding tools rather than buying pre-coded modules, we are not limited to what appears on these pages. If you need a part for a platform we do not show, or for an unusual line card, we can code it to order.
The same is true of cables. A DAC or AOC carries a transceiver housing at each end, and each end has its own identification — so a single cable can be coded for one vendor at one end and a different vendor at the other. Joining a Cisco switch to an Arista one is a cable order, not a compatibility problem.
And if you have a non-standard identification requirement of your own, describe what the equipment expects and we will tell you plainly whether we can meet it. Owning the generators means the answer is usually yes; when it is not, you will hear that instead of a maybe.
You are buying direct
OEM Optic sells to the people using the parts. There is no distributor and no reseller margin between the bench where the module is coded and the box that arrives at your dock. That is most of why the pricing looks the way it does.
The catalogue
Over 1,400 part numbers across more than fifty brands, from 1G SFP through to 800G OSFP and QSFP-DD — transceivers, direct attach cables and active optical cables. If you know the part number you are replacing, search it: our SKUs carry the OEM number so the thing you already have in front of you is the thing that finds the match. If you are not sure what you need, the compatibility pages list what we carry per platform, or the guides walk through choosing by speed, reach and connector.
Warranty, shipping and support
Every transceiver and cable carries a lifetime warranty — for as long as you own it, not three years. Orders ship from Southern California, free ground to the lower 48 over $100, and in-stock orders usually go out the same business day.
Before you order
If you are unsure whether a part will work in a specific switch model, ask before you buy rather than after. We would rather spend five minutes getting it right than process a return.