Factory reset and decommissioning

When a unit leaves your organisation, is returned to MiWire, or is taken out of service, the data and settings on it should be removed. This page describes what is on the unit and how to remove it, as required by the CRA (Annex II, decommissioning; Annex I 3(l), secure deletion).

What is stored on the unit

• Your local network settings: Wi-Fi name and password, LAN addressing, DHCP leases and the names of devices that had one, firewall rules and port forwards, time servers.
• The admin password (hashed).
• SIM and subscription settings: selected SIM slot or eSIM profile, APN and its credentials.
• Operational data: data-usage counters and history, connection statistics not yet uploaded, the system log (in memory only, cleared at restart), and any security events waiting to be uploaded (in memory only).
• The unit’s identity: device certificate and private key, SSH host keys, the web interface’s certificate.

The unit does not store the content of your network traffic.

Factory reset

Pending: ships in a later release

A customer-operated factory reset that securely deletes the data above and regenerates the unit’s keys and certificates is planned for a later firmware release and is not available in the current firmware. The web interface does not offer a reset today.

When it is released, the factory reset will:

• restore the unit’s factory configuration,
• delete the local network settings, the DHCP lease list, the usage history and statistics, logs and spooled uploads,
• delete and regenerate the SSH host keys and the web interface’s certificate (the certificate warning described on First access will appear again),
• keep the unit’s enrollment with MiWire so that it stays manageable, or re-enroll it, depending on the option chosen.

The reset will be documented here with its exact scope when it ships.

What to do today

Until the factory reset is available:

1. Before passing a unit on or returning it: contact MiWire support and tell them the unit’s IMEI or serial number and that it is being decommissioned or transferred. Support resets the unit remotely over the support channel, or on site, deletes your settings and credentials, and updates the unit’s ownership record. If the unit is transferred to another customer, MiWire re-provisions it for the new owner.
2. Remove the SIM card(s) if you supplied your own; a MiWire-supplied SIM goes back with the unit.
3. Change the Wi-Fi password and admin password to values you do not use elsewhere, if the unit will be out of your control before support has reset it.
4. Ask MiWire to end the subscription so that the unit can no longer connect to the mobile network and to MiWire’s services on your account.

Data held by MiWire

Data the unit has sent to MiWire (statistics, position history, security events) is kept according to the retention periods on Data processed and is not affected by a reset of the unit. Ask MiWire support if you need it deleted earlier.