Link aggregation on a switch allows your network devices to treat multiple Ethernet links as if they were a single link. Depending on how link aggregation is set up in your network, the link supports either increased bandwidth (a larger pipe through which more information can flow at one time) or fault tolerance (if one port fails, another one takes over).
Consult the documentation for your other network device to make sure that your other device supports static link aggregation. If your other device is an R9000 Nighthawk X10 router, follow the instructions in this knowledge base article instead: How do I set up link aggregation between my R9000 Nighthawk X10 router and my GS808E Nighthawk switch?.
The Nighthawk switch supports two static link aggregation groups (LAGs) with up to four ports each. That means that one static LAG can support a link of up to 4 Gbps.
The Nighthawk switch does not support Link Aggregation Control Protocol (LACP). The other network device that you connect to your Nighthawk switch must support static link aggregation.
Follow these high-level steps to set up link aggregation on your Nighthawk switch:
- Make sure that you have enough Ethernet cables.
- Disconnect your Nighthawk switch from the other network device that you want to use for link aggregation.
- Set up a LAG on your Nighthawk switch.
- Set up a LAG on the other network device.
- Connect the ports that you made members of a LAG on the switch to the ports that are members of a LAG on your other network device.
- Make sure that port speed, duplex mode, flow control, port priority, and port-based rate limiting settings are correct.
The following procedure explains each step in detail.
Make sure that you have enough Ethernet cables.
You must use at least two Ethernet cables for each LAG that you want to create. Make sure that your Ethernet cables are long enough to reach from your switch to the other device that you want to connect.
Disconnect your Nighthawk switch from the other network device that you want to use for link aggregation.
Make sure that the two devices are not connected.
If you connect your Nighthawk switch to the other device before setting up the LAG on both devices, the devices are unable to autonegotiate port speed correctly. Do not make the connection before you create a LAG on both devices. If you form multiple connections between network devices without setting up link aggregation on both devices, you create a network loop, which can stop all traffic on your network.
Set up a LAG on your Nighthawk switch.
- Open a web browser from a computer that is connected to the same network as the switch or is connected to the switch directly through an Ethernet cable.
- Enter the IP address that is assigned to the switch.
The login page opens. - Enter the switch password.
The home page displays. - From the menu at the top of the page, select ADVANCED SETTINGS.
- Select Link Aggregation.
- To add ports to LAG 1, click at least two ports from 1 to 4.
A selected port displays blue.
LAG 1 must consist of at least two ports but can consist of all ports in the range from 1 through 4. - To add ports to LAG 2, click at least two ports from 5 to 8.
A selected port displays blue.
LAG 2 must consist of at least two ports but can consist of all ports in the range from 5 through 8. - Click APPLY.
Your settings are saved.
Set up a LAG on the other network device.
For more information about how to create a LAG on your other device, see the documentation for your device.
The port numbers on the other network device do not matter as long as the ports on the other network device are members of the same LAG and the LAG consists of the same total number of ports.
Connect the ports that you made members of a LAG on the switch to the ports that are members of a LAG on your other network device.
Use Ethernet cables to connect each port that you made a member of a LAG on the switch to a port that is a member of the same LAG on another network device.
Make sure that port speed, duplex mode, flow control, port priority, and port-based rate limiting settings are correct.
All ports that participate in a LAG (that is, the ports on both devices) must use the same port speed, duplex mode, and flow control settings. Your Nighthawk switch can autonegotiate these settings with the other network device as long as you have not changed the default settings on your Nighthawk switch. If you changed these settings, you must set port speed to Auto and flow control to No Limit for the LAG to take effect. If you applied a preset mode, you do not need to take any action—preset modes do not change flow control or port speed settings. For more information about changing these settings on your Nighthawk switch, see the following knowledge base articles:
- How do I change the speed and duplex mode of a port on my GS808E Nighthawk S8000 Gaming & Streaming Switch?
- What is flow control and how do I enable or disable it on my GS808E Nighthawk S8000 Gaming & Streaming Switch?
The LAG ports on your Nighthawk switch must also have the same QoS port priority and port-based rate limiting settings. NETGEAR recommends that you set port priority for both ports to High (the default value is Low) and port-based rate limiting for both ports to No Limit (No Limit is the default value). If you did not change any default settings on your Nighthawk switch, the easiest way to change these settings is to apply the Standard Preset mode. For more information about how to configure these settings, see the following knowledge base articles:
- How do I use preset modes for gaming or media streaming on my GS808E Nighthawk S8000 Gaming & Streaming Switch?
- What is Quality of Service and how do I configure it on my GS808E S8000 Nighthawk Gaming & Streaming Switch?
- What is port-based rate limiting and how do I configure it on my GS808E S8000 Nighthawk Gaming & Streaming Switch?