The MAC-based VLAN feature allows incoming untagged packets to be assigned to a VLAN and in that way, you can classify traffic based on the source MAC address of the packet.
You define a MAC-to-VLAN mapping by configuring an entry in the MAC-to-VLAN table on a fully managed switch. An entry is specified using a source MAC address and the appropriate VLAN ID. The MAC-to-VLAN configurations are shared across all ports of the switch, that is, the table is system-wide and contains all MAC-address-to-VLAN-ID mappings.
When untagged or priority tagged packets arrive at the switch and entries exist in the MAC-to-VLAN table, the source MAC address of the packet is looked up. If an entry is found, the corresponding VLAN ID is assigned to the packet. If the packet is already priority-tagged, it maintains this value; otherwise, the priority is set to zero. The assigned VLAN ID is verified against the VLAN table. If the VLAN is valid, ingress processing on the packet continues; otherwise, the packet is dropped. This implies that you can configure a MAC address mapping to a VLAN that is not yet created on the switch.
For more information, see the following support articles:
- What is a virtual LAN (VLAN) and how does it work with my managed switch?
- How do I create a MAC-based VLAN using CLI commands on my managed switch?
- How do I assign a MAC-based VLAN using the web interface on my managed switch?