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I've got a unmanaged switch in my network and I would like to know if it will pass on vlan encapsulated packets still. Would it understand it?

I have vlan capable hardware on each side of the L2 Switch. A basic map would look like:

Modem > VlanRouter > L2Switch > L3Switch

Does the packet get all the way through?

Tom TK
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    That is actually undefined. Some will, some will not, and some will after stripping off the tag. It depends on the switch model and manufacturer. – Ron Maupin Oct 03 '21 at 06:27
  • Thanks Ron, Tried looking for an answer online but the question was too big to get specific results – Tom TK Oct 04 '21 at 10:21
  • It would make more sense if you swapped the L2 and the L3 switch. – Zac67 Oct 10 '21 at 20:53
  • My l2 is a larger distribution switch and the l3 is only 4 port, I was hoping I don't have to fork out for a 24port l3 – Tom TK Oct 11 '21 at 21:43

1 Answers1

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I've got a unmanaged switch in my network and I would like to know if it will pass on vlan encapsulated packets still.

Many unmanaged switches pass VLAN-tagged frames transparently, but not all do. An unmanaged, yet IEEE 802.1D-compliant switch drops all tagged frames.

Would it understand it?

No. They're just frames for it.

You should be aware that if a switch just transparently forwards VLAN-tagged frames by MAC address it might cause those frames leaking between VLANs even to a point of working connections - depending on the configuration and implementation of VLANs on the connected managed switches. Generally, trying to use tagged frames across unmanaged switches is a bad idea.

Zac67
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