What is the port aggregation on the R8500?

Port aggregation lets you combine two Gigabit Ethernet ports on the Nighthawk router to improve the aggregated file transfer speed. If a device supports Ethernet aggregation like a NAS or managed network switch, you can use the Ethernet aggregate ports 1 and 2 to cable the device to your router. Note that Ethernet port aggregation is also referred to as link aggregation, teaming port, and port trunking.

Which NETGEAR NAS devices will work with the R8500 port aggregation feature?

All of our NETGEAR ReadyNAS devices with two Ethernet ports such as model RN100/200/300/500/700 desktops series and ReadyNAS RN2000/3000/4000 rack-mount series support port aggregation. Other 3^rd party storage devices that supports link aggregation will work as well.

Why am I not able to get over 1Gbps throughput while using port aggregation?

Possible reasons:

• Traffic might only be running on 1 Ethernet port, check your configuration
• This could be related to the NAS samba speed limitation
• Too many applications running on the PC

When testing port aggregation, which ports should I use for my wired connections?

To get the fastest performance with port aggregation, for wired connections use Ethernet port 3 for the first computer, and use Ethernet port 4, 5, or 6 for the second computer. This will allow for speeds up to 2 Gbps with port aggregation. The maximum speed between 4, 5, and 6 is limited to 1Gbps.

For simplicity, recommended test topology:

While using the port aggregation feature with my network switch, I am encountering network looping. What happened?

Please take caution when using the Ethernet Port Aggregation feature when connecting the router's AGGREGATE ports to a switch. The router's AGGREGATE ports use 802.3ad LACP (Link Aggregation Control Protocol) to perform port aggregation. LACP is typically found on Smart Managed Switches and Fully Managed switches. It will not work on a regular unmanaged switch. If you do not know what type of switch you have, please check with the switch manufacturer's website to confirm whether or not LACP is supported on your switch.

When connecting to a switch that supports LACP, please make sure that LACP is already enabled and properly configured on the switch before connecting both Ethernet cables from the switch to the AGGREGATE ports on the router. Failure to do so may create networking loop and subsequent broadcast storm. In the event that a broadcast storm has been created, unplugging one or both of the Ethernet cables going to the router's aggregate ports may resolve the issue.

What is the recommended link aggregation mode and hash type?

We recommend using LACP IEEE 802.3ad Dynamic Link aggregation mode.

For the hash type, we recommend using Layer 2 + 3.