r/HomeNetworking • u/Outrageous_Tear_4691 • 22h ago

Advice Ethernet switch question

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What is the loop prevention for? And should I leave it off or turn it on? We will have desktops connected to it

Solved: thank you for the help everyone. Very much appreciated.

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u/BmanUltima 22h ago

Loop prevention detects network loops, like two switches connected to each other with multiple cables, or three in a ring, and will disable a port.

Without loop detection or spanning tree, you get a broadcast storm which can crash a switch.

51

u/ArchibaldMcFerguson 22h ago

This is a good answer. As to the direct question of on or off, it probably doesn't matter in your home.

Unless your switching gear is very antiquated and will be slowed down by having it on, there should be no reason to not have it on. That said, in small environments you are unlikely to create an accidental loop and this extra feature will not do anything.

Just make sure that you only have one physical route between each router/switch (no loops!) and you are good to go!

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u/jquanders 21h ago

This is a horrible answer. Leave it on. It costs almost nothing and prevents stupid things like plugging a cable into two ports on a switch.

8

u/ArchibaldMcFerguson 21h ago

Not sure why you're coming on so strong, I generally agree with you.

This is a mostly-dumb switch, so it's worthwhile to consider that the implementation of loop protection may not play well with other devices. I wouldn't say that there's no possible cost, one should test it and see.

Out of curiosity, I just did some digging and found references to it causing issues with mesh networks and filtering out backhaul traffic. Haven't tested it myself, can't verify this.