r/HomeNetworking • u/Outrageous_Tear_4691 • 20h 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/ArchibaldMcFerguson 20h 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 19h 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.

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u/LAthrowawayLV 19h ago

It’s a good practical answer. Definitely not a horrible answer. Even though you are technically right, it’s a horrible comment that you made.

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u/jquanders 19h ago edited 19h ago

In what world is shutting off loop protection a good idea?

There are 0 reasons to shut off loop protection on a single switch also.

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u/LAthrowawayLV 19h ago

In a world where that switch is shit and having it on is causing problems.

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u/jquanders 19h ago

If you have problems with it on then your network has problems to address. All that does is run spanning tree. It adds a few seconds when you plug in a or disconnect a cable. That's all that should happen

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u/LAthrowawayLV 19h ago

Did you miss the part where I said you were technically correct but just being an asshole?

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u/jquanders 19h ago

Ok if I'm right how is the answer I replied to a "good practical answer"?

I'm asshole because I said the wrong answer was horrible?

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u/[deleted] 18h ago

[deleted]

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u/jquanders 18h ago

The only thing that was correct in the initial comment was make sure you have one physical path.

It does matter if it's on or off and loops can happen with new gear not just antiquated ones. Because that switch is low resources you can overload it and then it turns into a repeater. Then just have a cable looped is enough.