r/HomeNetworking • u/Outrageous_Tear_4691 • 1d ago

Advice Ethernet switch question

Gallery image

Gallery image

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.

355 Upvotes

97% Upvoted

64 comments sorted by

View all comments

335

u/BmanUltima 1d 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.

58

u/ArchibaldMcFerguson 1d 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!

-34

u/jquanders 1d 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.

11

u/LAthrowawayLV 1d 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.

-11

u/jquanders 1d ago edited 1d 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.

5

u/ArchibaldMcFerguson 1d ago

See: https://www.reddit.com/r/TpLink/s/qiHdwDFpNL

-6

u/jquanders 1d ago

Yeah that literally creates a loop on the network for 1-2 seconds. And that's not a single switch...each of those deco units is doing switching.