On 7/9/11 12:18 PM, Giles Coochey wrote:
On 09/07/2011 01:06, Les Mikesell wrote:
Turning off negotiation pretty much guarantees problems if anything changes at the other end or you use an unmanaged switch. And the gigabit spec requires auto-negotiation.
Let me make it clear - auto-negotiation only works if auto-negotiation is configured on both sides.
Errr, auto-negotiation is normally the default. So it to be more clear, it works unless you break it by changing it only on one side.
It does not work if one side hard codes the speed and duplex. Both sides have to be set for it to negotiate. Agreeing on speed and duplex ensures that it will work.
That means both sides have to know about each other, whereas one side is networking equipment and the other is often host equipment, managed by different sets of people. And there is no need for them to agree/disagree or waste time thinking about it at all. The defaults should work.
If something is going to change on the remote end without you knowing, or your provider is using an unmanaged switch then it's time to change provider :-) - they obviously are cheapskates and don't have any change management control on their systems.
I'm not talking about 'providers', I'm talking about the people who set up network equipment vs. people who manage hosts. If the people managing the network equipment say negotiation needs to be off they are wrong, even if they claim to be the authority in the debate.
Gigabit is different.
No, the default of auto-negotiating works there too.