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Forum Discussion
XS728T / XS748T ports fail - numerous installations
Hi - this might be my first post here, but I am a long time Netgear 10G switch user - from the original XS712T. I have seen this problem over and over again, and I am very familiar with the entir...
Hello DaneA -
thank you very much for your prompt reply.
There is no other switch connected to the XS748T. There is no loop.
I hope that I do not sound rude in my reply here - I know that I often do. I have installed possibly 1000 Netgear XS series 10G
switches. As I stated in my original post, I only see "dead ports" (which are not really dead) on the XS728T and XS748T.
I see this problem occur in almost every installation. Eventually, people will call me and say "we can't connect to the server" - and
I right away go to the Netgear XS series switch GUI, and can see "no link" on that port (or several ports) - while the other ports
remain operational. The connection to the Netgear switches vary from Apple iMac Pro 10G ports (Aquantia 10G chips), to
various thunderbolt to 10G adapters from Sonnet (Solo 10G, Twin 10G), Promise (SanLink2, SanLink3) and QNAP (QNAP-T310G1T).
This issue has been going on for years, in hundreds of installations, thru various firmware updates. My current issue, which I will resolve on Monday with this clients XS748T will be to simply do a factory default, and I am sure that all the "dead ports" will start working again. I find it hard to believe that this is not a common issue reported to Netgear on these models.
You will see in this Netgear thread, that this is where I learned the trick of switching between Auto and 1G and back to Auto to
sometimes get the dead port to work again -
I would like to know why the ports stop working, but then can be reactived by either this trick, or factory default.
Thank you for looking into this -
Below I will show some of the text of this link -
Bob Zelin
"We had our XS728T replaced after several of the ports would no longer negotiate a connection over CAT-6 and CAT-6a cables longer than a few meters. Firmware updates, factory reset e.t.c. did not help. After contacting support a replacement was issued. The replacement worked fine for a few days, then ports that were working fine all of a sudden stopped working, and would no longer negotiate a connection (like the last switch). A week later another port dropped off. NETGEAR Support instructed a factory reset. We did so, but this did not help.
What did help, at the suggestion of NETGEAR Support, was to go to Switching > Ports > Port Configuration, then change the Admin mode of the problematic ports from Enable to Disable, then back to Enable. After that 3 of the 4 problematic ports started working correctly and would negotiate at the full 10G. 1 port would now negotiate a connection, but only at 1G instead of 10G. I then changed the Port Speed to 1G Full Duplex and back to Auto. After this the port negotiated properly at 10G (the device must be connected when you do this otherwise it won't work)."
Are you utilizing any 10GB rack mounted or inline surge protectors? Did you ever find a solution for the ports randomly turning off on the XS748t?
Thanks!
no sir, I never found a solution. Because the XS728T and XS748T are the least expensive 10Gbase-T switches on the market, I still install them all the time. This is what I typically do when I have a client call to say "I can't connect anymore". I have them identify exactly what port they are on, for the computer that will not connect any longer to the server (or the switch). I have them go to a computer that is working (which is most of them). I use www.teamviewer.com to remote into the computer that is working. I then use a web browser like Chrome or Safari or Firefox to log into the Netgear XS748T web gui. I find the port that they say "no longer works". I simply toggle the speed of that port from AUTO to
1G, and click on Apply. I then select AUTO on that port, click APPLY, and everything starts to work again. So it's an inconvenience, but it works every time.
I am unaware of any in line surge protectors for 10G switches. I realize that static and ground potential issues are everywhere in a large installation - but none of these are PoE installations - it's just from a computer 10G port (or thunderbolt to 10G adapter) to the Netgear XS728T or XS748T. I want to stress as well, that this NEVER EVER happens with the XS708T, XS712T, XS716T or the "E" series of switches. This problem is unique to the XS728T and XS748T. Almost every installation I do uses one of these switches, and if I get a call once a month for this issue from one of my clients ("I can't connect") - it's not that big of a deal. But this has been going on for years in multiple installations.
Bob Zelin
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