XS724EM firmware 1.0.2.5 has NO-link issue with Cisco c300/c350 SMB switches at 1G link speed.

[blogthis]

XS724EM firmware 1.0.2.5 is NOT fully compatible with Cisco small medium business 1G switches.  For example, Cisco C300 SMB Series, C350 SMB Series, etc.

To be clear:

XS724EM Firmware 1.0.2.5 = Unable to pass any traffic to-from Cisco SMB switches at 1G whatsoever.

XS724EM Firmware 1.0.2.0 = Works fine with Cisco SMB switches which ONLY support 100M or 1G links speeds.

I had to downgrade XS724EM from 1.0.2.5 firmware, back down to 1.0.2.0 firmware, for it to be able to connect and work again with any of the Cisco SMB-series switches.

In the 1.0.2.5 firmware release notes, it says, "A new physical layer driver is supported to improve interoperability." - I believe this to be the problem.  as no physical link-layer communication is working using this XS724EM 1.0.2.5 firmware with Cisco C300/350-series SMB switches at 1G speeds.

AND, because XS724EM does NOT have any feature to force speed at 1G, this means it is unable to link at all - no traffic passes whatsoever.

In my opinion:  This newer XS724EM firmware 1.0.2.5 should be pulled from download, reverted to 1.0.2.0, then patched, and finally re-launched again later (when compatibility is tested better).

THANK GOODNESS, that NetGear still allows download of prior 1.0.2.0 firmware and lets you downgrade to work with Cisco again.  The older NetGear firmware is located here (directly from NetGear):

https://www.downloads.netgear.com/files/GDC/XS724EM/XS724EM_V1.0.2.0.zip

[blogthis · Accepted solution]

My Netgear XS724EM 1.0.2.6 beta firmware observations:

1.) During testing of the LACP configs between Synology DSM 7.1, 7.2, and Cisco C300-20, the links have been stable and no longer go into blocking mode and/or negotiation-loop.

2.) Both the Cisco C300-20 and directly-connected Netgear XS724EM with 2 SFP's for redundancy, had to be administratively rebooted (maintained settings), to stop the LACP negotation-loop (this NEVER worked in firmware 1.0.2.5).

3.) Performance seems to be slightly less, as well as less consistent with Netgear 1.0.2.6 firmware compared to 1.0.2.0 firmware (remember the 1.0.2.5 is incompatible with CIsco's LACP in our config thus it was unable to be tested or compared).

Overall, this Netgear XS724EM v1.0.2.6 beta firmware appears to have resolved the Cisco compatibility issue with advanced LACP redundant connectivity, with the caveats listed above.

I do not know why Netgear still has not posted it online, but you can open a case with Chat, and if you reference this post I'm told they will provide it to you as they continue to validate this new firmware version.

I hope this helps someone, good luck!

[schumaku]

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@blogthis wrote:

XS724EM firmware 1.0.2.5 is NOT fully compatible with Cisco small medium business 1G switches.  For example, Cisco C300 SMB Series, C350 SMB Series, etc.

...or the other way round? 

Operating some 20 devices from various vendors and OEMs connected to a XS724EM on 1.0.2.5 perfectly auto negotiating 1G, 100M, 2.5G, 5G, and 10G, some with dynamic LAGs, too.

[blogthis]

Netgear escalation support reproduced our Cisco compatibility issue, after I gave them our Cisco's CLI output (configuration)..

Apparently the Netgear issue in firmware 1.0.2.5 is related to our Cisco LACP load-balancing configuration triggered by certain link-speeds (but not all). 

For clarity, LACP is the industry-standard Link Aggregation aka "LAG" protocol and preferred method.

Note that "LAG" has many variations, including pre-standards like Cisco Etherchannel; and LACP itself has different options like IP vs MAC for redundancy or load-balancing, etc.

@schumaku  This is why some users using "LAG" pre-standards or other options may not be adversely affected....

Thankfully, Netgear said a new firmware patch would be available to fix the issue: ETA towards End of June 2023.

[blogthis]

Update:  Netgear escalation support provided me a beta 1.0.2.6 file in email on this support case.

It appears to be taking Netgear longer to fully test and release this update than we had been first informed.

[blogthis · Accepted solution]

My Netgear XS724EM 1.0.2.6 beta firmware observations:

1.) During testing of the LACP configs between Synology DSM 7.1, 7.2, and Cisco C300-20, the links have been stable and no longer go into blocking mode and/or negotiation-loop.

2.) Both the Cisco C300-20 and directly-connected Netgear XS724EM with 2 SFP's for redundancy, had to be administratively rebooted (maintained settings), to stop the LACP negotation-loop (this NEVER worked in firmware 1.0.2.5).

3.) Performance seems to be slightly less, as well as less consistent with Netgear 1.0.2.6 firmware compared to 1.0.2.0 firmware (remember the 1.0.2.5 is incompatible with CIsco's LACP in our config thus it was unable to be tested or compared).

Overall, this Netgear XS724EM v1.0.2.6 beta firmware appears to have resolved the Cisco compatibility issue with advanced LACP redundant connectivity, with the caveats listed above.

I do not know why Netgear still has not posted it online, but you can open a case with Chat, and if you reference this post I'm told they will provide it to you as they continue to validate this new firmware version.

I hope this helps someone, good luck!