Ethernet Interfaces

Document revision:	1.4 (September 10, 2007, 11:48 GMT)
Applies to:	V3.0

General Information

Summary

MikroTik RouterOS supports various types of Ethernet Interfaces. The complete list of supported Ethernet NICs can be found in the Device Driver List.

Specifications

Packages required: system
License required: Level1
Submenu level: /interface ethernet
Standards and Technologies: IEEE 802.3
Hardware usage: Not significant

Additional Resources

Ethernet Interface Configuration

Submenu level: /interface ethernet

Property Description

arp (disabled | enabled | proxy-arp | reply-only; default: enabled) - Address Resolution Protocol

auto-negotiation (yes | no; default: yes) - when enabled, the interface "advertises" its maximum capabilities to achieve the best connection possible

cable-setting (default | short | standard; default: default) - changes the cable length setting (only applicable to NS DP83815/6 cards)

disable-running-check (yes | no; default: yes) - disable running check. If this value is set to 'no', the router automatically detects whether the NIC is connected with a device in the network or not

full-duplex (yes | no; default: yes) - defines whether the transmission of data appears in two directions simultaneously

mac-address (MAC address) - set the Media Access Control number of the card

mdix-enable (yes | no) - whether the MDI/X auto crosscable correction feature is enabled for the port (if applicable)

mtu (integer; default: 1500) - Maximum Transmission Unit

name (name; default: etherN) - assigned interface name, whrere 'N' is the number of the ethernet interface

speed (10 Mbps | 100 Mbps | 1 Gbps) - sets the data transmission speed of the interface. By default, this value is the maximal data rate supported by the interface

Command Description

blink (name) - blink the port's LEDs for about 10 seconds. Useful if you want to discover, which of the physical Ethernet ports is named as specified

reset-mac (name) - set the MAC address of the NIC to the factory default setting

Notes

When disable-running-check is set to no, the router automatically detects whether the NIC is connected to a device in the network or not. When the remote device is not connected (the leds are not blinking), the route which is set on the specific interface, becomes invalid.

Example

[admin@MikroTik] > interface print
Flags: X - disabled, D - dynamic, R - running
 #    NAME                                              TYPE             MTU
 0  X ether1                                            ether            1500
[admin@MikroTik] > interface enable ether1
[admin@MikroTik] > interface print
Flags: X - disabled, D - dynamic, R - running
 #    NAME                                              TYPE             MTU
 0  R ether1                                            ether            1500
[admin@MikroTik] > interface ethernet
[admin@MikroTik] interface ethernet> print
Flags: X - disabled, R - running
 #    NAME                                   MTU   MAC-ADDRESS       ARP
 0  R ether1                                 1500  00:0C:42:03:00:F2 enabled
[admin@MikroTik] interface ethernet> print detail
Flags: X - disabled, R - running
 0  R name="ether1" mtu=1500 mac-address=00:0C:42:03:00:F2 arp=enabled 
      disable-running-check=no auto-negotiation=yes full-duplex=yes 
      cable-settings=default mdix-enable=yes speed=100Mbps 
[admin@MikroTik] interface ethernet>

Monitoring the Interface Status

Command name: /interface ethernet monitor

Property Description

auto-negotiation (done | incomplete) - fast link pulses (FLP) to the adjacent link station to negotiate the SPEED and MODE of the link. Both stations choose the maximal speed boh support.

default-cable-setting (read-only: short | standard) - default cable length setting (only applicable to NS DP83815/6 cards)

full-duplex (yes | no) - whether transmission of data occurs in two directions simultaneously

rate (10 Mbps | 100 Mbps | 1 Gbps) - the actual data rate of the connection

status (link-ok | no-link | unknown) - status of the interface, one of the:

Notes

See the IP Addresses and ARP section of the manual for information how to add IP addresses to the interfaces.

Example

[admin@MikroTik] interface ethernet> monitor ether1,ether2
                   status: link-ok link-ok
         auto-negotiation: done    done
                     rate: 100Mbps 100Mbps
              full-duplex: yes     yes
    default-cable-setting: standard standard

Troubleshooting

Description