Can someone explain trunk vs access port simply?
22maya2n2 · posted · 103 views
I'm studying VLANs and I understand what a VLAN is, but the difference between trunk and access ports confuses me. When do I use each one? And what's this native VLAN thing? Why does it matter? A plain English explanation would be amazing.
- Access port = one VLAN, untagged frames. Trunk port = carries multiple VLANs using 802.1Q tags in the frame header. Use trunk between switches (so VLAN 10 traffic from switch A reaches VLAN 10 on switch B). Use access ports for end devices like PCs and printers. — ben31833,
- The native VLAN part is what confused me too. Frames on the native VLAN cross the trunk untagged — no 802.1Q header. Both sides of the trunk need to agree on which VLAN is native, or you get weird issues like traffic leaking between VLANs. Default is VLAN 1. — Yaron,
- Oh that's why native VLAN mismatches cause problems! If switch A sends untagged on VLAN 1 but switch B thinks native is VLAN 99, the frame ends up in the wrong VLAN. That could be a security issue too right? Thanks for explaining. — 22maya2n2,
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