Aaron Scott

Q: Ethernet port not working with a Gigabit switch

I have a MacMini (Early 2009). I fails to connect at gigabit ethernet speed when connected to either a netgear GS605 switch or a brand new Airport Extreme base station.

I have tried different cables, different OSs (both 10.5 and 10.6).

When I force it to 1000baseT the connection jumps between connected and not connected.


This is getting ridiculous, that Apple can't make it work properly, as there are lots of others that have the same issue.

Does anyone have any ideas?

MacBook Pro Santa Rosa 2.2GHz, Mac OS X (10.6)

Posted on Sep 21, 2009 7:13 PM

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Q: Ethernet port not working with a Gigabit switch

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  • by Gerry Brown,

    Gerry Brown Gerry Brown Jan 11, 2010 10:50 AM in response to akaky76
    Level 3 (795 points)
    Jan 11, 2010 10:50 AM in response to akaky76
    Hi,
    Did you mean to say 100Base-T or does it really only work with 10Base-T? What gigabit switch are you connecting to?
  • by akaky76,

    akaky76 akaky76 Jan 11, 2010 11:01 AM in response to Aaron Scott
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 11, 2010 11:01 AM in response to Aaron Scott
    10Base-T not 100!
    We're on a Nortel Gigabit network . . .
    Connects via Airport just fine but that isn't a long term solution for me at all . . .
    One the phone with Apple right now.
  • by Gerry Brown,

    Gerry Brown Gerry Brown Jan 11, 2010 11:12 AM in response to akaky76
    Level 3 (795 points)
    Jan 11, 2010 11:12 AM in response to akaky76
    Please refer them to this thread and also post your result.
  • by moosecow,

    moosecow moosecow Jan 11, 2010 8:22 PM in response to Aaron Scott
    Level 1 (10 points)
    Jan 11, 2010 8:22 PM in response to Aaron Scott
    Interesting. I have a new mini running OSX 10.6.2 and it connects fine to a gigabit port on my Time Capsule. Perhaps we should list our configurations: mac mini and router.
  • by Gerry Brown,

    Gerry Brown Gerry Brown Jan 12, 2010 7:53 AM in response to moosecow
    Level 3 (795 points)
    Jan 12, 2010 7:53 AM in response to moosecow
    I do not believe that routers have anything to do with this. I actually have my switches cascaded. The fact that I get 100Base-T tells me the router is working correctly. The issue is that the negotiation between the two ethernet ports is not successful. The protocol that dictates the negotiation is called the 802.3 Nway protocol. {Remember when we used to have a different cable for uplink and downlink devices? NWay decides that now}. The fact that it works with the Time Capsule is not a surprise. I imagine Apple did QA against it's own products.
  • by LeeOwen,

    LeeOwen LeeOwen Jan 12, 2010 8:45 AM in response to Gerry Brown
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 12, 2010 8:45 AM in response to Gerry Brown
    just want to weigh in and say that i have an Airport Extreme and my MiniMac has this problem. It is NOT the Airport Extreme or the cable. I've tested in every configuration you can think of to test this. It's the Mini. If I take the cable out of the mini and plug into my macbook, I get gigabit. All other machines get gigabit. ONLY the mini gets 100TX half-duplex. Any attempts to manually configure to anything other than the above results in a message that the cable isn't plugged in.
    Just want to be clear, this happens between Apple products too.

    C'mon Apple... FIX THIS.... it's been going on a while now!!!!!!!
  • by Shane Davis,

    Shane Davis Shane Davis Jan 13, 2010 7:30 AM in response to LeeOwen
    Level 1 (75 points)
    Jan 13, 2010 7:30 AM in response to LeeOwen
    i just say this from another thread:

    http://support.apple.com/kb/TA24084

    Some Gigabit Ethernet switches, using early versions of Broadcom 1000BASE-T PHY (Broadcom 5400), were manufactured and shipped before the IEEE 802.3ab specification was finalized and they do not comply with the final specification. These switches are not compatible with Intel-based Macintosh computers using the 1000BaseT setting.

    Intel-based Macintosh computers will detect a link with some non-compliant switches, but can't interoperate with the switches at the 1000BaseT speed setting. You can change the settings on the Intel-based Mac to operate with these switches at the 100BaseTX setting instead.
  • by daverx7,

    daverx7 daverx7 Jan 13, 2010 8:07 AM in response to Shane Davis
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 13, 2010 8:07 AM in response to Shane Davis
    Great find and interesting info about the support for IEEE 802.3ab!!! Thanks for posting that!!

    However, my HP Procurve 1800-24G has IEEE 802.3ad, which from what I can gather, is post 802.3ab. I would think that I would be good to go, but unfortunately it is still failing.

    If I knew for sure it would work with a different gigabit switch, I would buy a small one specifically for the mini, but I am skeptical that this would resolve the issue.

    -Dave
  • by Gerry Brown,

    Gerry Brown Gerry Brown Jan 13, 2010 8:22 AM in response to Shane Davis
    Level 3 (795 points)
    Jan 13, 2010 8:22 AM in response to Shane Davis
    That was a great find.
    I checked and my switch IS 802.3a compliant.
    http://www.linksysworks.com/SD2005.asp and the repackaged Cisco version: http://www.cisco.com/en/US/prod/collateral/switches/ps5718/ps10007/ps10008/datasheetc78-502060.html.
  • by Gerry Brown,

    Gerry Brown Gerry Brown Jan 16, 2010 11:53 AM in response to Gerry Brown
    Level 3 (795 points)
    Jan 16, 2010 11:53 AM in response to Gerry Brown
    After working with Apple's GREAT Level 2 Support, we came to the conclusion that it was the switch. I went out this morning and bought the newer model of the same GigE Switch. Now I can use 1000Base-T and the "Automatic" setting.

    Old Switch: Linksys SD2005 ver 2.1 = FAIL
    New Switch: Linksys EG005W Ver 3 = WORKS
  • by incinerates,

    incinerates incinerates Jan 21, 2010 8:01 AM in response to Aaron Scott
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 21, 2010 8:01 AM in response to Aaron Scott
    I too recently picked up a current gen mac mini. I cannot get it to connect at 1000mbit on my DLink 825 (revB) router. I can only get it to connect at 10baseT connection. Forcing it to connect at 100/1000 will get the "not connected" status. Using CAT5E...I have a windows7 and freebsd box hooked up to the router with no problem at 1000mbit.
  • by Shane Davis,

    Shane Davis Shane Davis Feb 7, 2010 6:03 PM in response to incinerates
    Level 1 (75 points)
    Feb 7, 2010 6:03 PM in response to incinerates
    well i just got a new router, the netgear wndr2700 and no go on gig. 5e cabling or cat 6. i guess im just gonna give up on ever getting gig on this machine. Just have to settle for wireless N
  • by ellipse,

    ellipse ellipse Feb 8, 2010 4:09 PM in response to Aaron Scott
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Feb 8, 2010 4:09 PM in response to Aaron Scott
    I doubt this switches are in question ! I have many ProCurve 1800/24G, when I connect an iMac late 2007 with Tiger, no problem in gigabit, but with a brand new iMac late 2009, I have to configure the ethernet port manually ! The Xserve and iMac don't have this problem in 10.6.2with the same switches, crazy thing...
  • by Bontrag,

    Bontrag Bontrag Feb 20, 2010 12:06 PM in response to Aaron Scott
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Feb 20, 2010 12:06 PM in response to Aaron Scott
    I'm having the same issue with a new Mac Mini. I have three different gigabit switches (D-Link DSG2208, Netgear GS105 and an Airport Extreme) and it fails at gigabit speed with each one. Tried new cables (cat5e and cat6) and the only way to get it to connect is by running at 100Mbps. Auto negotiate works on the Airport and the Netgear but sets the connection to 100 Mpbps. The D-Link fails completely and won't connect at all unless you manually set it to 100.

    I have three other computers all connecting at Gigabit speed, including a slightly older Intel Core 2 Mac Mini. No resolution from Applecare when I called.
  • by Footleg,

    Footleg Footleg Feb 26, 2010 10:59 PM in response to Bontrag
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Feb 26, 2010 10:59 PM in response to Bontrag
    Oh dear, I've been scratching my head on this for a while. I bought the Mini back in October and finally got round to completing my home cabling project recently and move the Mac to wired Cat5e and initially it seemed to connect at 1000base but would intermittently drop - now, same symptoms as everyone else - it just shows "no ethernet connection" :-((

    I have checked my Netgear JGS516 switch and it is apparently .ab compliant - so what next? Are Apple going to fix the NIC card firmware? I've also tried it connected to a Netgear GS something gigabit desktop switch, also ab compliant, and same problem.

    The main switch - JGS516 is only a couple of months old and my work laptop and PC connect just fine at 1000base.

    This is my first Mac and it's very disappointing to find this issue.

    Anyone got any other updates or suggestions?

    Anthony..
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