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Techsystem
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Interface vs Port In Mikrotik Router

Sun Dec 04, 2022 2:13 pm

Hello MT friends...!
so please anyone can explain in deep what is the different between interface and port in Router in general and in MT especially..?
 
akakua
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Re: Interface vs Port In Mikrotik Router

Sun Dec 04, 2022 3:41 pm

Port - L2
Interface - L3
 
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mkx
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Re: Interface vs Port In Mikrotik Router

Sun Dec 04, 2022 6:22 pm

As @akakua said: port is L2 entity and interface is L3 entity.

Example: one uses ether1 as standalone port and one uses interface ether1 to set up IP address etc.

Example: one uses ether2-ether5 as ports of same bridge (functionality is similar to functionality of switch). As long as the device doesn't interact with said bridge, it doesn't need interface, bridge simply passes traffic between ports. One definitely must not use bridge ports as interfaces (even though ROS doesn't block it).

In ROS every bridge comes with software-facing port and associated interface ... so if device has to interact with bridged network, one uses bridge interface to set up IP address etc.
 
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anav
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Re: Interface vs Port In Mikrotik Router

Sun Dec 04, 2022 8:07 pm

OKay clarity required. in your statements...

one uses ether2-ether5 as ports of same bridge (functionality is similar to functionality of switch). As long as the device doesn't interact with said bridge, it doesn't need interface, bridge simply passes traffic between ports. One definitely must not use bridge ports as interfaces (even though ROS doesn't block it).

Typically a bridge is associated with a bunch of ports,
Which device are you talking about?

How does a bridge pass data between ports when you dont have an address assigned to the bridge or you dont have vlans assigned to the bridge????
 
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mkx
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Re: Interface vs Port In Mikrotik Router

Mon Dec 05, 2022 12:11 pm

Which device are you talking about?
I'm talking about hypothetical device. But any device running ROS 6.42+ and having bridge (HW offloaded or not) will behave similarly.

How does a bridge pass data between ports when you dont have an address assigned to the bridge or you dont have vlans assigned to the bridge????
Bridge without any L2.5 or L3 setup will act as a simple dumb switch ... passing traffic between member ports solely based on dst-mac-address. If you configure VLANs, it'll pass traffic based on VID and dst-mac-address. If you add IP address (L3 setup), it'll do the same as without it, but will allow software (ROS) to interact with that subnet (or multiple depending on config).

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