Configuring MXNet Network Switches to enable Dante and MXNet AVoIP traffic on the same VLAN

How-to: Configuring MXNet Network Switches to Enable Dante™ and MXNet AVoIP Traffic on the Same VLAN

This article is a comprehensive set of instructions for configuring the following MXNet network switches in order to run Dante audio traffic on the same VLAN as the MXNet encoders and decoders:

      AC-MXNET-SW10
      AC-MXNET-SW24
      AC-MXNET-SW48

Note: The network switches documented in this article are operating on factory default settings and are intended specifically for configuring with other MXNet devices. This article does not cover how to isolate Dante audio traffic to its own separate VLAN.

Requirements:
- Windows PC with PuTTY installed (direct download link here)
- RJ45-to-DB9 and DB9-to-USB console cable (included with all MXNet network switches)

Network Switch Configuration Guide
Optional: (applies only to the AC-MXNET-SW24 and AC-MXNET-SW48)
These two network switches can be configured by establishing a peer-to-peer Telnet connection from the PC to the MGMT port on the network switch using the supplied console cable.
Default IPv4 address of the network switch: 192.168.1.238

Accessing the CLI (Command Line Interface) of the Network Switch Using the Supplied Console Cable
1. Connect the RJ45-to-DB9 and DB9-to-USB cables together, then plug in the cable to a USB port on the Windows PC and the RJ45 connector to the CONSOLE port of the network switch.
           

2. Right-click on the Windows Start button and select “Device Manager”, then select the “Ports (COM & LPT)” drop-down menu and locate the device labeled “USB Serial Port (COMx)”.
           

3. Open PuTTY and enter in the following protocols:
      Connection type:            Serial
      Serial line:                      COMx
      Speed:                           115200 (if configuring the AC-MXNET-SW24/SW48)
                                             9600 (if configuring the AC-MXNET-SW10)

4. Select “Open” to open a new terminal window for PuTTY, then press the Enter key. The server will respond with “User Access Verification” followed by a prompt for the “Username”. This indicates that successful communication with the network switch is now established.
           
5. Depending on the model of network switch, continue following the next steps detailed in the guides below.

Configuring the AC-MXNET-SW24/SW48 for Dante and MXNet AVoIP Traffic on the Same VLAN
1. Login credentials are case sensitive. For the username, type in “admin” and hit the Enter key to send. For the password, type in “admin” and hit the Enter key to send. New lines will now begin with switch#, indicating the network switch is now fully accessible.

2. Commands can be entered directly into PuTTY by copy/pasting the commands below and right-clicking on the terminal window:
            config
            no ip igmp snooping
            multicast unknown-group drop
            ip igmp snooping
            ip igmp snooping vlan 1
            ip igmp snooping vlan 1 limit group 1000
            ip igmp snooping vlan 1 immediately-leave
            ip igmp snooping vlan 1 l2-general-querier
            ip igmp snooping vlan 1 not-forward
            ip igmp snooping vlan 1 l2-general-querier-version 2
            ip igmp snooping vlan 1 mrouter-port interface Port-Channel1
            end
            copy running-config startup-config
For other Telnet/Serial communicators, type in the commands above in order, each one should be followed by a carriage return/line feed.

3. After entering the command copy running-config startup-config, enter in the letter “y” to confirm.
Here is a simple breakdown of each command line:

config
Enters the configuration mode of the network switch.

no ip igmp snooping
Disables all default IGMP Snooping configurations on the switch. Required in order to execute the next command.

multicast unknown-group drop
Required for Dante to operate on the network switch and allows the switch to forward unknown multicast traffic to a designated router port. If there is no designated router port, it will simply drop the unknown multicast traffic.

The next "ip igmp snooping" commands will re-enable the IGMP snooping configurations that are required for MXNet AVoIP traffic:

end
Exits the configuration mode and returns to the main switch mode.

copy running-config startup-config
Copies the current configuration to the default startup boot-config so that the switch will retain its custom configurations after every reboot or power-cycle.

4. The network switch is now properly configured for operating Dante on the same VLAN as MXNet. If the PC is already hardwired to the network switch with the Dante Controller open, a list of Dante devices should now be visible. If not, try power-cycling the network switch.


Configuring the AC-MXNET-SW10 for Dante and MXNet AVoIP traffic on the same VLAN:
1. Login credentials are case sensitive. For the username, type in “admin” and hit the Enter key to send. For the password, type in “admin” and hit the Enter key to send. New lines will now begin with switch#, indicating the network switch is now in the main switch management mode.

2. Commands can be directly entered into PuTTY by copy/pasting the commands below and right-clicking on the terminal window:
            config
            interface ethernet 1/0/1-8
            switchport flood-forwarding mcast
            end
            copy running-config startup-config
For other Telnet/Serial communicators, type in the commands above in order, each one should be followed by a carriage return/line feed.

3. After entering the command copy running-config startup-config, enter in the letter “y” to confirm.
Here is a simple breakdown for each command line:

config
Accesses the configuration mode of the network switch.

interface ethernet 1/0/1-8
Notifies the network switch that the next commands sent will be applied to Ethernet ports 1-8 on the switch.

switchport flood-forwarding mcast
Required for Dante to operate on the network switch and tells the switch to forward unknown multicast traffic to a designated router port. If there is no designated router port, it will simply drop the unknown multicast traffic.

end
Exits the configuration mode and returns to the main switch management screen.

copy running-config startup-config
Copies the current configuration to the default startup boot-config so that the switch will retain its custom configurations after every reboot or power-cycle.

4. To confirm the above commands have been applied once they are sent, enter in the command “show running-config” to view the entire current running configuration of the network switch. This will be indicated by the line switchport flood-forwarding mcast below each ethernet port interface, as shown in the example below:


5. The network switch is now properly configured for operating Dante on the same VLAN as MXNet. If the PC is already hardwired to the network switch with the Dante Controller open, a list of Dante devices should now be visible. If not, try power-cycling the network switch.



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