Switch Frequently-Asked Questions (FAQ)

Datto access points communicate with Datto Networking over their default untagged network connection. The port the access point is plugged into must be set up to handle this untagged traffic. Most managed switches can be set up to tag outgoing untagged traffic onto a specific VLAN, and untag incoming tagged traffic from a specific VLAN. The VLAN this traffic eventually ends up on must have a working DHCP server and a route out to the internet.

Look for PVID or "native VLAN" settings in your switch's configuration settings. Refer to your switch's manual and support documentation for full details on setting up ports and VLANs properly.

S series switches require a DHCP acquired IP address for management and connectivity to Datto.

When an S series switch is plugged directly into a modem/upstream provider, the switch receives a Public IP address. It will check-in to Datto and report online. However, the S switches are Layer-2 switches, which means they do not have NAT/DHCP capabilities. This means that any device behind the switch will not receive a lease. If your upstream router is in "Bridge Mode" you may notice the same behavior.

When the switch is properly installed, it will receive a private management IP from your network's router and will pass DHCP information to downstream devices. Always make sure to check the IP the switch is receiving (under Manage > Switches) to be sure the switch is in the expected subnet.

NOTE  To ensure the switch always has the same IP address, add a DHCP reservation to the DHCP scope.

The bandwidth on Datto switches can be throttled on an individual port basis using the Rate Limit field to set allowed Receive (Rx) and Transmit (Tx) bandwidth. To set the overall bandwidth, set these values on the uplink port that the switch uses to connect to your router or gateway.

No, our switches only support 802.3af PoE. You would need to power non-802.3af devices by power adapter or by passive PoE injector.

The Datto switches use the same ports (80 and 443) as our APs. You may also need to allowlist www.cloudtrax.com (external link) and www.AmazonAWS.com(external link) as we recommend with our APs.

You can use Generic SFP modules, but Datto does not support them.

Yes, all ports are 10/100/1000 Mbps capable.

Yes, our switches are compatible with other switches and routers using the standard TCP/IP protocol.

Yes, you can link switches together on the network and maintain speeds using link aggregation.

When enabled on a port, the Voice VLAN feature allows VLAN tagged on the port and modifies the priority for packets that match the Voice VLAN ID and OUI prefix. Traffic is not automatically tagged. See Voice VLAN for more information.

To set a port as an access port, set only the PVID and Untagged VLAN. To have a trunk port allow multiple tagged VLANs.

Yes. Jumbo frames are supported.

Like our APs, our switches use dual partitions for updates, so the existing firmware is not overwritten for an update. If the new firmware install fails, the device will revert to the previously installed firmware.

Yes, you can set ACL by subnet.

We sell both single-mode and multi-mode fiber SFP modules.

Yes. You can access our datasheet on switches by clicking the link below. You need Partner Portal access to view the file: Datto Networking Switches Datasheet 5-23-19.

Yes.

The number of PoE powered devices that a single PoE switch can support is determined by the amount of power the switch can provide and the amount of power required by each device. Client devices usually support standards-based 802.3af or 802.3at PoE power. These PoE standards mean that the device can draw up to a maximum of 15.4W (af) or 25.5W (at) from the switch to the connected port.

For PoE switches, you should look for their "PoE Budget" or "Power Dedicated to PoE" value, which is the total amount of power it has available to divide between PoE devices connected to it.

EXAMPLE  If you have a switch with a PoE budget of 45W, and two PoE devices that use the 802.3af standard (max 15.4W), then even if both devices draw their maximum allowed power (15.4 x 2 = 30.8W), there will still be plenty of spare power in the switches PoE budget.

While the two PoE devices use the 802.3af standard, that only defines what the maximum power values are that the device can draw, not the actual amount of power the device will draw. If the device only draws 5W of power during regular operation, then the scenario becomes (5W x 2 = 10W total PoE power draw) much less demanding on the switch, leaving the majority of its PoE budget available. During times of high activity, such as boot-up cycles when first connected or when the device resets, it may pull more power, closer to the max. This is important when considering site wide power loss and planned reboots through maintenance windows.

Information on both the PoE standard used and the normal/expected PoE power draw of your device should be available in the device manufacturer's technical detail pages or datasheets.

There is no local access to your Datto switch for day to day configuration and management. This should be done from the Network Manager.

There is limited local access on a factory reset or newly unboxed unit (that is running 1.00.27 or later from the factory) to include a local web UI. This can be used to configure IP addressing and default VLAN, to help your switch get online and connect to Datto Network Manager, where it can be further managed.