VLAN tagging prevents DHCP and network connectivity

[Squatch]

I have 802.1Q enabled on my router port 4 and its tagging vlan 1, 10, & 11. This port feeds a switch which the Steam Link is plugged into along with an AP. Most devices getting the default VLAN (1) unless specified otherwise. However... unlike every single other device I plug in, the Steam Link can't connect over the default VLAN. It sees the cable as connected and just says connecting until it times out and gets an APIPA. If I shut off VLAN tagging on port 4 my router, the Steam Link connects right away. Once I re-enable tagging it stops working. My laptop, Xbox360, PS3, and anything else I test all work fine with tagging on, just not the Steam Link. I need the tagging turned on for the AP which has multiple SSID with different VLANs, so I can't just leave it off. Anyone else doing this type of thing? Thanks!

PS I know that 802.1Q adds 4bits to the packet, so my guess here is that it doesn't know what to do with the packet so it drops it. Not sure if this is a hardware function, or maybe a Steam OS function that can be added hopefully.

PSS Setting a static IP does nothing as well. Which leads me to believe it is the extra bits in the packet causing them to get dropped.

[Squatch]

Online MAC lookups for the hardware vendor show Valve Corp. Anyone know who makes the Ethernet chipset? I can't be the only one using 802.1Q VLAN tagging.

[LethalInterjection]

Your Steamlink should be on an access port, and not have any tagged frame going to it.
you don't want to plug devices into trunk ports.

Your AP should be pretty much the only device that needs a trunk port.

Try setting the vlan to 1 for the port, and make it an access port.
You should then not have Q tags on the traffic (verify with Wireshark).

[Phoenix]

If i am understanding you correctly I would agree that it needs to be in an access port rather then a trunk port.

[Squatch]

The port isn't set to mode trunk, its set to mode access. The VLAN tags prevent Steam Link from seeing the packets. Again all other devices I could test with, XBOX 360, PS3, three different laptops, a rPi, and a blueray player all work fine. Its just the Steam Link can't handle the 802.1Q packet. I don't change the access mode just remove the VLAN tagging and it works. Add back the tagging, fails.

[LethalInterjection]

I just replicated your setup in my lab, and it works fine, so i can confirm their is no issues with vlan tagging on the network, and the steam link itself.

Where exactly are you changing the vlan tagging? just at the router? or the router and switch port?
Are you using Cisco gear?

[Riff-Raff]

Does your switch have the concept of "native VLAN"? Is it possible that the steam link is getting both tagged and untagged frames?

In addition to the questions LethalInterjection already asked, more details of the topology, equipment and configuration would be useful.

[Dan.R]

There seems to be some vendor-specific terminology going around in the answers so I'll chime in to help clarify. (A trunk port is link aggregation unless you're Cisco)

In case you are not already aware, if you add 802.1Q to the interface, there are 4 extra bytes added to the packet. The device at the end must be able to either strip those 4 bytes, or utilize them, otherwise the header bleeds in to the payload of a standard 1512 byte frame.

Some routers/switches are able to use Tagged and Untagged frames on the same interface. This would be called "Native VLAN" by cisco, but it's essentially just 802.1Q auto detection.

It sounds like the Steam link isn't able to deal with VLAN tags, however I believe it does support QoS, which is entirely unrelated, but adds 3 bytes to the IP header where the VLAN tag would sit. I would suggest turning QoS on or off if using an untagged VLAN on that port is not an option.

Outside of this, might be a feature request to add 802.1Q support.