I have Mikrotik CSR210-8G-2s+in in my network on Rack 1. Equipments on that rack are utilizing all ether ports on the CSR210. The first SFP+ port is also in use. The second SFP+ is the only unused port on this switch. I installed a new rack and needed to have it connected to the network, so I ran a connection from SFP2 on this switch to Cisco 2960G switch on the new rack.
Case 1:
CSR210 (SFP2) --- Cisco 2960G (GigaEthernet 0/47 optical port)
Connecting CSR210 to Cisco 2960G using optical Connection: I used two Sopto 1.25 G Transceivers on both ends and a single mode cable (Yellow). I turned off auto negotiation (ethernet tab) on the CSR210 SFP2 port and selected only 1G. I could not have the connection established. Cisco Switch do not detect the cable when I plug it in and the interface is shown as (not-connected) and on the CSR210 side, it does not see the neighbor switch but there is the “R” letter which indicates that the port is “Running”.
Case 2:
I thought that there might be a compatibility issue, so I tried a workaround. On the new rack, I have CCR1036, so instead of having the connection CSR210 directly to the Cisco Switch, I tried to have the CCR1036 between them.
CSR210 (SFP2) --- CCR1036 (SFP1 – bridge 1) --- CCR1036 (eth1 – bridge 1) --- 2960G (Gig44)
I turned off the negotiation on both the CCR1036 SFP1 and CSR210 SFP2 and selected only the 1G on ethernet tab. Both CSR210 and CCR1036 did not detect each other in the neighbor but both have “R” flag on the corresponding interface which indicates that the port is “Running”!!
Case 3:
I tried connecting the Cisco Switch to the CCR1036
CCR1036 SFP1 (Auto-negotiate turned on) --- Cisco 2960G (GigaEthernet 0/47 optical port)
The connection came up immediately.
Case 4:
I thought that there might be a problem on the SFP2 port on the CSR210 side, so I placed an order and purchased a NEW CSR210 (exact same model but a new device) and started testing before having the new CSR210 in-service. I established the connection like this:
CSR210 (SFP2 on the new device) --- Cisco 2960G (GigaEthernet 0/47 optical port)
I turned off auto negotiation (ethernet tab) on the CSR210 SFP2 port and selected only 1G. the connection did not come up. Still suspect compatibility!!
Case 5:
I tried to repeat case 4 but use the new device instead of the old in-service device:
CSR210 (SFP2 on the new device) --- CCR1036 (SFP1 – bridge 1) --- CCR1036 (eth1 – bridge 1) --- 2960G (Gig44)
The connection did not come up as well!! Both CSR210 and CCR1036 did not detect each other in the neighbor but both have “R” flag on the corresponding interface which indicates that the port is “Running”!!
Case 6:
A modified case 5. I moved the optical cable and the transceiver from SFP2 to SFP1 on the CSR210 and turned off the negotiation on CSR210 and selected 1G on SFP1.
CSR210 (SFP1 on the new device) --- CCR1036 (SFP1 – bridge 1) --- CCR1036 (eth1 – bridge 1) --- 2960G (Gig44)
The connection came up immediately!! What the hack!!
Case 7:
Tried the connection from SPF1 (negotiation is off and 1G is selected) on the new device to the Cisco 2960G.
CSR210 (SFP1) --- Cisco 2960G (GigaEthernet 0/47 optical port)
Connection did not come up!!
Summary:
CSR210 (SFP2 old device) --- Cisco 2960G (GigaEthernet 0/47 optical port) --- DO NOT WORK
CSR210 (SFP2 new device) --- Cisco 2960G (GigaEthernet 0/47 optical port) --- DO NOT WORK
CCR1036 (SFP1) --- Cisco 2960G (GigaEthernet 0/47 optical port) --- WORKS!! but not useful just to verify that CCR1036-SFP1 is operational.
CSR210 (SFP2 new device) --- CCR1036 (SFP1) --- DO NOT WORK
CSR210 (SFP2 old device) --- CCR1036 (SFP1) --- DO NOT WORK
CSR210 (SFP1 new device) --- CCR1036 (SFP1) --- WORKS!! (Not useful since I have only SFP2 available on the old device).
CSR210 (SFP1 old device) --- CCR1036 (SFP1) --- CANNOT BE TESTED since the old device is in-service.
Does that make any sense to anyone?
Thank you all for any support you may provide...
Ammar.