Option Summary
The GS724TR offers quite an array of configuration options. Netgear uses a clean menu interface with eight tabs for main menu choices across the top with multiple configuration options per tab. Figure 5 is a shot of the System Information screen, which is where you first land when logging in.
Figure 5: System information
To give you an idea of the numerous configuration options, I put together the chart in Table 2 showing each menu and it sub-items. All told there are 34 different configuration screens, each with multiple sub-screens for various options and configurations.
| System | Switching | Routing | QoS | Security | Monitoring | Maintenance | Help |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Management | Ports | IP | CoS | Mgt Security | Ports | Save Config | Online Help |
| Device View | LAG | VLAN | DiffServ | Access | Logs | Reset | |
| SNMP | VLAN | Router Discovery | Port Auth | Port Mirroring | Upload | ||
| LLDP | Voice VLAN | Routing Table | Traffic Control | Download | |||
| Services | STP | ARP | ACL | File Management | |||
| Multicast | Troubleshooting | ||||||
| Address Table |
Table 2: Admin menu summary
VLANs
The GS724TR supports up to 255 VLANs. As observed in our review of the Netgear's FS728TS, though, the Netgear manual provides configuration descriptions but lacks in examples on how to set up VLANs or other key functions.
To set up VLANs on the GS724TR, you need to define the VLAN, define VLAN Membership with tagging options and assign incoming VLAN ID parameters. To create a VLAN, just give it a number and a name in the VLAN Configuration screen. For example, I created VLAN 2 and called it "WAN" on my GS724TR.
Once a VLAN is created, ports can be assigned to that VLAN as untagged or tagged. If a port is connected to a PC, setting it as untagged is easiest. I liked that the VLAN Membership screens on the GS724TR make it point and click to define which ports are members of which VLAN.
For a port to be a member of a VLAN, it has to have either a T or a U in its associated square. Clicking on the square for each port will change the port's assignment from not being a member of that VLAN to being a Tagged member of that VLAN to being an Untagged member of that VLAN. Group operations are also possible to assign all or no ports to be a member of a VLAN.
Notice the "U" under ports 22-24 in Figure 6. Here I've set up ports 22-24 to be untagged members of VLAN 2. I've also gone into VLAN 1 and removed ports 22-24. This means that only ports 1-21 are members of VLAN 1 and only ports 22-24 are members of VLAN 2.
Figure 6: VLAN membership
On the GS724TR, use the Port VLAN ID menu to assign a VLAN ID to untagged frames received on specific ports. In Figure 7, I've defined that untagged frames received on port 23 will be assigned VLAN ID 2. In addition to setting the VLAN ID on incoming frames, the PVID Configuration screen can be used to filter and set CoS priority values.
Figure 7: Port PVID Assignment
The GS724TR also has Auto Voice VLAN functionality. If you enabled the Voice VLAN feature, the GS724TR will automatically assign frames with a matching OUI to the Voice VLAN.
Note: The OUI is the first half of the MAC address. All Ethernet capable devices, including VoIP phones have MAC addresses. The GS724TR is preconfigured to detect 10 different OUIs, recognizing VoIP devices from Cisco, Avaya and several other vendors. Additional OUIs can be added in the Voice VLAN OUT configuration screen.
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