How to Set Up Ethernet Link Aggregation on Your Mac
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Posted September 29, 2019 at 6:13pm by iClarified
These are instructions on how to set up Ethernet link aggregation on your Mac. Link aggregation allows you to combine multiple Ethernet links into a single logical link between two networked devices.
You may want to do this for increased bandwidth or better reliability and availability. For example, in our recent Wi-Fi Speed Test video we used link aggregation to connect a Mac Pro to the Netgear Nighthawk Wi-Fi 6 Router for improved performance.
Step One Select System Preferences... from the Apple menu at the top left of your screen.
Step Two Choose Network from the System Preferences window.
Step Three Click the small gear button below the list of network interfaces and choose Manage Virtual Interfaces... from the contextual menu that appears.
Step Four Click the + button to add a virtual interface then select New Link Aggregate... from the list of options.
Step Five Check the boxes for the two Ethernet ports you would like to bond, give the interface a name, and click Create.
Step Six Your link aggregate will now show up in the list of virtual interfaces. Click Done.
Step Seven Click Apply to apply your changes.
Step Eight Make sure link aggregation is enabled on the device you would link to connect to then attach both Ethernet cables to your Mac.
The new interface will show a status of Connected if successful.
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This is hardly useful, as the features are terribly implemented. How many users have ready access to their Mac addresses, or are familiar with such barebones technical details? If Apple spent any time seriously considering this, they’d have made it easier to set up. Why require Mac addresses, rather than the wi-fi names the user’s created themselves? This is a return of the nerds, ignoring Apple’s famous ‘it just works’ mantra.
Ever since I bought the iPhone X years ago, I’ve struggled with figuring out how to alternate the wi-fi between different channels—a feature heavily promoted when they first implemented wireless ac/n/g support. Now, years later, it requires familiarity with obscure networking details for what should be an automatic feature.
If implemented intelligently, everyone would be ranting about this feature. As is, even those familiar with the details, like me, won’t even bother with it. Talk about a massive fail!