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Chapter 4: Web-Based Management
126 GE-DS-82 and 82-PoE Ethernet Managed Switch User Manual
Figure 87: EAP message exchange
• Ports in Authorized and Unauthorized States
The switch port state determines whether or not the client is granted access to the
network. The port starts in the unauthorized state. While in this state, the port
disallows all ingress and egress traffic except for 802.1X protocol packets. When a
client is successfully authenticated, the port transitions to the authorized state,
allowing all traffic for the client to flow normally.
If a client that does not support 802.1X is connected to an unauthorized 802.1X port,
the switch requests the client's identity. In this situation, the client does not respond
to the request, the port remains in the unauthorized state, and the client is not
granted access to the network.
In contrast, when an 802.1X-enabled client connects to a port that is not running the
802.1X protocol, the client initiates the authentication process by sending the EAPOL-
start frame. When no response is received, the client sends the request for a fixed
number of times. Because no response is received, the client begins sending frames
as if the port is in the authorized state
If the client is successfully authenticated (receives an Accept frame from the
authentication server), the port state changes to authorized, and all frames from the
authenticated client are allowed through the port. If the authentication fails, the port
remains in the unauthorized state, but authentication can be retried. If the