How do I configure a Cisco SG350-series or SG350X-series Switch for Shure Devices and Dante or AES67?
The following guide is designed to help you configure your Cisco SG350-series or SG350X-series network switch for Dante and AES67 networks.
Before You Begin
Ensure that you have a Cisco SG350-series or SG350X-series switch. This article only applies to Cisco SG350-series and SG350X-series switches. It does not apply to SG200/SG300-series or SG250-series switches.
Decide how IP Addresses will be managed. It is fine to use DHCP (e.g., from the switch, or from a Crestron server) or Static/Manual addressing. If you are using Static IP Addresses, create a spreadsheet to keep track of each device's address. We suggest tracking the device make, model, MAC Address(es), IP Address(es), firmware version, date purchased, and date installed. Include your switch in the list. See Documenting Your Audio Network for more information.
Update your switch to the latest firmware available from Cisco. This guide was written against SG350-series firmware version 2.5.0.83.
Configuring a Cisco SG350-series or SG350X-series Switch for Shure Dante Devices
If you are not using the default subnet of 192.168.1.254 or are not using an external DHCP server, you will need to configure the switch's IP Address to match your Shure Control and Dante network. Under the Administration menu, select Management Interface > IPv4 Interface. Click the Add button, and set an IP address within your Network Audio subnet, set the correct Subnet Mask (Network Mask). Click Apply. The warning will ask if you want to replace the existing IP Address, click OK. Apply changes and reconnect to the switch if needed.
Under the Port Management menu, select Green Ethernet > Properties. Ensure Energy Detect Mode and 802.3 Energy Efficient Ethernet is disabled. Verify that all ports show 802.3 as Disabled under the Operational column. Click Apply.
Select Advanced Configuration Mode in the upper right corner of the screen.
Under the Multicast menu, select Properties. Enable Bridge Multicast Filtering. Select IP Group Addresses. Click Apply.
Under the Multicast menu, select IPv4 Multicast Configuration > IGMP Snooping menu and enable IGMP Snooping Status and IGMP Querier Status. Click Apply.
Edit each VLAN in the IGMP Snooping Menu as follows:
Enable IGMP Snooping Status, MRouter Ports Auto Learn, and Immediate Leave.
Enable IGMP Querier Status and Querier Election.
Select IGMPv2 as the Querier version.
Select Auto for Querier Source IP Address. Click Apply.
Under the Multicast menu, select IPv4 Multicast Configuration > IGMP VLAN Settings and configure each VLAN to have a Querier Interval of 30s and to use IGMPv2. Click Apply for each VLAN.
Under the Multicast menu, select Multicast Router Port and set all ports to None. This will cause the switch to auto-detect a Multicast Router Port if you have additional switches (see step 15). Click Apply if needed.
Under the Multicast menu, select Forward and set all ports to None. This will prevent multicast from flooding all ports. Click Apply if needed.
Under the Multicast menu, select Unregistered Multicast. If you are not using any Video-over-IP devices, set all to Forwarding. If you are using Crestron NVX or similar technologies set all to Filtering and be sure to follow the additional instructions at the end of this document. Click Apply if needed.
Under the Quality of Service, menu, select QoS Properties. Set mode to Basic. Click Apply if needed.
Under the Quality of Service, menu, select QoS Basic Mode > Global Settings. Set Trust Mode to DSCP. Click Apply if needed.
Under the Quality of Service, menu, select DSCP to Queue. Set Trust Mode to DSCP. Configure the table to look like the screenshot below with DSCP 56 set to Queue 8, DSCP46 set to Queue 7, DSCP34 set to Queue 6 (or 5, doesn't really matter), and all other DSCP values set to Queue 1. PRO TIP: Tab between each field and use the number keys to set the values, it is much quicker than using the mouse. Click Apply.
The switch is now configured. Save the settings and create a backup.
If you have a second switch, repeat the configuration procedure for each Cisco switch. We highly advise not mixing switch manufacturers (for example, do not connect a D-Link and a Cisco switch, or use an unmanaged "dumb" switch to add additional ports--even if you don't have Dante devices on that device. Here are some tips for a multi-switch environment:
All switches should ideally be of the same model series.
All switches should share the same general configuration settings as shown above, including enabling the querier—the switches will elect one switch to be the querier. Alternately--you may elect to force one switch to be the querier, and configure all others just for IGMP snooping.
Uplink switches with the fastest physical layer method possible. If there is video traffic, we highly recommend a 10 Gbps uplink between switches. In some cases
Ensure the uplink ports on downstream switches indicate as a Dynamic router port on the Multicast Router Port screen. The core switch will not show links to other switches as Dynamic; this is expected and normal. Do not set this to Static; this will cause all multicast to flood that link.
If no video is present, ensure uplink ports are set to Forward Unregistered Multicast Traffic on the Unregistered Multicast screen. If video is present, follow the additional instructions at the end of this document and ensure all links to child switches are set to forward the Dante traffic.
Explicitly block multicast clock traffic (224.0.1.129) from any attached WiFi access points.
Configuring a Cisco SG350-series or SG350X-series Switch for Dante and Video If you plan to use your SG350-series or SG350X-series switch with Crestron NVX equipment or other video-over-IP equipment, follow these additional configuration instructions.
Under the Multicast menu, select Unregistered Multicast. Set all ports to Filtering.
Under the Multicast menu, select IP Multicast Group Addresses. Add the following groups to the list:
224.0.0.230
224.0.0.231
224.0.0.232
224.0.0.233
224.0.0.251
224.0.1.129
Select each of the groups above one at a time, and click Details. Select Static for all switchports with a Shure or Dante device attached. It is perfectly fine to assign Static for all switchports. Repeat for each of the six groups listed above.
Verifying Your Work
Connect all of your Shure devices to the network switch, and if necessary, assign them a Static IP address.
Open Dante Controller and ensure all devices appear under the Device Info tab.
Verify that only one device is the Leader Clock on the Clock Status tab. All other devices should say Follower. If you are using AES67, we generally recommend that the same device serve as both the Dante and AES67 Leader Clock.
Open Shure Update Utility, and configure it to use your Ethernet adaptor. Verify that all devices appear in the list, and are on the latest firmware.
