The IEEE 802.1P specification is an extension of the IEEE 802.1Q VLANs tagging standard and enables Layer 2 devices to prioritize
traffic by using an 802.1P header that includes a three-bit user priority field. If congestion occurs when the 802.1P CoS
bit is not set, PPP keepalive packets can be lost, which can result in disconnection of an established session with loss of
service to the end user. Congestion caused by noncontrol packets can also prevent new sessions from being established, which
also can result in denying service to the end user.
PPPoE sessions established over 802.1Q VLANs use the priority header field to provide best-effort QoS or CoS at Layer 2 without
involving reservation setup. 802.1P traffic is marked and sent to the destination, and no bandwidth reservations are established.
In Cisco IOS XE Release 2.4, PPPoE sessions established over IEEE 802.1Q VLAN make use of the priority field of the IEEE 802.1p
header by setting the CoS field to user priority 7.
During network congestion, when the Ethernet network and digital subscriber line access multiplexer (DSLAM) offer 802.1P support,
control packets are offered a higher priority than noncontrol packets, thereby increasing the likelihood of reliable delivery.
PPPoE control packets and PPP packets originating from the broadband remote access server (BRAS) are marked with user priority
0, the highest level of priority.
The following packets are tagged with user priority 0 in their 802.1P header:
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PPPoE packets
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PPPoE Active Discovery Offer (PADO)
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PPPoE Active Discovery Session Confirmation (PADS)
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PPP packets
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Link Control Protocol (LCP)
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Network Control Protocol (NCP) (Internet Protocol Control Protocol (IPCP))
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Authentication
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Keepalive