Benefits of an Additional WAN Port

• Supports multi-backhaul use cases such as Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN High Availability (HA) capability without cellular connectivity.

• Enables Layer 3 back-to-back ring connections to maintain network resilience and optimize traffic flow.

• Provides dual functionality to increase flexibility in network design, accommodating scenarios that require additional routed interfaces without the need for extra hardware.

Supported Expansion Modules

• IRM-1100-SPMI

• IRM-1100-SP

Configure the Layer 3 WAN Port

Use the no switchport command to convert the interface G0/0/5 to Layer 3 interface, as shown in the procedure below:

Router#configure terminal
Enter configuration commands, one per line. End with CNTL/Z.
Router(config)#interface g0/0/5
Router(config-if)#no switchport
Router(config-if)#end

Verify the Layer 3 WAN Port

Use the show run interface command to verify that Layer 3 interface is ready to be configured.

Router#show run interface g0/0/5
Building configuration...
Current configuration : 68 bytes
!
interface GigabitEthernet0/0/5
no switchport
no ip address
end

You can now assign an IP address to the interface G0/0/5.

Configure the Layer 2 Interface

Use the switchport command to switch interface G0/0/5 from Layer 3 to Layer 2 mode, as shown in the procedure below:

Router#configure terminal
Enter configuration commands, one per line. End with CNTL/Z.
Router(config)#interface g0/0/5
Router(config-if)#switchport
Router(config-if)#end