Difference Between Default VLAN and Native VLAN

Last Updated : 24 Nov, 2021

In Default VLAN all switch ports turn into a member of the default VLAN just after the initial bootup of the switch. All these ports engage in the default VLAN which makes all of them a part of the same broadcast domain. Because of this, any device connected to any port can communicate with other devices on other switch ports. For Cisco and some other vendors, VLAN1 is the default VLAN.

A native VLAN is a special VLAN whose traffic traverses on the 802.1Q trunk without any VLAN tag. A native VLAN is defined in 802.1Q (it supports untagged traffic while inter-switch link doesn’t support untagged traffic.) trunk port standard which supports traffic coming from several VLANs as well as the traffic that doesn’t come from a VLAN. The native VLAN is per trunk per switch configuration. The 802.1Q trunk port assigns untagged traffic on a native VLAN. That is, the native VLAN detects and identifies traffic coming from each end of a trunk link. By default, the native VLAN is VLAN 1, but it can be changed to any number such as VLAN 10, VLAN 20, VLAN 99, etc. The native VLAN is also useful when we deal with VoIP.

Difference Between Default VLAN and Native VLAN

Criteria	Default VLAN	Native VLAN
Modification of VLAN	The default VLAN is always VLAN 1, and it can’t be changed.	By default, Native VLAN is VLAN 1, but it can be changed to any VLAN.
Untagged traffic in VLAN	Traffic will be sent when both Default and Native VLAN are the same.	Traffic can be sent irrespective of Default and Native VLAN being the same or different.
Operand	Default VLAN is specified through the VLAN operand command.	Native VLAN is specified through the NATIVE operand command.
Disabling of VLAN	It is not possible to disable Default VLAN.	It is possible to disable VLAN.
Encapsulation type	It supports .1Q as well as ISL.	It only supports .1Q.
Tagging	Tagging is allowed in default VLAN.	Tagging is allowed in Native VLAN if required but it is Untagged by default.
Default VLAN Value	1 (Normal range) this VLAN can be used but it can not be deleted, it is cisco default, and 1002 to 1005 these VLANs are cisco default for a token ring and FDDI(Fiber Distributed Data Interface ) and they can not be deleted.	Anyone VLAN per .1Q trunk port.
DTP(Dynamic Trunking Protocol) traffic	DTP is not sent Default VLAN.	While it is sent on Native VLAN.
Maximum Number of VLANs per switch	One default VLAN per switch.	Native VLANs can be as many as there are .1Q trunks on the switch.