Hands-on CCNA EtherChannel repair lab. Two uplinks between a distribution and an access switch are intended to form a single port-channel trunk carrying VLAN 10. The starter ships with a real mode mismatch across the bundle and an allow-list error, so the Port-channel stays down and hosts cannot talk. Learners diagnose the symptom and standardize on one protocol family (PAgP, LACP, or Static) and correct trunking so VLAN 10 forwards end-to-end.
Identify EtherChannel negotiation families (PAgP vs LACP) and compatible mode pairings
Read EtherChannel status flags and suspended/individual member states
Normalize trunking on a Port-channel (native VLAN, allow-list, nonegotiate)
Verify from end hosts and switches that the bundle forwards VLAN traffic
Troubleshooting focus
Verify every link's interface status and IP addressing (`show ip interface brief`) and correct any interface that is down or misaddressed.
Confirm each device's running configuration matches the lab objective, and bring any interface, route, or service that is not in its expected state back to health.
Trace end-to-end reachability with ping/traceroute and isolate the first hop where forwarding fails.
