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Routing & Switching · Foundational

PortFast

A Cisco feature that moves an access port directly to forwarding, skipping listening and learning.

Definition

PortFast is meant for host-facing ports so devices get connectivity immediately (avoiding DHCP timeouts) and so link flaps do not trigger topology changes. It should be paired with BPDU guard. Enabling it on switch-facing ports risks loops.

Example

spanning-tree portfast ; spanning-tree portfast default (global for access ports)

Exam tip

PortFast does not disable STP; the port still sends BPDUs and reacts if it receives them.

Related terms