The autopolarity feature allows the system to detect and respond to the Ethernet cable type (straight-through or crossover cable) used to make the connection to the switch port or an endstation.
This feature applies only to the 10/100/1000 BASE-T ports on the switch and copper medium on ExtremeSwitching combination ports.
When the autopolarity feature is enabled, the system causes the Ethernet link to come up regardless of the cable type connected to the port. When the autopolarity feature is disabled, you need a crossover cable to connect other networking equipment and a straight-through cable to connect to endstations. The autopolarity feature is enabled by default.
Under certain conditions, you might opt to turn autopolarity off on one or more ports.