Although switches filter most frames based on MAC addresses, they do not filter broadcast frames. For other switches on the LAN to receive broadcast frames, switches must flood these frames out all ports. A collection of interconnected switches forms a single broadcast domain. Only a network layer device, such as a router, can divide a Layer 2 broadcast domain. Routers are used to segment both collision and broadcast domains.

When a device sends a Layer 2 broadcast, the destination MAC address in the frame is set to all binary ones. A frame with a destination MAC address of all binary ones is received by all devices in the broadcast domain.

The Layer 2 broadcast domain is referred to as the MAC broadcast domain. The MAC broadcast domain consists of all devices on the LAN that receive broadcast frames from a host.

Click Play in the figure to see this in the first half of the animation.

When a switch receives a broadcast frame, it forwards the frame out each of its ports, except the ingress port where the broadcast frame was received. Each device connected to the switch receives a copy of the broadcast frame and processes it. Broadcasts are sometimes necessary for initially locating other devices and network services, but they also reduce network efficiency. Network bandwidth is used to propagate the broadcast traffic. Too many broadcasts and a heavy traffic load on a network can result in congestion: a slow-down in the network performance.

When two switches are connected together, the broadcast domain is increased, as seen in the second half of the animation. In this case, a broadcast frame is forwarded to all connected ports on switch S1. Switch S1 is connected to switch S2. The frame is then also propagated to all devices connected to switch S2.