A method supporting network and intra-portal link (IPL) sharing in a link aggregation group at a network device is disclosed. The method starts with transmitting frames on the IPL at the network device, where the physical link or aggregation link of the link aggregation group is dedicated to the IPL. The network device determines that the network device is configured with a network and IPL sharing method that is consistent with the neighbor network device, the network and IPL sharing method including sharing by at least one of time, tag, and encapsulation, where the network and IPL sharing method indicates sharing of the physical link or link aggregation between frames for the IPL and frames for another IPL or a network link of the link aggregation group. Then the network device transmits the frames between the network device and the neighbor network device using the network and IPL sharing method.
