Methods and apparatus that may be used to provide timestamps to physical layer devices are provided. One method includes obtaining a time value from a clock associated with a physical layer device that is communicatively coupled to a primary data packet switch. The method further includes adding a processing time to the time value to generate a timestamp and transmitting the timestamp to a multiplexer circuit. The method further includes writing the timestamp in parallel from the multiplexer circuit to a plurality of external physical layer devices that are communicatively coupled to a secondary data packet switch and are located external to a housing of the secondary data packet switch.