A network device including a media access control (MAC) device, and a physical layer (PHY) device. The physical layer (PHY) device is in communication with the MAC device via (i) a first serializer/deserializer (SERDES) and (ii) a second SERDES, wherein the first SERDES and the second SERDES operate at a fixed data rate. The MAC device comprises a translator configured to, in response to the MAC device operating at a data rate that is less than the fixed data rate, i) append a predetermined number of bits to data in a first data stream to be transmitted to the PHY device, and ii) subsequent to appending the predetermined number of bits to the data in the first data stream, duplicate the data having the appended predetermined number of bits to generate a second data stream at the fixed data rate.