diff --git a/etc/inc/interfaces.inc b/etc/inc/interfaces.inc
index 7cb1524463..f5826a586d 100644
--- a/etc/inc/interfaces.inc
+++ b/etc/inc/interfaces.inc
@@ -560,6 +560,9 @@ function interfaces_configure() {
 	/* bring ip IP aliases */
 	interfaces_ipalias_configure();
 
+	/* configure interface groups */
+	interfaces_group_setup();
+
 	if (!$g['booting']) {
 		/* reconfigure static routes (kernel may have deleted them) */
 		system_routing_configure();
@@ -1758,6 +1761,33 @@ EOD;
 
 	return 0;
 }
+
+function interfaces_group_setup() {
+	global $config;
+
+	if (!is_array($config['ifgroups']['ifgroupentry']))
+		return;
+
+	foreach ($config['ifgroups']['ifgroupentry'] as $grouppar)
+		interface_group_setup($groupar);
+
+	return;
+}
+
+function interface_group_setup($groupname /* The parameter is an array */) {
+	global $config;
+
+	if (!is_array($groupname))
+		return;
+	$members = explode(" ", $groupname['members']);
+	foreach($members as $ifs) {
+		$realif = get_real_interface($ifs);
+		if ($realif)
+			mwexec("/sbin/ifconfig {$realif} group {$groupname['ifname']}");
+	}
+
+	return;
+}
  
 /* XXX: stub for code that references the old functions(mostly packages) */
 function get_real_wan_interface($interface = "wan") {
diff --git a/usr/local/www/interfaces_groups.php b/usr/local/www/interfaces_groups.php
index 09d0b9937f..3cffab79a6 100755
--- a/usr/local/www/interfaces_groups.php
+++ b/usr/local/www/interfaces_groups.php
@@ -43,9 +43,14 @@ $a_ifgroups = &$config['ifgroups']['ifgroupentry'];
 
 if ($_GET['act'] == "del") {
 	if ($a_ifgroups[$_GET['id']]) {
+		$members = explode(" ", $a_ifgroups[$_GET[$id]]);
+		foreach ($members as $ifs) {
+			$realif = get_real_interface($ifs);
+			if ($realif)
+				mwexec("/sbin/ifconfig  {$realif} -group " . $a_ifgroups[$_GET[$id]]['ifname']);
+		}
 		unset($a_ifgroups[$_GET['id']]);
 		write_config();
-		touch($d_ifgroupsdirty_path);
 		header("Location: interfaces_groups.php");
 		exit;
 	}
@@ -93,7 +98,7 @@ include("head.inc");
   </td>
   <td class="listr" ondblclick="document.location='interfaces_groups_edit.php?id=<?=$i;?>';">
       <?php
-	$members_arr = array_slice(explode(" ", $ifgroupentry['members']), 0, 10);
+	$members_arr = explode(" ", $ifgroupentry['members']);
 	$iflist = get_configured_interface_with_descr();
 	foreach ($members_arr as $memb)
 		$memberses_arr[] = $iflist[$memb] ? $iflist[$memb] : $memb;
@@ -113,7 +118,7 @@ include("head.inc");
     <table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="1">
       <tr>
         <td valign="middle"><a href="interfaces_groups_edit.php?id=<?=$i;?>"><img src="/themes/<?= $g['theme']; ?>/images/icons/icon_e.gif" width="17" height="17" border="0" title="edit group"></a></td>
-        <td><a href="interfaces_ifgroups.php?act=del&id=<?=$i;?>" onclick="return confirm('Do you really want to delete this group? All elements that still use it will become invalid (e.g. filter rules)!')"><img src="/themes/<?= $g['theme']; ?>/images/icons/icon_x.gif" width="17" height="17" border="0" title="delete ifgroupentry"></a></td>
+        <td><a href="interfaces_groups.php?act=del&id=<?=$i;?>" onclick="return confirm('Do you really want to delete this group? All elements that still use it will become invalid (e.g. filter rules)!')"><img src="/themes/<?= $g['theme']; ?>/images/icons/icon_x.gif" width="17" height="17" border="0" title="delete ifgroupentry"></a></td>
       </tr>
     </table>
   </td>
diff --git a/usr/local/www/interfaces_groups_edit.php b/usr/local/www/interfaces_groups_edit.php
index 1044beda27..68758859ce 100755
--- a/usr/local/www/interfaces_groups_edit.php
+++ b/usr/local/www/interfaces_groups_edit.php
@@ -59,9 +59,13 @@ if ($_POST) {
 	unset($input_errors);
 	$pconfig = $_POST;
 
-	foreach ($a_ifgroups as $groupentry)
-		if ($groupentry['ifname'] == $_POST['ifname'])
-			$input_errors[] = "Group name already exists!";
+	if (empty($id)) {
+		foreach ($a_ifgroups as $groupentry)
+			if ($groupentry['ifname'] == $_POST['ifname'])
+				$input_errors[] = "Group name already exists!";
+	}
+	if (preg_match("/([^a-zA-Z])+/", $_POST['ifname'], $match))
+		$input_errors[] = "Only characters in a-z A-Z are allowed as interface name.";
 
 	$ifgroupentry = array();
 	$ifgroupentry['ifname'] = $_POST['ifname'];
@@ -81,13 +85,25 @@ if ($_POST) {
 		$ifgroupentry['members'] = $members;
 		$ifgroupentry['descr'] = mb_convert_encoding($_POST['descr'],"HTML-ENTITIES","auto");
 
-		if (isset($id) && $a_ifgroups[$id])
+		if (isset($id) && $a_ifgroups[$id]) {
+			$omembers = explode(" ", $a_ifgroups[$id]['members']);
+			$nmembers = explode(" ", $members);
+			$delmembers = array_diff($omembers, $nmembers);
+			if (count($delmembers) > 0) {
+				foreach ($delmembers as $ifs) {
+					$realif = get_real_interface($ifs);
+					if ($realif)
+						mwexec("/sbin/ifconfig {$realif} -group " . $a_ifgroups[$id]['ifname']);
+				}
+			}
 			$a_ifgroups[$id] = $ifgroupentry;
-		else
+		} else
 			$a_ifgroups[] = $ifgroupentry;
 
 		write_config();
 
+		interface_group_setup($ifgroupentry);
+
 		header("Location: interfaces_groups.php");
 		exit;
 	} else {
@@ -186,6 +202,8 @@ function removeRow(el) {
     <td valign="top" class="vncellreq">Interface</td>
     <td class="vtable">
 	<input class="formfld unknown" name="ifname" id="ifname" value="<?=$pconfig['ifname'];?>" />
+	<br />
+	No numbers or spaces are allowed. Only characters in a-zA-Z
     </td>
   </tr>
   <tr>