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Forum Discussion
Adding 1gig switch to LAN ports, drops bandwith from 431mbps to 48 mbps
This is a strange one - if I plug my 2 desktop PC's to Orbi LAN ports, I get full bandwidth (431mbps) on both machines as reported by Speedtest.net. If I plug computers into a 1g ethernet switch (unmanaged), and plug switch to Orbi LAN port, I have connectivity but bandwidth drops to 48mbps, Uploads remain the same (21mbps). I've checked all ethernet cables (all being CAT 6, under 10'). Thought it was the switch until I replaced with a new one with same results. I've checked all componets in the system - cable modem (re-booted), Orbi master (re-booted), computers all rebooted. All Wifi functions normally. I have run out of ideas. Due to the size of my network, I need additional LAN ports for other devices. Any help, would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance!
2 Replies
This is indeed strange. I have PC's connected directly to the RBR50 LAN ports and measure about 230mb down, which is above the 'guaranteed' rate of 200. I also have a gigabit switch connected to the remaining LAN port. Connected to this switch is my spare Orbi RBR50 (which I use for testing). And, connected to that Orbi is a Lenovo laptop (by ethernet). This basically amounts to two gigabit switches. Just now ran speed tests and that Lenovo laptop measures about 230mb. i.e. the same as PC's connected directly to the primary Orbi router.
It would be useful to know how the Orbi reports the status of those LAN ports. On the Orbi web interface (http://orbilogin.net), the Advanced Tab, click inside the Internet Port box where it says "Show Statistics". If all is well, the port that switch is connected to will show 1000/Full.
Then connect each PC directly to the Orbi and verify that the LAN ports they are connected to also report 1000/Full.
Does this switch have LED's on each ethernet port indicating the speed of the connection? (One of the ways Netgear "cheaped out" on the Orbi is not using a 4-port ethernet module that includes LED's. Maybe the thinking was that the back of the Orbi is never going to be visible to customers and if it is then blinking LED's will be a distraction. (I have a whole roll of black electrical tape and could solve that problem quickly.)
Another possibility is that something is consuming the gigabit bandwidth to that switch. Can you test with only those two PC's connected to the swtich?
Thanks for your input so quickly. I did check computers to LAN status, the router was reporting both computers running 1G/Full. I backtracked my installation, plugged both machines into the 1g switch then to the router LAN ports, and all is well. Generally I don't over-react over things like this, and nothing really made sense, and though I went through everything, making sure everything was seated, something obviously was not seated correctly.
I come away from this with a working system again, and a new spare ethernet switch that will go into the parts bin.
Again, thanks for your help, it steered me to the right direction.
