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Long Ethernet Cat6 cable on RBR50 / Backhaul
Hello,
My wired backhaul on a newly purchased RBK50 system was just not working after several days of trying. I finally found a workaround and wish to share.
I have a brand new 30 ft long god-quality Cat6 ethernet cable from my ISP router to a "faraway room". When I conect RBR50 via the Orbi provided ethernet cable to the ISP router and then place a RBS50 in the "faraway room", the 5G Backhaul works, but is weak (amber dot on app).
Additionally, when I connect the 30 ft Cat6 ethernet cable between RBR50 and RBS50, the system just doesnt switch to Ethernet. Resetting, Rebooting, Waiting, etc etc just didnt work. The Cat6 cable of 30 ft is functional as when i place a ASUS router in the faraway room and set it up as a range extender, it works perfectly fine.
I then tried taking the RBR50 away from original location (adjacent to ISP router) and placing it in the faraway room, and connecting it via 30 ft Cat6 ethernet cable (internet port of RBR with LAN port of ISP router), and surprisingly, the RBR50 failed to detect internet connection and was solid Magenta.
What I did next was that I brought back my Asus N55U to the faraway room and set it as Wifi Range Extender by connecting its LAN port with LAN port of ISP router (using by 30 ft cable). And I used the Orbi provided short-length ethernet cable to connect RBR50 Internet Port with the Asus LAN port - and now RBR50 detected the internet successfully!
I also tried going back to my original config of conecting RBR50 to ISP router (using short Orbi Cable) in main room, and Asus + RBS50 in the faraway room, and the backhaul switched to ethernet too in some time, by itself!
What seems to be happening is that RBR50 and RBS50 either cannot work with Cat6 cables (unlikely), as the Orbi provided cable says Cat5e on it, or they cannot work with long 30ft type cables (possible). In any event, adding a router like Asus in between seems to work!!!
My ISP is a 200 Mbps so I dont feel a loss in speed and Signal Quality, if any. I am sure that for say a 1Gbps connection, adding a Asus in between may reduce signal quality.
Anyway, wanted to share this with everyone as I have been pulling hair over this for last several days.
1 Reply
If your ISP Modem already has a built in router and wifi. This would be a double NAT (two router) condition which isn't recommended. https://kb.netgear.com/30186/What-is-Double-NAT
https://kb.netgear.com/30187/How-to-fix-issues-with-Double-NAT
Couple of options,
1. Configure the modem for transparent bridge or modem only mode. Then use the Orbi router in router mode. You'll need to contact the ISP for help and information in regards to the modem being bridged correctly.
2. If you can't bridge the modem, disable ALL wifi radios on the modem, configure the modems DMZ/ExposedHost or IP Pass-Through for the IP address the Orbi router gets from the modem. Then you can use the Orbi router in Router mode.
3. Or disable all wifi radios on the modem and connect the Orbi router to the modem, configure AP mode on the Orbi router. https://kb.netgear.com/31218/How-do-I-configure-my-Orbi-router-to-act-as-an-access-point and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H7LOcJ8GdDo&app=desktop
https://kb.netgear.com/26765/Disabled-Features-on-the-Router-when-set-to-AP-ModeBe sure to post about this over in the Orbi AC forum for your future needs.
https://community.netgear.com/t5/Orbi/bd-p/Orbi
Thank you.
