Orbi Ethernet Backhaul/Compatible Switches

So I have ethernet backhaul seemingly working now (fingers crossed) -- not willing to call it a "solution" yet until at least a few days have passed.

My approach was to "insert" a Tenda TEG1008D switch between the RBR50 and my local network and similarly another TEG1008D between the RBS50 and my local network.  Essentially, I've used non-green, third party switches to "shield" my Orbi's from all of my NegGear switches.  After making that change, the only other thing I had to do was power cycle the RBR50 and RBS50 and now, without having to do anything else, the backhaul status is "good" (as opposed to "config sync" that survived multiple days and a few power cycles for both the RBR50 and RBS50).  Additionally (drum roll please), the connection type shows as "wired"!

As mentioned earlier, I've opened a ticket with NetGear and we're in preliminary stages of that process -- they say they've forwarded my query to another department and are also asking me to give them the links to the forum posts which describe the issues with "green" (i.e., 802.3az/EEE) switches (I gave them 5 or 6).  Wish me luck...

Thanks to this great community for your help here -- hopefully I'm good!  Look for at least one more post where I'll share the response from NetGear support as to the brands/models of switches they've tested with (I'm not going to pass on "recommendations" unless they confirm they certify them or at least have tested them with ethernet backhaul).  Oh, and hopefully I'll also post with the final evaluation of this approach and formal identification of the solution!

Glad to hear that the Tenda switches appear to be working so far.  It is odd that their 5 and 8 port versions of this switch do not list 802.3az but the 16 and 24 port versions do.

I agree that NG should publish which of their switches are supported on the wired backhaul.  My limited searching of their current products did not find any.

Good news/bad news.

First, the bad news:  my RBR50 crashed again.  Solid magenta ring and I had to power cycle.  Additionally, noticed downstream extremely low bandwidth prior to crash (9 mbps wired and unwired via the satellite vs. router-based speed test of 750+ mbps).  Interestingly enough, a solid magenta ring on the RBR50 doesn't seem to be documented anywhere except in the forums.  I don't know about the rest of you reading this, but in my book that's a BAD THING.  I mean, how is it possible that the device can exhibit what must be planned behavior that is meant to be user-facing and yet remains undocumented?  As mentioned, there are other forum posts that describe the solid magenta light on the ROUTER and these same symptoms.  (to be clear, I'm aware that there's a solid magenta light documented on the SATELLITE, but not for the ROUTER).  Now it's certainly possible that the introduction of the new switches contributed to this issue, but given that it feels like the same crash as I've been experiencing previously, I'm not convinced.

But back to this topic....

On the good news side, at least when I was able to (briefly) look at the admin console (before the router crashed with a solid magenta light a second time), the Satellite's backhaul status was good and the connection type was wired!  So at least my ethernet backhaul issue still seems to be "solved", though at this point I'm not sure how much longer that's going to matter to me as I've never owned a more fragile network device (including routers, cable modems, extenders, switches, hubs, etc.).  I mean, NEVER.  I should mention that my previous router worked just fine with my assortment of devices -- I only changed as this tech looked promising and I wanted to give my previous router to my buddy.

But I've essentially disconnected my LAN from the router so I can get this out and start working with NetGear support.  So my further backhaul troubleshooting has been halted.

Perhaps I just have a bad apple.  But the abundance of reports of issues that aren't being addressed, the fact that I have an undocumented light (solid magenta) that goes along with my network going down, and that I've spent most of my free time over the last 5 days trying to get this to work all add up to having a go at getting my money back and investing in some more stable tech.  I may have to give up on my "dream" of a mesh network + ethernet backhaul and just throw my money at stability.

As this topic was meant for the ethernet backhaul/switch issue, I'll stop talking about my new issue and will update this topic with whatever they come back with on that ticket I raised.

Quick update -- apparently I have an RBR50v2 and per the documentation there IS a solid magenta status.  It's found in the user manual and means "no internet access".  I was going off the below article, which has no solid magenta for the router.

https://kb.netgear.com/31030/What-do-the-LEDs-on-my-Orbi-router-and-satellite-mean

Of course, "no internet access" doesn't explain the crash.  And it's hard to understand how it would relate to the new switches when the behavior exhibited matches the crashes I was getting prior to introducing the switches, but if the crashes continue then I'll probably have to remove the switches as part of troubleshooting this (continuing) issue.  <sigh>

But good news -- I've just completed a hard reset and restored config and the ethernet backhaul survived!  Let's see if I can maintain my network for more than 24 hours (baby steps)...

In addition to the multiple "magenta" issues spawned last night and again at 1:30 this morning (I have no evidence this is related to the Tenda switches -- just assumptions), I also discovered that my wired LAN was only getting 8-10 mbps.  My bad -- I was so excited that everything was connected and the RBR50 admin console reported "wired" for backhaul, I never bothered to test performance until this morning.  So although this approach seems to have "solved" the ethernet backhaul issue, the combination of a new round of network crashes coupled with a continuous throttling of my WIRED network (and for any wireless connection via the RBS50), I decided to remove the Tenda switches.  I immediately got back to my "normal" wired throughput at the expense of my ethernet backhaul (which is now back to 5G connection type/good status).  <sigh>

I'm going to sit on this approach for a bit to make sure my "magenta" lights issue stabilizes now that those big, mean Tenda switches aren't bullying my NetGear network and will independently see how well those Tenda switches work with other routers/network infrastructure.  Hint:  I'll be willing to bet they'll do just fine.

As mentioned before, my disappointment with these Orbi's runs quite deep.  I purchased them for the ethernet backhaul and that seems to be a pipe dream.  The Orbi design/engineering overall seems very interesting but the implementation similarly seems way too fragile.

I'm always making changes to my network (bringing in new devices, extending it as needed via switches) and I can't go through this RIDICULOUS amount of effort and downtime every time I touch it.  I buy NetGear equipment because I want to be able to install it, get good performance (perhaps not the best, but still decent) and then mostly forget it (not counting quick log scans and checking for updates).

Quick update.  Due to other issues I'm having with my RBR50v2, I've re-introduced a new primary router (a Nighthawk X6S AC4000 the Orbi was meant to replace).  The RBR50 is now only providing WiFi in AP/Bridge mode and no longer has any responsibility for my wired network and no direct communication with the Internet (i.e., that's all handled by the Nighthawk).

I have not yet tried to establish ethernet backhaul with this setup as I'm waiting for things to "settle" and am still monitoring the RBR50's performance (have had numerous "crashes").

To rub a bit of salt in the wound, NetGear support closed the ticket I raised to find the list of compatible switches without any discussion with me, calling it a "duplicate ticket" (of course, the ticket they identified as "duplicate" was the one I raised where I was finding unrecognized/wired devices on my Orbi's list of Attached Devices, which is the main reason the RBR50 is no longer my primary router and won't ever have direct contact with the Internet).  I explained to NetGear support this morning that the two tickets are completely unrelated and they told me they'd "escalate".  So I've not only made no progress in getting that list of "certified" switches in support of ethernet backhaul, I've actually taken a step backwards...

If anyone else would like to try to get that "certified switches" list from NetGear, feel free...

Not sure if there is a list of switches that NG has. Possible. 

I know that D-Link DGS-105/108 and HP ProCurve 1400-1800 series switches work with Orbi. 

FURRYe38 , It looks like D-Link has introduced a new revision(REVC6) that now supports 802.3az :(

https://us.dlink.com/en/products/dgs-108-8-port-unmanaged-gigabit-metal-desktop-switch

This now potentially only leaves the Tendra and HP ProCurve.

Ok. Thanks for letting us know. I was curious if there had been any followon Revs. I'll look at mine and see what they are. They are about 3-4 years old I believe. I guess if you can find the pro curves 1400-1800 series, these will work fine. 

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GMoGoody8 wrote:

FURRYe38 , It looks like D-Link has introduced a new revision(REVC6) that now supports 802.3az :(

https://us.dlink.com/en/products/dgs-108-8-port-unmanaged-gigabit-metal-desktop-switch

This now potentially only leaves the Tendra and HP ProCurve.

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Np, Thought I'd mention it. I have been lurking on this thread because I can't utilize ethernet backhaul right now but I am moving soon and my setup will be similar as the OP where the garage has the in wall ethernet drops and didn't want to have my modem and router or satellite in such a confined space. So then I was contemplating replacing my Netgear gs108v3 gs108v4, and gs105NA for the ones recommended in here but now I may just hope a pray a firmware update fixes this 802.3az compatibility issue, or depending on the location of the garage drop cabinet drilling into the closet on the other side if that's the wall they put it on. 

You'll have to try the GS series and see if they work out for you. I may put my D-Link DGS ones back online and check again. 

I just swapped out my HP Procurves for my D-Link DGS 108 and 105s. 108 is a Rev B and the 105s are Rev Cs. 

Up and running. Thought I was concerned after connecting the RBS50 at the last conection. The network started constantly ARPg for about a good minute to1:30. I Thought I might have to reboot the RBR however when I went back up stairs, I noticed the switch in the living room wan't constantly blinking thus the network seemed to settle back down. It now working normally. 

Nice, You have a backup if need too.

Sucks D-Link DGS 108 revision changed. Maybe I can find a retailer that might have a few revision Bs or even better NG fixing this on the Orbi itself 

Very possible. Might ask the retailer if you find one about Rev Info.

Netgear really needs to fix this so that green network switches work on the wired backhaul of the Orbi.  Netgear does not even offer a current model of a network switch without the green 802.3az feature.  My Netgear GS116v1 is about 4 years old and does not have 802.3az built in, so it works. But newer versions do not work since the green features are now standard.

Adding Blanca_O to escalate.

Yes, would be nice for Orbi AC and AX.