NETGEAR is aware of a growing number of phone and online scams. To learn how to stay safe click here.
Forum Discussion
Orbi RBR & RBS Ethernet Backhaul Help
I have Centurylink Fiber 1Gig up and 1 Gig down. In order to get rid of Centurylink's Modem/Router combo I had to utilize PPPOE and VLAN Tagging. I setup the VLAN Tagging on my TP Link Smart Switch (...
Thank you for your response. Yes, I have found that the ethernet backhaul does not work 100% as others have found as well. My satellite is plugged into port 3 which is outside the VLAN and is an untagged port. The satalite doesn't recognize the ethernet backhaul and defaults to the wireless backhaul. This is to assume that ethernet backhaul can work over the WAN port on the Orbi Router.
Wonder if I should put port 3 into the same VLAN and PVID that both 1 and 2 are on?
DSconewrote:Thank you for your response. Yes, I have found that the ethernet backhaul does not work 100% as others have found as well. My satellite is plugged into port 3 which is outside the VLAN and is an untagged port. The satalite doesn't recognize the ethernet backhaul and defaults to the wireless backhaul. This is to assume that ethernet backhaul can work over the WAN port on the Orbi Router.
Wonder if I should put port 3 into the same VLAN and PVID that both 1 and 2 are on?
The Orbi will only work with an ethernet backhaul over the WAN port if you're in AP (access point) mode, which is not the default. The default is "routed" mode (where the Orbi hands out DHCP addresses and does NAT for your devices). From your answers, I think you're using "routed" mode.
This is important for your situation because in routed mode, the broadcast domains of the WAN port and the remaining ports are necessarily different. You could think of it like this: the "untagged" VLAN for the WAN port is a different VLAN than the "untagged" VLANs for the remaining ports.
Now, you need each Orbi sattelite that you want to use with a wired backhaul to be connected to the router on the same broadcast domain (VLAN). In routed mode, here's one way would accomplish this in your setup.
On the switch:
- Port 1: Untagged for VLAN 201, your modem
- Port 2: Untagged for VLAN 201, your Orbi Router's WAN port
- Port 3: Untagged for VLAN 1, A non-WAN port on your Orbi router
- Port 4: Untagged for VLAN 1, One of your Orbi Sattelites
- Port 5: Untagged for VLAN 1, A different Orbi Sattelite
Notice, this has your Orbi router plugged into the switch twice, and each port it is plugged into has a different untagged VLAN. This is correct for "routed mode".
If you're using "Access Point" mode, then the answer is different. Let me know and I'll give you an example of what you would do for that instead.
Thank you for the detailed response. I really appreciate the help! Your explanation makes perfect sense.
Well... Looks like I won't be able to do this because my ONT is in the basement and is connected to my switch. I have one cat5 going upstairs in the family room (Orbi Router - Router Mode) and another cat 5 going in a upstairs bedroom (Orbi Satellite) on the oposite side of the house. I would need two cat5's in order to do what you described going up to the family room. I could bring the Orbi Router in the basement but I minimze the coverage in the family room.
My main purpose here was to use the TP Link switch to do the VLAN tagging and the Orbi to do the PPPOE login to avoid the Centurylink Modem/Router (c3000z). Guess I could hook this up as the router and put my Orbi's in AP Mode. Could you explain how to do this? Would I simply just hook up both the Orbi's up to the c3000z's ports and it would work? - Take the switch out all together.
DSconewrote:Thank you for the detailed response. I really appreciate the help! Your explanation makes perfect sense.
Well... Looks like I won't be able to do this because my ONT is in the basement and is connected to my switch. I have one cat5 going upstairs in the family room (Orbi Router - Router Mode) and another cat 5 going in a upstairs bedroom (Orbi Satellite) on the oposite side of the house. I would need two cat5's in order to do what you described going up to the family room. I could bring the Orbi Router in the basement but I minimze the coverage in the family room.
My main purpose here was to use the TP Link switch to do the VLAN tagging and the Orbi to do the PPPOE login to avoid the Centurylink Modem/Router (c3000z). Guess I could hook this up as the router and put my Orbi's in AP Mode. Could you explain how to do this? Would I simply just hook up both the Orbi's up to the c3000z's ports and it would work? - Take the switch out all together.
Don't change AP vs routed mode over this! You don't need 2 cat 5 cable runs! Just because the Orbi's don't propertly support VLANs, doesn't mean you're out of the game. You just need two more steps.
Step 1: Put a managed switch upstairs near where your router is
This can be your basement switch, if it is small and quiet. If not, just buy a cheap 4 port managed switch (faneless, preferrably). They are about $65 if you get a new one.
Step 2: Setup the new switch like mentioned earlier
The modem gets plugged into the cable line that runs upstairs and goes into Port 1 on the switch. The rest remains the same as my note earlier.
The only down side is that you'll have to organize 4 cables so it looks nice. If you get a switch with flashing lights, maybe you'll have to carefully put electrical tape over the LEDs too. But, all in all, it'll be clean.
Now, say you really don't want to put a managed switch near the Orbi router. AP mode is possible with a single cable, but that means something else will need to provide routing/DCHP/NAT services. And, whatever it is, will need to be in your basement. If you don't want to use the CenturyLink modem's built in features, I would suggest getting a cheap pfSense box. For reference, that's what I use.
I aplogize but I am a little confused - in order to run data to the cat5 cable to the bedroom upstairs (Orbi Satalite) I have to go back down into the basement. The basement is where all the cat5 cables flow.
So I only have 1 cat5 going down in the basement from the family room and 1 cat5 from the upstairs bedroom down to the basement. So I do need a switch in the basement in order to connect to the Orbi Satalite. Sorry for the confusion. So basically port 4 on the switch in your steps would only work if the switch was in the basement.
So unless we can get this to work with two switches and do some special routing/bridging then we would need to go the AP Mode route.