I am not successful in having both satellites hardwired- please help

Question

Hello! I just purchased a new home in June and have been struggling to get to the best mesh system. I purchased this AX4200 and its fine, but not optimal. I am having trouble getting all 3 systems to be hardwired. Let me kinda explain what I have and hopefully someone can help solve my problem! Greatly appreciated in advance because Netgear customer service/online has been no help.

I have 3 levels in my house approx 3200 sq feet.

Basement Level, Level 1 and Level 2.

Basement Level- Gonetspeed fiber modem and Orbi AX4200 router.

Also in the basement are 2 separate ethernet cords ran to level 1 and level 2.

Level 1 (my office) has a female jack that is fed from level 1 to the basement. I attached Satellite 1 to that female jack via jumper ethernet cord. Powered on.

Level 2 (laundry room) has a female jack that is fed from level 1 to the basement. I attached Satellite 2 to that female jack via jumper ethernet cord. Powered on.

For downstairs in the basement I purchased a TP-Link TL-SG105 5 port gigabit ethernet switch. I ran the wire from the modem to the router in the yellow port. The next port I ran an ethernet cord from the router to the ethernet switch port #1 (left to right). I then attached the end cord from level 1 and 2 to ports 2 and 3.

It is only showing me that one satilete is hard wired while the other one is using wifi. How can I get them both to be hardwired. I'm ready to pull my hair out 🙂 or whatever is left! thank you for your help community.

*ps this is all new hardware, and I made an electrical today come in and terminate the ends of the wires, and female ports for those 2 cat5e wires to level 1 and 2.

CrimpOn · Answer

NickP1000&nbsp;wrote:
It is only showing me that one satilete is hard wired while the other one is using wifi. How can I get them both to be hardwired. I'm ready to pull my hair out 🙂 or whatever is left! thank you for your help community.&nbsp;

The most obvious place to start is with the wiring on the satellite which does not show a wired connection.
Many times the issue is with the RJ45 terminations.&nbsp; High speed Ethernet requires all four pairs to be terminated correctly. Inexpensive "cable testers" sold at home centers are not capable of testing the performance of the cable.
&nbsp;
Because satellites are portable, it might be worth spending a few minutes to temporarily relocate the satellite that is not showing a wired connection down to the basement and connect it directly to one of the router Ethernet ports.&nbsp; If that works (it may take a few minutes), then obviously the satellite is capable of a wired connection and the issue is probably the wiring.

FURRYe38 · Answer

I recommend you take all RBS to same room as RBR or near the RBR. Using ethernet cables connect one RBS at a time to the RBR and see if they all connect there while checking the RBRs web page. CAT6 LAN cable is recommended.&nbsp;

CrimpOn · Answer

Message 1 described wiring to "office" and "laundry".&nbsp; no "playroom".
The Attached Devices page is saying that the cable that is supposed to run from "playroom" to the router goes instead to the "laundry". (Perhaps through a switch in the basement that is not connected to the Orbi router LAN?)

It may be time to get a cable tester and verify exactly which wall jack goes to which wall jack.

BullMoon · Answer

A lot of good suggestions. But let me add this one: don't assume the wiring or anything else is good.&nbsp; Test it, then you know.&nbsp;I would do what has been suggested in this order:1 - Get all the Orbi gear together and use short patch cables to connect the SATs to the Orbi.&nbsp; Give it some time for the SATs to go from WiFi to Wired.&nbsp; If you have problems with this configuration, then can go from there.&nbsp;2 - If that above all works, then put one SAT on at a time, Wired, in the locations you want them in. I would avoid using that switch to connect them to the Orbi unless there is no other way to do it - just to avoid more variables.&nbsp;3 - If one SAT fails to come on as wired, SWAP the SATs to verify the problem follows either the connection or the SAT.&nbsp; If it follows the connection, there is almost certainly a wiring problem which could include any patch cable used and long cable run to the location.&nbsp; Swapping out the patch cables is easy enough. If that doesn't solve it, then it is likely the in-wall wiring - which could be as simple as the terminations.&nbsp; If the problem follows the SAT, then it may need to be reset or sync'd.

NickP1000 · Answer

Level 2 (laundry room) has&nbsp;a female jack that is fed from ***level 2*** to the basement. I attached Satellite 2 to that female jack via jumper ethernet cord. Powered on.

Forum Discussion

I am not successful in having both satellites hardwired- please help

9 Replies