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Orbi 960 stopped, unable to re-setup, and get "check ethernet cable" error
I've had the Orbi RBRE960 system for under a year now, and it has worked perfectly until now. Came home yesterday to no internet and there were no events that I can think of that would interrupt anything.
My set up is as follows:
nighthawk cax80 used as main router. Orbi 960 router plugged in to cax80, and three satellites wired to Orbi router. If I remember the map, 2 of the sats are daisy chained and 1 is on its own. When we moved into the house, the previous owner (an IT guy) had ethernet cables routed across the 4 acre property so I used those to connect the satellites.
When all was plugged in, it worked flawlessly and was super-fast.
When I first assessed the problem, I was getting "can't detect router" on the nighthawk app, and the orbi router had a magenta light.
- Checked service outages that there were none in the area despite a storm the night before
- I cycled the router, and the Orbi router, and no joy.
- Unplugged both, and plugged back in, and no joy.
- eventually discovered that the nighthawk router was suppling internet and when I disconnected the orbi router, it was all fine, except with a slight degrade in performance.
- When Orbi router was connected, the app showed the satellites on the Orbi app network app as online but no service to orbi router or nighthawk router.
- Tried also connecting satellites directly to nighthawk router and this seemed to help with performance, but one satellite eventually went magenta.
- did reset on Orbi router and decided to setup as new. I unfortunately did not check firmware prior to doing this but I assume it was up to date as I typically select auto updates on all my gear.
- Orbi app is able to detect orbi router and start the add but hangs up at "check the ethernet cable" which was connected the same way it was prior.
- switched ethernet ports from aggregate to Lan/multi and then back to aggregate and still same.
- Swapped to other known working ethernet cables and still get same error.
- I tried to add the unit manually but it still gets hung up on that error. again - all the cables are good cables.
Sidenotes:
- I am almost certain that I had the Orbi in AP mode.
- AS stated above, I am unsure of the firmware update
I am seriously at a loss and this is super frustrating for gear that is less than year old. I'm not sure if I'm missing anything but it should not be this complicated.
As far as I can tell this is a problem with the Orbi router but I am hoping it is just user error and I can fix it.
Any help is appreciated.
***UPDATE***
I called Netgear support and troubleshooting on the phone. We conducted all the troubleshooting that I had previously done, and did a few other things like manually entering mac address, etc.
Nothing worked and this was indeed a hardware issue as I had suspected. The Orbi router was not accepting the internet signal and all the cables were fine. We tested each port. The Orbi app and GUI did not detect the ethernet cable and WAN port status on the GUI was blank. The tech indicted that this was rare. We discussed storms as a causal factor but as far as I know there was no power outage, and likewise, all of my componentry run through a surge protector and hav no issues.
Since I am still within warranty, I was issued an RMA and should have a new unit soon. I expect no issues with the new unit and hopefully it will sync up properly.
13 Replies
Is there front LEDs ON on the RBS and RBR that are RED?
Is the CAX80 in router mode or modem only mode?
Orbi in AP Mode if the CAX80 is in router mode?
Do you have the wifi radios on the CAX80 disabled while in router mode?
Modem only mode would be recommended and use the Orbi system in router mode.
What CAT# cables are being used? CAT6A STP is recommended for 2.5Gb connections between the RBR and RBS.
Any LAN swtiches in between the RBR and RBS? Brand and model switche(s) if present.
Be sure to power OFF the CAX80 modem for 30 seconds then back ON as well.Is there front LEDs ON on the RBS and RBR that are RED?
No red lightsIs the CAX80 in router mode or modem only mode?
It was in router mode. When I switched to modem only - I lost all access and now had to reset my router đ
This has now caused other issues and i have no wifi but am able to wire in with an ethernet cableI'm becoming even more frustrated as I've been at this for hours now.
What CAT3 cables are being used? CAT6A STP is recommended for 2.5Gb connections between the RBR and RBS.
Any LAN swtiches in between the RBR and RBS? Brand and model switche(s) if present.
I was using a cat 6 cable that I verified is good.
Be sure to power OFF the CAX80 modem for 30 seconds then back ON as well.I did this more than several times today.
So if you connect up 1 PC to MG port on the CAX80 in modem only mode and power it OFF for 30 seconds then back ON and wait about 2 minutes, does the one PC get internet services?
When you switch to modem mode, only the MG port or port 1 on the back of the CAX80 should be active. Would need to connect the RBR to one of these ports and as the modem reboots into modem mode, Reboot or power OFF the RBR for 15 seconds then back ON.
***UPDATE***
I called Netgear support and troubleshooting on the phone. We conducted all the troubleshooting that I had previously done, and did a few other things like manually entering mac address, etc.
Nothing worked and this was indeed a hardware issue as I had suspected. The Orbi router was not accepting the internet signal and all the cables were fine. We tested each port. The Orbi app and GUI did not detect the ethernet cable and WAN port status on the GUI was blank. The tech indicted that this was rare. We discussed storms as a causal factor but as far as I know there was no power outage, and likewise, all of my componentry run through a surge protector and hav no issues.
Since I am still within warranty, I was issued an RMA and should have a new unit soon. I expect no issues with the new unit and hopefully it will sync up properly.
Glad they were able to get you an RMA. Only think you will need to do is reboot the CAX80, and after it starts it's reboot cycle, connect up the new RBR and begin the setup process or you can setup the new RBR off line from the CAX80 first, then once it's setup, reboot the CAX80, connect the RBR and you should be good to go.
