I have one RBRE960 and two RBSE960 satellites, all in Access Point mode. I am trying to set up wired backhaul between all three through a couple of unmanaged 2.5GB switches, and it's driving me crazy.Can someone explain to me why this works:but this does not: I would prefer *NOT* to have *ALL* traffic going through that first RBRE960.

Great diagram, thanks. When Netgear software engineers designed Orbi routers, the assumption was that satellites appear only on the "LAN side" of the router. connected either: over a 5G WiFi connection, or through one of the LAN ports of the router Satellites are not found on the WAN side of the router, so the firmware does not look for satellites on that port. Could they have designed the product differently? Maybe. But they designed it this way. As an intellectual question: Why does the network "seem to work", but the Orbi router has no idea what's going on with the satellites and their attached devices? Answer: because the wiring and switches create an Ethernet LAN subnet, every device is able to find every other device by issuing an Address Resolution Protocol (ARP) broadcast which returns the hardware MAC address of the sought device. The Ethernet adapters/swith ports use their ARP records to say, "Oh, to reach 192.168.1.45, I send a packet out port 4 to MAC address 00:00:00:00:00:00 and it will get there." As plemans mentioned, this has become a frequent topic on the forum. As to whether this disqualifies the Orbi from being a "true WiFi access point", the situation may be a bit ambiguous. I have some generic WiFi access points in my "Box of Stuff". They are not "mesh" WiFi, so in addition to having no "router functions", they have no knowledge of other network devices at all. I would have to see what happens when one of those non-mesh WiFi APs is connected to the network using a LAN port rather than the WAN port their installation procedure calls for. Hmmmmm. A project!

Most simplistic response is the router manages the satellites Its been asked on here multiple times but it needs to go gateway---->router----->satellites/switches if you want it to run properly

So "Access Point Mode" is not accurate. It's not a true AP. Would this work?

CrimpOn wrote:the assumption was that satellites appear only on the "LAN side" of the router. If that is the case, then why doesn't this work? all satellites are on the LAN side:

Any and all Orbi systems, if RBS are ethernet connected, require and have required, the connection to be from the modem to RBR then out to any RBS connected directly or via a LAN switch, behind the RBR only, router or AP mode: https://kb.netgear.com/000051205/What-is-Ethernet-backhaul-and-how-do-I-set-it-up-on-my-Orbi-WiFi-System There seems to be specific Orbi data between the RBR and RBS that is managed by the RBR and passed back and forth. We've seen this data not get passed by other routers being the connection point for the RBS. Thus the configuration is needed and required for ethernet RBS as seen above. The only way this works.

Orbi 960 Wired Backhaul driving me nuts

13 Replies

plemans
Guru
Mar 12, 2024
Most simplistic response is the router manages the satellites

Its been asked on here multiple times but it needs to go gateway---->router----->satellites/switches

if you want it to run properly
- JerseyMike
  Aspirant
  Mar 12, 2024
  So "Access Point Mode" is not accurate. It's not a true AP.
  
  Would this work?
  - CrimpOn
    Guru
    Mar 12, 2024
    Great diagram, thanks.
    
    When Netgear software engineers designed Orbi routers, the assumption was that satellites appear only on the "LAN side" of the router. connected either:
    
    over a 5G WiFi connection, or
    
    through one of the LAN ports of the router
    
    Satellites are not found on the WAN side of the router, so the firmware does not look for satellites on that port.
    
    Could they have designed the product differently? Maybe. But they designed it this way.
    
    As an intellectual question: Why does the network "seem to work", but the Orbi router has no idea what's going on with the satellites and their attached devices?
    
    Answer: because the wiring and switches create an Ethernet LAN subnet, every device is able to find every other device by issuing an Address Resolution Protocol (ARP) broadcast which returns the hardware MAC address of the sought device. The Ethernet adapters/swith ports use their ARP records to say, "Oh, to reach 192.168.1.45, I send a packet out port 4 to MAC address 00:00:00:00:00:00 and it will get there."
    
    As plemans mentioned, this has become a frequent topic on the forum.
    
    As to whether this disqualifies the Orbi from being a "true WiFi access point", the situation may be a bit ambiguous. I have some generic WiFi access points in my "Box of Stuff". They are not "mesh" WiFi, so in addition to having no "router functions", they have no knowledge of other network devices at all. I would have to see what happens when one of those non-mesh WiFi APs is connected to the network using a LAN port rather than the WAN port their installation procedure calls for. Hmmmmm. A project!

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Orbi 960 Wired Backhaul driving me nuts