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Sorjal's avatar
Sorjal
Aspirant
Dec 20, 2023

RBRE960B - can satellites and other wired lan devices use the same ethernet switch to connect?

I'm unsure if this is even possible or if it's a configuration issue. With a RBRE960B Orbi Mesh system, I have the main unit on the first floor of my house. I placed a satellite upstairs and that was able to connect to the main via wifi without issue. With the second unit I wanted to place it down in the basement in a work area for wifi access there but found it couldn't connect to the main via wifi. I ran a network cable directly to it from the 2.5gbe port on the main unit and connected that to the backhaul port on the basement satelitte and everything was able to connect.

 

The main is connected to a pfsense firewall and at one point (before wanting to add the basement satellite) it was configured in AP mode with the firewall router providing the dhcp server, etc. After adding the basement satellite, I wanted to reconnect the NAS to the network and make use of it's 2.5gbe connection for backups, etc. so I installed a 2.5gbe unmanaged switch and connected the basement satellite and the nas to it. (see pic)

 

While everything seemed fine at first but after a few days the Orbi system crashed. While devices could connect to it via their stored connection configurations, nothing could connect to anything beyond the Orbi system such as to the friwall router or beyond to the internet. Additionally even after finding it's new wan IP address I couldn't access it's configuration areas using the orbi iphone app or browser to either it's internal (in subnet of firewall router's dhcp assignment range) or external ip (now 192.168.1.2). While access to the firewall's web page, dns, or dhcp shouldn't have been being blocked by any lan firewall rules nothing was leaving that was connected to the orbi. I even added explicit rules such as allow 192.168.1.0/24 to any and even later allow any to any.

 

I ended up resetting the Orbi to factory defaults and unplugged the switch from the main unit. I then was able to connect to the orbi using it's factory defaults, walk through initial setup, add the upstairs sat via wifi, and configure the lan info to match the previously used ssid and password and left the system in router mode. All the various wifi devices (printers, smart outlets, etc) reconnected.

 

At this point I decided to move all the various smart outlets to the IoT network and went through resetting and reconnecting them (likely not relevant, but included just in case). They all show on the orbi's list of connected devices.

 

I then plugged back in the ethernet switch with the basement satellite and nas and after using the sync button, the wired satellite reconnected, but I don't see the nas unit. It's not listed in the attached devices in the orbi web page or app. Arp -a from my desktop connected via wifi doesn't show it, but it shows many of the other devices including some of the stuff connected to the IoT network, but not the smart outlets (which only show up after being pinged directly and have a 60-250+ms response time). A ping to the old ip of the NAS returns undeliverable as my guess is that the orbi is sending that request out it's internet connection and then the reply is returned from it's external address that is the next higher ip address in that subnet (in 10.0.0.0/8).

I haven't received any training or education in networking so there might be some tool to try and discover if it's still there, etc. but at this point I don't see it. So before going through running more network cables through the house, I'd like to know if the Orbi will even connect to it if it's basically using the same port as a satellite? Or does the orbi do something internal like configure that network port to only accept satellite connections with the backhaul set up and block/ignores any traffic without it?

2 Replies

  • Yes, other devices can connect to the LAN switch thats in between the RBR and RBS. 

    What's the brand and model# of this LAN switch? 

     

    Be sure to use good quality LAN cable as well. CAT6A STP for 2.5Gb or higher connections. 

  • Reconfigure the NAS to use either DHCP, a DHCP reservation (fixed IP), or at least to an IP address in the same subnet like your RBRE960B 192.168.1.0/24.

     

    Most easy way would be to temporarily configure a PC or a MAC to the 10.x.x.x/?? address on the exact same subnet address config like your NAS.

     

    There is not much sense in configuring a bigger IP subnet, because the system does only support 256 (254 useable) addresses.