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MontereyFred's avatar
MontereyFred
Star
Jan 22, 2024

Slow Ethernet Connection between RBR 850, Mac, and Xfinity Gateway

I’m having an issue with a wired ethernet connection. Here’s the background… I have a Mac Mini M1 with a 1 Gbps ethernet port, a Netgear Orbi RBR850 router, and an Xfinity XB8 gateway with (3) 1Gbps...
CrimpOn's avatar
CrimpOn
Guru - Experienced User
Jan 22, 2024
MontereyFred wrote:

I’m told that the 2.5 Gbps port on the XB8 uses IPv6, and have tried both the “autoconfig” and “Use DHCP Server” settings in the IPv6/LAN Setup section on the router without joy.

Can you please check the Orbi WAN  connection and verify that it is getting an IPv4 address?

This would be on the web interface Advanced Tab in the box labelled Internet Port (upper right), or on the Orbi 'app' Router Settings on the Internet Port tab (External IP Address).

 

My understanding is that IPv6 would be in addition to IPv4 (not "instead of").

 

In what way does appear that IPv6 is "without joy"?  On the Orbi web interface, the Advanced Tab, Advanced Settings menu "IPv6" does  not display this information:

 

 

CrimpOn's avatar
CrimpOn
Guru - Experienced User
Jan 22, 2024

Interesting that the Mac Mini M1 appears to have an Ethernet port capable of 10G:

https://support.apple.com/kb/SP823?locale=en_US 

It might be fun to see what speed the Mini reports when connected directly to the 2.5G port on the XB8 gateway.

 

Just an idle question: what speed does the Orbi Speed Test report when connected to the XB8 gateway?

 

You do not appear to be the only person reporting unusual behavior in terms of the 850 router 2.5G and 1G Ethernet ports.

  • MontereyFred's avatar
    MontereyFred
    Star
    Jan 22, 2024

    I hope I didn't confuse you but the ethernet port in my Mac is indeed 1 gig.  The 10 gig option came out quite a bit later.

     

    I mentioned in my (admittedly long) note that I did connect the Mac directly to the 2.5 gig port in the gateway and got a 1 Gbps connection.  That's understandable because of the limit of the port on the Mac.

     

    The Orbi speed test generally comes back around 1350 Mbps down and 250 up.

     

    Yeah, I've seen multiple reports of similar issues but everyone is pretty much scratching their heads like me.  Thanks...

    • CrimpOn's avatar
      CrimpOn
      Guru - Experienced User
      Jan 22, 2024
      MontereyFred wrote:

      I hope I didn't confuse you but the ethernet port in my Mac is indeed 1 gig.  The 10 gig option came out quite a bit later.

      Thanks.  "My Bad" for searching the internet for Mac Mini M1 specs and believing what showed up.

       

      I am totally confused by these reports about the 2.5G Ethernet port having "issues".  For at least a decade, consumer routers have had a four-port Ethernet module. These modules are essentially Ethernet switches which learn which MAC addresses can be reached on each port. (Even inexpensive switches have the ability to remember thousands of MAC addresses.)  So, when a packet arrives at one port and is addressed to a specific MAC address, the packet never leaves the switch module.  It comes in one port and goes out another port.  (This is one reason it is impossible to prevent devices connected to the same unmanaged switch from communicating with each other.)  I have a suspicion that the way Netgear merged a 2.5G Ethernet port with three 1G Ethernet ports is not "entirely right".

       

      What is actually going on is a total mystery.