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Forum Discussion
IP Address DIsplay/Attached Device Display 870 Series
Just chiming in here with just one of many issues I have been having with my Orbi 870/871 devices. I am set up in AP mode (we wont get into the issues with this) and, looking at the attached device...
How many devices do you have connected in total?
How many of these sound devices do you have?
What is the Mfr and model# of the host router the RBR is connected too in AP mode?
How is AP mode configured on the RBR? Dynamic or Static configuration? I use Static with mine.
What Firmware version is currently loaded?
NS is Bin
The network contains roughly 90 devices, most being wired to the network. The Internet is connected to my pfSense firewall/router and there are multiple l2/3 managed switches. There is a core L3 switch (Yuanley YS100-0008MS) straight off of the pfSense box and from there I hand off to other L2/3 switches (Yuanley YS100-0008MS) for ethernet services. The RBR is attached to one of these YS100-0008MS switches. I did have a coupe of the satellites connected via Ethernet to other switches but had to disconnect because the Ethernet back-haul is not stable and results in devices dropping off the network or having connectivity issues. Now, before someone says it must be the switches or cables, I can assure you that this is NOT the case. The network itself is extremely stable. In fact, before the Orbi installation I had Linksys products (2017 products) running in AP mode for multiple years, connected to the exact same ports and never had an issue, until the Linksys hardware started to fail. Most of my cabling is Cat6e or better and the devices are 2.5/10G devices.
The Orbi's are running the latest code V10.5.18.3_2.2.37 on all nodes. The RBR and all satellites get a fixed IP address from the DHCP server.
I am going to assume the next question is how are the switches configured. All switches, including the Core, are in a flat VLAN and no actual routing is taking place. It's a simple L2 network except I can see traffic, the interfaces, and enable QOS if I choose; I have not chosen to do so. The entire network is dumped into one single VLAN for simplicity.
DNS is Bind running on my pfSense box and DHCP is DHCP server running on that device.
Are any of the RBS connected to these switches or are the RBS wirelessly synce to the RBR?
There is no CAT6E cabling, There is either CAT6 UTP or CAT6A STP.
One reason for bad RBS ethernet backhaul is Orbi and Managed switches do not work well with Managed switches. Tends to be IGMP and Green Ethernet protocols that cause this. I was able to make Orbi work with managed switches with a VLAN Tag configuration, however this works for router mode. There is a Orbi FW problem while in AP mode that causes the Guest Network to not work while RBS are ethernet connected to these manages switches and all points to Orbi FW having the issue. Something that is solved by using a non managed switch. I haven't been able to find a work around for managed switches with Orbi in AP mode to get Guest Network working correctly. Seems to be more in FW that would have to be solved here.
Possible how you have your switches configured may be inducing problems. I would remove ALL switches from the mix and test with the Orbi system alone with the RBS and see if your devices appear correctly on the RBRs web page first. Then check RBS. Help rule out the system, then introduce maybe one managed switch to connect to the RBR and your devices and re-check devices at the RBR. Leave the RBS wireless connected for now.
You should try a Non Managed switch and see if this help your RBS being ethernet connected. Mine are wireless however have been wondering when I should get them ethernet connected. I may do that today to help check this.
I ended up having to disconnect the back-haul from all the satellite nodes due to connectivity issues. They are all wireless now and have been for many days now.
IGMP would not be an issue on my network and, since the firewall is not intercepting traffic between nodes on the local network, this would also not be an issue. My suspicion, and I assume yours also, would be those 'green' protocols which, if true, are something Netgear needs to dissolve themselves from. Commercial products should follow the standards!
I would only be able to move the nodes and test but would not be able to maintain them connected directly to the RBR. The house is just too large to run cables from the RBR to all of the satellites and even if i 'could' do it I wouldn't; although I cannot as the costs to do so would be fairly high given the construction of the home.
Also, using non-managed switches simply take the VLAN out of the picture. Given that I am running a core and multiple downstream switches, at some point it's going to have to go through a managed switch and I have a little bit of an investment in the 10G unlinked switches that I really do not want to try to 'downgrade'. Not being uncooperative here, but a reliable network should not be the impediment to the product working properly. Honestly, the engineers should be testing this stuff in scenarios just like a lot of users are set up like. With the cost of L3 switches coming down and 10G inside those, it's going to get a lot more pervasive a problem if they continue to not address it. Heck, it may be as simple as detecting the VLAN, which they can do, and making sure that it lives inside it. Expecting VLAN 1 is not best practice, it's a security issue, and they should know better.
Ok so this is my 870 series with RBS wirelessly connected and synced with MLO enabled:
Been like this for past 15 days.
Just now connected them both via ethernet backhaul to the RBR. 1 XS505M and 1 GS110MX non manged switches in between:
Same wired configurations i've tested since Orbi 40/50 series using older 1Gb non managed switches and now since Orbi 960 series, when I bought the 10Gb supporting non managed switches.
I have used 1 managed switch at the head between the RBR and RBS. RBR was in router mode and with a VLAN Tag of 4092, makes all ethernet connected RBS work. Even Guest Network works. There is a known issue with Orbi sytems running in AP Mode currently with RBS ethernet connected to a managed switch that causes the Guest Network to not work. I was advised by NG switch group this was a Orbi FW issue, not a switch issue. I also have seen this with other non NG branded managed switches as well. This is only in AP Mode with the Orbi RBS ethernet connected to Managed switches. Non managed switches doesn't produce this issue and is most easiest to resolve by putting a non managed switch in between the RBS and RBR while in AP mode. We have brought this to NG attention a while back and haven't got any feedback on it. I presume that NG may or may not want to resolve that as in general use, most home users don't have a managed switch, have the expertise to use a managed switch and using a non managed switch is a quick resolution for this. So if you feel that you want this to work, you'll need to make contact with NG support and present your findings and concerns.
To help you figure out if your system is working on it's own with out managed switches in the mix, Try a non managed switch in between the RBR and RBS. Once thats tested, then try one managed switch in between the RBR and RBS. Set a VLAN ID tag on all ports of 4092 and see how it goes with the RBS. Router or AP mode should work, however Guest Network will not work in AP Mode in this configuration with a managed switch.
Overall Ethernet backhaul does work. It goes get tested by others I know early on. With non-managed switches.
Other that all that, yes, RBS don't report connected devices correctly on my system as well, something NG will have to fix if they choose to:
I believe this is a host name handling issue at the RBS and not a MAC address issue for the most part. These devices appear on the RBRs web page correctly. Something we have also brought to NGs attention.
You can try to make it work the way you believe, however it's NG's product. Good luck in making that change. Not every product works as some users want them too. If it doesn't work as you want it to, then you may need to find something else that does.