Thanks for looking at this. It has been bewildering to say the least.
I have a CBR750 + 1 satellite. Until today, everything was fine (using Coax with Spectrum) no issues with a single device, but today I switched to AT&T fiberoptic and I'm forced to use their modem/router (BWG320-500 model).
CURRENT CONNECTION SCHEME is: fiber -> BWG320 -> Orbi (ethernet port) -> unmanaged switch (via another ethernet port) -> splits into different rooms for ethernet connections. Seems to be working on wired, although, for a while some of the LAN wired connections had a similar problem (shows connected to the internet, shows up on the router, but fails to transfer any data).
THE PROBLEM: some devices don't connect to WiFi or connect and show to be connected, but don't transfer data, while others work just fine. I can't seem to find a rhyme or reason which ones or why.
EXAMPLES: Nest Hello camera shows up in devices, connected to Satellite 1, is not accessible via app or web site. Garage Nest camera DOES show up, connected to the main Orbi, streaming video just fine. Nest Thermostat shows offline (probably connected, but I don't have a device name listed for it on the router).
Chromecast on living room TV, connected and working with Satellite 1, but living room LG Smart TV connects to the same network and all apps time out like no data is sent. Bedroom TV is opposite: LG Smart TV connects to WiFi, all apps work, but the Chromecast connected to it (main Orbi) cannot connect to WiFi. A stand-alone Google Nest Hub in bedroom connects just fine, same for a different Nest Hub in the living room.
ESPECIALLY STRANGE: my living room TV shows connected to internet WiFi, but can't transfer traffic online, yet my desktop is on ethernet LAN is sharing a video folder that I can stream to the TV. Leads me to conclude the problem is somewhere in the settings, not in cables, wifi connectivity or network topography.
As you can see, there are very similar or exact same devices working or not working next to each other and ALL devices have full signal strength.
STEPS TAKEN SO FAR:
1. Turned off WiFi on AT&T router.
2. Reset each router and satellite. Reset each device that is not working.
3. Moved the ethernet connections between different ports on different devices (numerous configurations).
4. Searched this forum for similar problems, didn't find anything that helped.
I really hope that someone here has an idea of what's wrong because I'm at my wit's end and been at it most of the day.
It is intended to take the place of an ISP cable modem and connect to the coax cable from the ISP. It is not intended to connect to a different type of internet service (such as an AT&T router). Notice that there is no ethernet port on the back labelled "WAN" or "Internet". Notice how the installation guide describes connecting the coax cable and says nothing about connecting an ethernet cable.
The User Manual on page 62 describes the two 'modes' for this device:(a) Router and Access Point and (b) Bridge Mode, where it is essentially a replacement for the ISP modem that has no additional functions.
My sense is that you need to (a) go back to Spectrum, or (b) get a different WiFi system.
Re: CBR750 Wireless devices connect, but no internet
While I somewhat understand the sentiment, I do feel like we're pivoting from the question posed. If the network as connected was altogether non-functional, I'd just pack my things and go home.
However, Orbi does/did function as a router for about 80% of the connected devices without issue, so I'm more focused on what the problem with the other 20% not sending/receiving traffic is, rather than how to replace the whole system. I understand there isn't a manufacturer manual for this, which is why I'm hoping to find some community knowledge here.
I'd suggest a parallel: a manufacturer won't suggest the best way to place a towel under a door to stop the heat from escaping, but if all I have is towels and I put them under 4 doors and it worked perfectly, but the heat is still leaking from the 5th door, I'm not looking to go buy 5 new doors, but to figure out what's keeping the 5th towel from stopping the heat escaping. If it worked 0/5, I wouldn't bother asking for advice.
I get that throwing money at the problem is *a* solution, but if there are a couple of software tweaks (opening ports, checking device permissions, changing DNS server are some I've considered), that would be *the* solution I'm looking for.
PS: I did swap my R7000 Nighthawk for now, to handle the rest of the devices in the half of the house AT&T router can't reach, but it's clumsy with dead spots and buying a $400+ replacement doesn't excite me. I'd rather try my luck with a different manufacturer if that's the route I'll have to go.
Re: CBR750 Wireless devices connect, but no internet
Are you trying to use the CBK system as a stand alone system with out the cable Coax line?
As @CrimpOn stated, The CBR750 system will not be compatible with ATT ISP services. The CBR relies upon a COAX RG6 cable single line for the CBR unit to fully work in gateway/router mode. Its designed and only intended to be used with Cable ISP services. It doesn't work with Fiber, DSL or any other type of ISP services. IF you had the RBK750 series system, then this system would connect right up to the ATT gatway router system, though you'd need a few configurations on the ISP modem.
However, Orbi does/did function as a router for about 80% of the connected devices without issue, so I'm more focused on what the problem with the other 20% not sending/receiving traffic is, rather than how to replace the whole system. I understand there isn't a manufacturer manual for this, which is why I'm hoping to find some community knowledge here.
This does appear to be a unique opportunity to learn more about combination cable modem/routers.
On the Orbi case, what do the LED's show? (see manual page 10. Particularly the Internet LED)
On the Orbi web interface, what does it show in the Internet Menu (or the Internet section of the Advanced Tab home page) for the Internet IP address, subnet mask, and gateway? (With non-cable modem routers, the AT&T BGW320 will supply a private IP address to the Orbi, such as 192.168.1.?)
Orbi routers can function without an internet connection, so local connections such as media servers should function.
Re: CBR750 Wireless devices connect, but no internet
I was referencing that there isn't a manual for setting this Modem Router as Router only (the only option in advanced was whether to use it as a Router - yes by default, and I learned that by disabling it, it acts as modem only and to be accessed again has to be factory reset).
Power and Internet LED's were solid, downstream was blinking white (at least when I looked at it), upstream was off. Probably kept trying to check if there's any data to move on Coax, but there wasn't one plugged in.
Ring LED was amber. The subnet IP was something like 192.168.1.19, gateway showed the subnet IP for the AT&T router. I can't recall the subnet mask.
Seems like it was working as a switch with ethernet connetions. AT&T router saw all WiFi devices (even ones that didn't get internet data) as ethernet connections on its end, but they showed up properly in Orbi's device list as whether wireless or wired.
I was referencing that there isn't a manual for setting this Modem Router as Router only (the only option in advanced was whether to use it as a Router - yes by default, and I learned that by disabling it, it acts as modem only and to be accessed again has to be factory reset). I understand now.
Power and Internet LED's were solid, downstream was blinking white (at least when I looked at it), upstream was off. Probably kept trying to check if there's any data to move on Coax, but there wasn't one plugged in.
Ring LED was amber. The subnet IP was something like 192.168.1.19, gateway showed the subnet IP for the AT&T router. I can't recall the subnet mask.
Seems like it was working as a switch with ethernet connetions. AT&T router saw all WiFi devices (even ones that didn't get internet data) as ethernet connections on its end, but they showed up properly in Orbi's device list as whether wireless or wired.
The BGW20 seeing all connections as wired makes total sense. The BGW20 has no idea that a WiFi network exists and sees all devices appearing on one of the BGW20 ethernet ports. ergo: all 'wired'.
Perhaps some of the devices remember too much. Orbi typically uses a DHCP lease of one day (86.400 seconds). If devices remained powered on during the transition, perhaps they remember the IP address that they got from the Orbi and have not asked to renew the lease with the BGW20. Do the IP addressed in the BGW tables match the IP's in devices that are no longer working? For the devices that are not working correctly, have those devices been power cycled?
Re: CBR750 Wireless devices connect, but no internet
It's an interesting thought. I didn't look at IP addresses too closely between the routers, but a couple of things throw a wrench into that theory.
1. There were several in-kind devices some of which carried over from Orbi being modem and router to just router(-ish thing), so I'd expect them to have the same rules for renewing IP (2 LG TV's 1 year model apart and 3 chromecast devices, out of which one didn't get data, as well as Nest Hello and Nest Indoor cameras again getting 50/50 success rate).
2. I did power cycle the devices that were not getting data as well as did a couple of factory resets on both Orbi and BWG320 after the topography change, so I'd guess that each time they came online and got set up, they would assign new subnet masks all around.
3. I did specifically observe that subnet assigned to Orbi changed when I changed the ethernet ports that it used to connect to BWG320 (something like from .119 to .132) because BWG can show a list of devices it has allocated IPs to on the network and when you disconnect, it remembers it, but shows it turned off until you purge the devices list and force scan (or presumably after a time period). So, it would show Orbi as offline on the old port and online on the new one, then I'd force to rescan it.
One theory I came up with is that when Orbi is not connected as a modem, but just gets data from ethernet, it starts behaving like a switch (with WiFi). It could make sense since it does have 4 ethernet ports that it could manage, so there's some number of channels it can act as a switch for, but then maybe it's not meant to be a powerful switch so it's very limited to what it can handle as far as distributing packets?
I don't know, I'm grasping at straws here. I think that I'd be less annoyed if it just didn't work at all 😅
