Orbi RBR853 - What do the symbols mean in the Network Map?

[moonwatcher64]

Hi again, is trying to fix an issue I realise I don't understand the small graphics on the Network map.

Possible anyone can explain those please e.g the green left & right arrows, the red one I guess means powered down.... have attached a couple of screen shots...

Many thanks

[KevinLiT]

Hello moonwatcher64,

The red lines that you are seeing in the photo indicate that the connected satellites are not currently connected to your Orbi router. 

Best,

Kevin

Community Team

[moonwatcher64]

Hi Kevin and thanks for the reply and answer

Yes I assumed red meant off-line but the other graphics were confusing. Again the wifi one seems obvious but the left and right arrows confused me. By deduction it has to 'wired' connections.

But the confusion turns out to be deeper in fact as ALL our Orbi's are 'wired'. In the open case we have (and being supported well) it turns out that even though we can catagorically show and prove that all the Orbi's are wired, that the app / Orbilogin can report that they are 'wireless' .... and more confusing again, this can change and move between Orbi's.

Sounds unlikely I know but is the case. It's being worked through but appears FW independent. 

Just for update. 

[ekhalil]

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@moonwatcher64 wrote:

........ Again the wifi one seems obvious but the left and right arrows confused me. By deduction it has to 'wired' connections.

........ 

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Yes, the right-left arrows symbol means the satellite is wired to the router (wired backhaul).

If you have a wired satellite that shows it's wirelessly connected, then you should check the backhaul wiring and the used switches, that would mean that there is an issue with the wired connectivity. When satellite thinks the wired backhaul has issues it will try to connect wirelessly if it finds a broadcasted backhaul SSID from any other node to connect to.

[moonwatcher64]

Hi there, yes I agree and indeed in the fault finding this is exactly what we concluded. That there must be a cable fault. But incorrectly it turns out.

The wiring out from the RBR850 goes to a Netgear 48 port switch (no clever settings, no management engaged, just a vanilla switch) and hard wired to an RJ45 wall plate then to the RBS850. 

When we saw the 'wireless' symbol, we assumed a cable fault. But then checking out the far end attached devices (TV, Freesat box, Freeview box and a small NG hub) they all confirm and report wired connection. Tested multiple times. 

We only find this after port testing and then choosing to re-terminate cables at each end and on two feeds. There where no displayed errors but all the same it's easy to do than not do.

And we used the second hard wired link (there are two installed at the point of the Orbi) .... and even after all that, it still shows 'wireless' connection.

So every piece of proven data shows that the graphical symbol changes without reason. 

To confuse things further, after a power cycle, the unit went back to 'wired' for quite some time. Another power cycle and it is back to 'wireless' ... graphically. 

The attached devices work perfectly and report no disconnections and show no service issues. And the LED's on the 48 port flash as you might expect. 

Is very odd. And since the FW upgrade, (which worked fine ...  all on same up to date FW) an Orbi in our shed (wired to a Netgear PoE that has a camera on on it) also now shows a 'wireless' state graphically but runs and operates on 'wired' perfectly well. previously it always shows 'wired' graphical status.

[ekhalil]

Sometime ago, I had an issue with my wired backhaul with a specific firmware, that turned out to be that the satellites don't like to be paired both on wired connections and wirelessly at the same time (double-paired).

I suggest to test to remove all wireless pairing between the satellites and the router and only keep the pairing with wired connections. Please do the following:

1. Disconnect all cables from the Orbi's.
2. Switch off the satellites
3. Use the web interface and click on "Attached Devices".
4. When you see the sateliites "Disconnected" and with a button called "Remove" beside, click that button to remove the pairing from the satellite. See picture below: 
5. Now that all satellites are un-paired, connect the cables and press the sysc buttons on all the satellites and on the router.
6. Wait until the satellites' LED's turn blue to confirm successful pairing

[moonwatcher64]

Thanks for explaining that but I'm a few steps behind I think 😀

What does "wired connections and wirelessly at the same time (double-paired)" mean?

My set up has 4 RBS850's wired out from the RBR850 and then wired devices attached out from each RBS850. 

We are of course using wireless outward for laptops and mobiles and a few other bits and pieces but wires are our main thing.

Happy to give that procedure a try but I guess need understand a little more first about the double pairing .... I'm not getting that sorry

[ekhalil]

The Orbi Satellites need to be paired with the Orbi Router to be recognized as a satellite.

The procedure of pairing the satellite to Orbi is usually done once when you add the satellite to your network.

Pairing can happen either when the satellite is wired to the router or wirelesly. If you pair the satellite first while it was not wired to the router then you connect the ethernet cableand sync again then the satellite would have 2 paths to the router, one on wires and the other on wifi.

This is usually not a problem, but if the firmware has issues then this can cause issues. I wanted to do this testing to exclude or confirm this theory.

[moonwatcher64]

Ahh got it .... yes I will do that procedure and report back. Definitely worth a go. Many thanks