Backhaul SSID and Passphrase question

[ford_f100]

background:

1 RBR 50

2 RBS 50

RBR50 in AP mode

1 RBR and 1 RBS have the same Backhaul SSID and Passphrase.  The second RBS50 has a different Backhaul SSID and Passphrase.  is this normal?

I have tried factory reset.  it syncs turns blue and all,but having wifi issues as devices connect to the lone RBS50.

[CrimpOn]

Is the second satellite connected directly to the router, or is it Daisy Chained off the first satellite? 

[ford_f100]

wireless to the RBR

i can hardware to the rbr

[ford_f100]

RBR and RBS= netgear_orbi_hidden78 and passphase match

RBS=netgear_orbi_hidden41 and passphase doesnt

[ford_f100]

daisy chain is off

[CrimpOn]

well, crud.  I have only one 'real' RBS50 satellite, which matches the router backhaul SSID/passphrase.

It's probably worth asking how the information was discovered.

In my case, I accessed the "hidden_info.htm" web page for the router and satellite.

My other two satellites are the Orbi Voice model (RBS40V), which does not have a hidden_info page.

When I dumped NVRAM on the Orbi Voice satellites, I noticed that each of them has a strange parameter that does not match the backhaul SSID on the RBR50/RBS50:

wlg_preset_ssid=NETGEAR_ORBI_hidden27
wlg_preset_ssid=NETGEAR_ORBI_hidden48

So, I have two guesses:

• When Daisy Chain is enabled, it has to have a different SSID.  Since Daisy Chain is not enabled, this would seem not to explain the issue.
• When add-on units are shipped, they have have a default backhaul SSID defined which will be overwritten when the satellite is synced with a router.

Not much help.  Sorry.

[ford_f100]

hidden_info.htm is correct for all three.

it is an original set "RBR/RBS" with an add on added.

The router is not overwriting the RBS that i can tell.

the RBS does sync blue and shows good in web or orbi app.

after the latest firmware update my wifi has dropped to 50 while hardwire stays at 500.

i have tried downing the firmware 1 rev but same slowness, also done hard resets on all 3.

Stumped.

[CrimpOn]

My resources have run dry.  I can see that hidden_info.htm is calling a function to retrieve the backhaul ssid:

<TR>
        <TD nowrap><B>Backhaul SSID : </B></TD>
        <TD nowrap> &nbsp;<% get_backhaul_ssid() %> &nbsp;</TD>
</TR>
<TR>
        <TD nowrap><B>Backhaul Passphrase : </B></TD>
        <TD nowrap> &nbsp;<% get_backhaul_passphrase() %> &nbsp;</TD>
</TR>

My web skills are so poor that I cannot locate the code for that function to see what parameter is being retrieved.  Although I have searched in what seem to be "the usual places", I have found no file with that name.  Heck, I do not even know where htm code is supposed to look for functions!

Sorry, I seem to have gone down the rabbit hole chasing after the SSID quandry, where there are actually two real issues:

• Even though the second satellite appears to sync (blue light. appears on the Attached Devices page with backhaul "Good"), there are no devices attaching to it.  Where devices choose to attach is a constant discussion topic on the forum.  Have you attempted to place something close to that second satellite (such as a phone) and then power it on?
• After firmware update, wired performance remains the same, but WiFi performance has dropped by 50%.

[ford_f100]

easy one first

• After firmware update, wired performance remains the same, but WiFi performance has dropped by """75%""".  i have adjusted channels didnt help.  adjusted placement but that shouldnt matter as all RBR/RBS are hardwired.

things do seem to connect to the lone RBS "i have to force them to" but the wifi reduction baffles me.

i'll pull 500 down hardwired but only 50-100 on wifi.

i have removed all devices connected via wifi to pin point the slowness, but no luck.

[ford_f100]

you think the voxel firmware could fix my wifi slowness issue?

i'm also going to try to move all 2.4 devices to the guest network and lock it down, maybe a 2.4 device is acting up.

my guess is the guest and nornal network run on the same bandwidth.... unlike 2 different vlan/ssid..... maybe?

[CrimpOn]

---

@ford_f100 wrote:

you think the voxel firmware could fix my wifi slowness issue?

---

That is a tough question.  There are major parts of the firmware that Voxel cannot alter.  My guess is that these parts include most of the actual radio management and router to satellite communication.

The main attraction of Voxel's firmware consists of:

• Keeping the "Linux" part of the software up to date by updating the modules to the latest releases.
  This helps address fears that security vulnerabilities may lurk in the code.
• Using more aggressive compiler options to make the code more efficient and run faster.
• Options to disable Armor and Parental Controls, which reduces CPU load.
• Preventing Netgear from automatically updating the firmware.
• Providing a way to add other software that users may want and keep it working after reboots.
  for example the Nano text editor (Netgear provides only "vi") and
• Providing an alternative to OpenVPN (WireGuard)
• Allowing the Orbi to serve as a VPN Client so that all devices go through a VPN tunnel to the internet.

He keeps a detailed log of these changes (which Netgear does not share with customers):

http://www.voxel-firmware.com/Downloads/Voxel/html/orbi.html 

My fear is that whatever has caused such a drastic reduction in WiFi performance may not be related to the Orbi firmware.

I have tried Voxel firmware.  Worked fine for me, but it would seem inconsistent to be an active participant in this community forum if I did not use Netgear's firmware.

If you are up for an experiment, it is not all that difficult to install Voxel's firmware.  I would not want to do it when there are people clamoring for internet access.

[ford_f100]

do you think moving all 2.4 to a guest SSID would help?

i think both SSID run on the same bandwidth unlike two different vlan.

[CrimpOn]

---

@ford_f100 wrote:

do you think moving all 2.4 to a guest SSID would help?

i think both SSID run on the same bandwidth unlike two different vlan.

---

This is exactly correct.  And, it is just like a VLAN trunk.

Orbi has one user facing 2.4G radio and one user facing 5G radio.  No matter how many separate SSIDs are created, they all share the same radio & antennas.  Primary, Guest, IoT... (and even the 'backup' backhaul SSID that takes over if the 5G signal drops too low). All on the same channel.

This is what happens on a VLAN trunk (as opposed to a port based VLAN).  Every VLAN assigned to the trunk shares the same ethernet cable.