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Ethernet backhaul, WAN port or LAN port, magenta ring led on router
I'm trying to resolve some conflicting suggestions I have read (mainly on this forum).
So my setup is a RBR50 with 2 RBS50 satellites, one of them using ethernet backhaul. I use a different box as router / DHCP, so I set the orbi to AP Mode. As per a suggestion here I didn't use the WAN port for uplink, but one of the LAN ports.
What throws me off is that after a couple of hours the ring led on the router turned to a solid magenta (and remained in this state over night). From a thread here I'm guessing it's because I'm not using the WAN port?
I'm hesitant to use the WAN port because of the solution presented in backhaul best practices, which says:
> As it happens, the documentation is wrong anyway, especially when using ethernet backhaul. If you don't connect via the LAN point, it appears to work BUT is not communicating with the satellite properly. The satellite will be missing from the top of the devices list or say disconnected.
So now what? Accept a worrying magenta ring led or try the WAN port?
> AP Mode disables hardware acceleration, so the CPU needs to handle packets going between the LAN and WAN ports. The Broadcom chip can handle switching between LAN ports without CPU involvement.
I know this is in regard to a different system, but does this apply to orbi? If so I would be tempted to switch off AP mode and maybe use the method of disabling DHCP and using static IP address. Any opinions?
Re: Ethernet backhaul, WAN port or LAN port, magenta ring led on router
You can connect the Orbi while in AP mode the main host router using either WAN or LAN. NG for some reason while in AP mode still depends on the use of the WAN port connected to the main host router. Technically, using any of the ports in back will be ok. It's just the FW and the detection of the WAN port for the top LED isn't quite designed right to handle the use of other LAN ports. It defaults to detecting the use of the WAN port. So you can use the WAN port if you like to satisfy the top LED behavior or live with the top LED being ON all the time giving you false positive on the LED. Nothing to worry about.
Any HW accelleration is disabled on Orbi. Only when in router mode is it enabled and only if you don't enabled the speedtest app, Traffic Meter and Access controls.
Modem Combo Units: Couple of options, 1. Configure the modem for transparent bridge mode. Then use the Orbi router in router mode. 2. If you can't bridge the modem, disable ALL wifi radios on the modem, configure the modems DMZ for the IP address the Orbi router gets from the modem. Then you can use the Orbi router in Router mode. 3. Or disable all wifi radios on the modem and connect the Orbi router to the modem, LAN to LAN and configure AP mode on the Orbi router.
Re: Ethernet backhaul, WAN port or LAN port, magenta ring led on router
You can connect the Orbi while in AP mode the main host router using either WAN or LAN. NG for some reason while in AP mode still depends on the use of the WAN port connected to the main host router. Technically, using any of the ports in back will be ok. It's just the FW and the detection of the WAN port for the top LED isn't quite designed right to handle the use of other LAN ports. It defaults to detecting the use of the WAN port. So you can use the WAN port if you like to satisfy the top LED behavior or live with the top LED being ON all the time giving you false positive on the LED. Nothing to worry about.
Any HW accelleration is disabled on Orbi. Only when in router mode is it enabled and only if you don't enabled the speedtest app, Traffic Meter and Access controls.
Modem Combo Units: Couple of options, 1. Configure the modem for transparent bridge mode. Then use the Orbi router in router mode. 2. If you can't bridge the modem, disable ALL wifi radios on the modem, configure the modems DMZ for the IP address the Orbi router gets from the modem. Then you can use the Orbi router in Router mode. 3. Or disable all wifi radios on the modem and connect the Orbi router to the modem, LAN to LAN and configure AP mode on the Orbi router.
Re: Ethernet backhaul, WAN port or LAN port, magenta ring led on router
Thanks a lot for clearing things up.
I might switch to using orbi as router at some point. For now it's too much hassle. The Fritz-Box I have behind the modem does VOIP stuff (and needs to because it handles the DECT phones) and I had some bad experiences when it wasn't the main router managing the external IP. No amount of port-forwarding and STUN-server usage seemed to make VOIP work reliably, so if the only downside to using AP mode is "no hw accelleration" on the orbi, it seems like the lesser evil.
