Re: NETGEAR Orbi AC3000 satellite LAN ports stopped working

orbira · ‎2019-01-12

Hi

I am using Orbi router for last 2 months just fine. Today morning the LAN port son router suddenly stopped working. One of the satellite was connected over wired backhaul, that also switched to wireless. Rebooting the router does not help. Resetting the router, occasionally starts working but goes bad again if you try renewing lease on the machine connected over wire. There is a 8 port switch connected to the router and assuming that could be the issue I bought a new switch but no luck. Called Netgear support and after very priliminary reboot/reset exercise, they concluded bad hardware and I don’t really want to get a refurbished hardware just after 2 months of use. Is there anything I can try/test to see if it will work?

Thanks

FURRYe38 · ‎2019-01-13

What wired devices are connected to the LAN ports?

What is the Mfr and model# of the ethernet switch if one is in the configuration.

Had the Orbi been powered OFF (pull power adapter from wall outlet) for 1 minute with out anything connected to the LAN ports, then powered ON with maybe just one wired PC connected to the same LAN port and test the others to see if the port is working or failing?

Swap LAN cables as well.

View solution in original post

rwright727 · ‎2019-01-13

The issue may not be device hardware related. My RBS50 Satellite went out last night also. None of my lan ports are working and if a device is conected wirelessly, I can't get safari to open pages and receive a SSL certificate error

orbira · ‎2019-01-13

I think so too. How did you fix your issue? In my case, I have tried everything...

@rwright727 wrote:

The issue may not be device hardware related. My RBS50 Satellite went out last night also. None of my lan ports are working and if a device is conected wirelessly, I can't get safari to open pages and receive a SSL certificate error

rwright727 · ‎2019-01-13

I don't have it working yet. I manually applied the latest firmware (V2.2.1.210) and orbilogin.com reports "Update failed."

orbira · ‎2019-01-13

I was running the latest firmware but still went ahead and reapplied it just to rule out any corruption, but still no luck.

FURRYe38 · ‎2019-01-13

What wired devices are connected to the LAN ports?

What is the Mfr and model# of the ethernet switch if one is in the configuration.

Had the Orbi been powered OFF (pull power adapter from wall outlet) for 1 minute with out anything connected to the LAN ports, then powered ON with maybe just one wired PC connected to the same LAN port and test the others to see if the port is working or failing?

Swap LAN cables as well.

orbira · ‎2019-01-13

> What wired devices are connected to the LAN ports?

Directly to the router I have

Switch
Lutron hub
Backhaul to one of the satellite

> What is the Mfr and model# of the ethernet switch if one is in the configuration.

I had TRENDnet TEG-S81g 8-Port Gigabit GREENnet Switch connected initially but when I suspected a bad switch first, I bought a NETGEAR - 8-Port 10/100/1000 Mbps Gigabit Unmanaged Switch - GS608NA. But that did not make any difference.

> Had the Orbi been powered OFF (pull power adapter from wall outlet) for 1 minute with out anything connected to the LAN ports, then powered ON with maybe just one wired PC connected to the same LAN port and test the others to see if the port is working or failing?

Yes I did that. just powering off and on does not help, but isolating cables helped. It seems the backhaul cable to the satellite is the issue. Disconnecting that, lan ports start to work.

To troubleshoot further, I connected that cable to the switch, instead of routers lan port directly, but that still causes lan ports on the orbi router to go down. I would assume, that switch would isolate the cable fault from the router, but doesn't look like it. Is there any debugging/logging that could help me why Orbi is bringing down the ports?

That said, it is a cat 5e cable which is already laid out and hard to replace. I am buying a cable tester to see if the cable is bad or can I crimp the ends again.

Thanks for your help.

FURRYe38 · ‎2019-01-13

Sounds like you found the culprit. Sometimes cable or the cable plug ends can be a cause of a problem. This would probably cause any routers LAN ports to fail possibly. The troubleshooting you did would be the best way to isolate this. You did that.

I don't think logging would mentioned this, however you might look at the logs after testing the cable in the LAN Port, then look at the logs to see if it noted anything.

Glad you found the main problem. Be careful with the Green Ethernet switch, seen others with problems with those kinds of switches. The 608 should well best.

rwright727 · ‎2019-01-15

I'm glad you found a solution. Unfortunately, I did not. My ports are still not working and if a device is connected to the satellite (iPhone) I am not connected to the internet. I receive a SSL certificate error whenever I try to go anywhere (google.com).

I looked at the logs and found that an automatic firmware update occured right before I had this problem.

Initialized, firmware version: V2.2.1.210] Saturday, January 12, 2019 17:30:53

Do you think I could try to revert to a previous firmware? Would that be safe?

Thanks

rwright727 · ‎2019-01-15

Here are the steps I took to try and resolve this issue.

1. Left the satellite off for 24 hours

2. unplugged all ethernet devices from satellite

3. turned on satellite and waited for it to connect to router

4. manually updated (again) satellite to the latest firmware and got a sucess result

5. plugged in one ethernet device (Arlo - NETGEAR). This device is working if plugged into the router.

At this time, my iPhone XR connected to the satellite and was unable to connect to the internet. I get SSL certificate error.

orbira · ‎2019-01-15

What does orbi report about internet connectivity. You can try to login to your orbi router using telnet. First enable telnet by going to orbilogin.net/debug.htm. From there you can see if you can resolve and ping external site e.g. google.com.

Also so when you get ssl error, can you look at the certificate and see who is the provider of the certificate and what is the error.

FURRYe38 · ‎2019-01-15

If the system was AutoUpdated, Try a Manual FW load:
https://community.netgear.com/t5/Orbi/Firmware-2-2-1-210-released-as-of-10-3-18/m-p/1647303/highligh...

After reloading both satellite first then router, do a complete factory reset on the satellite and router then setup from scratch.

Please use IE11 or FF or Opera to do the FW load and setup the system from scratch. Clear out all browser caches after sending the FW files. Close the browser then re-open it and walk thru the setup wizard.

Let us know if you continue to see this SSL certificate error.

@rwright727 wrote:

Here are the steps I took to try and resolve this issue.

1. Left the satellite off for 24 hours

2. unplugged all ethernet devices from satellite

3. turned on satellite and waited for it to connect to router

4. manually updated (again) satellite to the latest firmware and got a sucess result

5. plugged in one ethernet device (Arlo - NETGEAR). This device is working if plugged into the router.

At this time, my iPhone XR connected to the satellite and was unable to connect to the internet. I get SSL certificate error.

rwright727 · ‎2019-01-16

Thanks for responding. I don't have any issues with the router, just the satellite. Can you telnet into the satellite?

@orbira wrote:

What does orbi report about internet connectivity. You can try to login to your orbi router using telnet. First enable telnet by going to orbilogin.net/debug.htm. From there you can see if you can resolve and ping external site e.g. google.com.

Also so when you get ssl error, can you look at the certificate and see who is the provider of the certificate and what is the error.

rwright727 · ‎2019-01-16

The system was autoupdated on Saturday, but I have manually updated three times now. The last time I used Safari and got a successful firmware update message. I will try your suggestion to factory reset

Thanks

FURRYe38 · ‎2019-01-16

Ok. Besure to reset the satelites first, then the router, then setup from scratch. Walk thru the setup wizard.

Let us know how it goes.

@rwright727 wrote:

The system was autoupdated on Saturday, but I have manually updated three times now. The last time I used Safari and got a successful firmware update message. I will try your suggestion to factory reset

Thanks

orbira · ‎2019-01-18

Just to complete the loop (pun intended ), as I said, I ordered a cable tester. Upon testing I did not find anything wrong with the cable. So to rule cable out completely, I connected the cable directly to my PC in basement and that did not create any issue. I was suspicious that the issue has to do something with spanning tree protocol because instead of disabling wireless backhaul, the router is choosing to disable lan ports to break the routing loop. Doing some googling on Orbi and spanning tree, seems like this was an issue with older firmware which should have been resolved in current firmware. Debugging further I noticed this innocent setting "Daisy chaining satellites" and turning that off fixed the issue altogether. Now with same cable I am wired backhaul for one of my satellites. Now my theroy is that there is still some bug/issue with spanning tree algorithm and can be explained as below (will only manifest if one satellite is connected over wired and other is over wifi)

Sattelite connects over wifi
Switches to wired for backhaul
So now there is one satellite is over wired and other satellite is over wifi
The wired satellite's wifi backhaul goes through other wifi satellite (assuming bug in code, the wifi backhaul should be turned off on both satellite and router, but it seems only gets turned off from router side)
This causes loop again, and this time instead of turning off both satellites, router chooses to turn off lan ports
Turning off daisy chaining resolves this issue as the wifi backhaul for wired router has no path to reach the router.

Just a hunch, but hopefully some capable engineer from Netgear is reading this and can dig down further in code logic. Happy to repro the problem if someone from Netgear is willing to work together. Alternately, it might be a good idea to add, user selectable backhaul in the UI, so that for whatever reasons, STP/code doesn't do the right thing, users can choose to fix it manually.

@FURRYe38 wrote:

Sounds like you found the culprit. Sometimes cable or the cable plug ends can be a cause of a problem. This would probably cause any routers LAN ports to fail possibly. The troubleshooting you did would be the best way to isolate this. You did that.

I don't think logging would mentioned this, however you might look at the logs after testing the cable in the LAN Port, then look at the logs to see if it noted anything.

Glad you found the main problem. Be careful with the Green Ethernet switch, seen others with problems with those kinds of switches. The 608 should well best.

FURRYe38 · ‎2019-01-18

All this testing with the satellite directly connected to the Orbi router with out any switches in the mix?

Has a full factory reset been performed and setup from scratch?

How about a re-load of FW on to the satellite and router, reset and setup from scratch?

There is a known issue with Daisy chain and others have mentioned it working in opposite order with the check mark in the UI. Some say the check mark in the UI acutally disables DS while unchecking enables it. This does seem to cause problems with wire connected satellites and mixed satellite connections. NG is already aware of this and is not a STP issue. Others have been able to get a mix of wired and wireless satellites connected with out seeing this issue.

@orbira wrote:

Just to complete the loop (pun intended ), as I said, I ordered a cable tester. Upon testing I did not find anything wrong with the cable. So to rule cable out completely, I connected the cable directly to my PC in basement and that did not create any issue. I was suspicious that the issue has to do something with spanning tree protocol because instead of disabling wireless backhaul, the router is choosing to disable lan ports to break the routing loop. Doing some googling on Orbi and spanning tree, seems like this was an issue with older firmware which should have been resolved in current firmware. Debugging further I noticed this innocent setting "Daisy chaining satellites" and turning that off fixed the issue altogether. Now with same cable I am wired backhaul for one of my satellites. Now my theroy is that there is still some bug/issue with spanning tree algorithm and can be explained as below (will only manifest if one satellite is connected over wired and other is over wifi)

Sattelite connects over wifi

Switches to wired for backhaul

So now there is one satellite is over wired and other satellite is over wifi

The wired satellite's wifi backhaul goes through other wifi satellite (assuming bug in code, the wifi backhaul should be turned off on both satellite and router, but it seems only gets turned off from router side)

This causes loop again, and this time instead of turning off both satellites, router chooses to turn off lan ports

Turning off daisy chaining resolves this issue as the wifi backhaul for wired router has no path to reach the router.

Just a hunch, but hopefully some capable engineer from Netgear is reading this and can dig down further in code logic. Happy to repro the problem if someone from Netgear is willing to work together. Alternately, it might be a good idea to add, user selectable backhaul in the UI, so that for whatever reasons, STP/code doesn't do the right thing, users can choose to fix it manually.

@FURRYe38 wrote:

Sounds like you found the culprit. Sometimes cable or the cable plug ends can be a cause of a problem. This would probably cause any routers LAN ports to fail possibly. The troubleshooting you did would be the best way to isolate this. You did that.

I don't think logging would mentioned this, however you might look at the logs after testing the cable in the LAN Port, then look at the logs to see if it noted anything.

Glad you found the main problem. Be careful with the Green Ethernet switch, seen others with problems with those kinds of switches. The 608 should well best.

rwright727 · ‎2019-01-20

Thank you, thank you! Your research saved me from resetting my system! I disabled Daisy chaining and everything is back to normal. I only have 1 satellitel that is not hardwired, but that setting, when turned on, seems to have caused all of my issues.

Thanks for you hard work!

@orbira wrote:

Just to complete the loop...

Debugging further I noticed this innocent setting "Daisy chaining satellites" and turning that off fixed the issue altogether. Now with same cable I am wired backhaul for one of my satellites. Now my theroy is that there is still some bug/issue with spanning tree algorithm and can be explained as below (will only manifest if one satellite is connected over wired and other is over wifi)

Sattelite connects over wifi

Switches to wired for backhaul

So now there is one satellite is over wired and other satellite is over wifi

The wired satellite's wifi backhaul goes through other wifi satellite (assuming bug in code, the wifi backhaul should be turned off on both satellite and router, but it seems only gets turned off from router side)

This causes loop again, and this time instead of turning off both satellites, router chooses to turn off lan ports

Turning off daisy chaining resolves this issue as the wifi backhaul for wired router has no path to reach the router.

Just a hunch, but hopefully some capable engineer from Netgear is reading this and can dig down further in code logic. Happy to repro the problem if someone from Netgear is willing to work together. Alternately, it might be a good idea to add, user selectable backhaul in the UI, so that for whatever reasons, STP/code doesn't do the right thing, users can choose to fix it manually.

ekhalil · ‎2019-01-20

@orbira wrote:

Just to complete the loop (pun intended ), as I said, I ordered a cable tester. Upon testing I did not find anything wrong with the cable. So to rule cable out completely, I connected the cable directly to my PC in basement and that did not create any issue. I was suspicious that the issue has to do something with spanning tree protocol because instead of disabling wireless backhaul, the router is choosing to disable lan ports to break the routing loop. Doing some googling on Orbi and spanning tree, seems like this was an issue with older firmware which should have been resolved in current firmware. Debugging further I noticed this innocent setting "Daisy chaining satellites" and turning that off fixed the issue altogether. Now with same cable I am wired backhaul for one of my satellites. Now my theroy is that there is still some bug/issue with spanning tree algorithm and can be explained as below (will only manifest if one satellite is connected over wired and other is over wifi)

Sattelite connects over wifi

Switches to wired for backhaul

So now there is one satellite is over wired and other satellite is over wifi

The wired satellite's wifi backhaul goes through other wifi satellite (assuming bug in code, the wifi backhaul should be turned off on both satellite and router, but it seems only gets turned off from router side)

This causes loop again, and this time instead of turning off both satellites, router chooses to turn off lan ports

Turning off daisy chaining resolves this issue as the wifi backhaul for wired router has no path to reach the router.

Just a hunch, but hopefully some capable engineer from Netgear is reading this and can dig down further in code logic. Happy to repro the problem if someone from Netgear is willing to work together. Alternately, it might be a good idea to add, user selectable backhaul in the UI, so that for whatever reasons, STP/code doesn't do the right thing, users can choose to fix it manually.

Excellent analysis @orbira, thank you for sharing your troubleshooting steps and analysis.

I think that you have found a bug. It seems that Daisy Chain should always be disabled when combination of wired and wireless backhaul is used in the Orbi network.

Goose92101 · ‎2019-02-17

Appreciate the chatter on this issue as my router stopped working as well and had not changed anything in 2 years. Is my understanding correct that a manual firmware update to latest 2.1.2.210 should resolve connectivity issue? Receiving SSL cert errors as well.

Chuck_M · ‎2019-02-17

@Goose92101 wrote:
Appreciate the chatter on this issue as my router stopped working as well and had not changed anything in 2 years. Is my understanding correct that a manual firmware update to latest 2.1.2.210 should resolve connectivity issue? Receiving SSL cert errors as well.

It may very well resolve those issues... whatever they are.

There is another firmware version currently in testing which will also be coming.

Recommend you update firmware and if your issues still persist, create a new thread describing your hardware and issues/