Possible set up RBK23 with Ethernet backhaul

Guide

Jan 23, 2019

I have the RBK23 set configured for wired ethernet backhaul.

Looks like this:

ISP Modem <> Dedicated Router (R7000 running AdvancedTomato) <> 1G unmanaged switch <> RBK23 (in AP mode)
- each of the RBS20 satellites are also connected to the 1G switch. I have 1 AP on each floor of the house.
- currently running FW V2.2.1.210

I'll be honest, I'm a technical person working in IT and the setup was NOT easy. Lots of reboots, firmware updates, factory resets... at one point I bricked one of the AP's and needed to recover it via SFTP -manually installing the firmware...
Need to methodically (slowly) get one node running at a time, using DHCP reservations for the satellites and a fixed IP for the "main AP". The whole system takes several (5 or more) minutes to adapt to each and any config changes you make. A full system reboot can take over 10 min... So be patient!

However now that is is all running it seems to be stable for the past couple of weeks.

One observation -I wish the wireless backhaul radios would shut off when they detect a wired backhaul. Running a wifi / spectrum analyzer you can see hidden the 2.4 & 5G backhaul radios blasting unused. I have no idea if this creates unnecessary "noise" and interference.

I now have great (fast) coverage into each corner of my house. The system as a whole does NOT seem to manage the band steering and roaming as well as I would like, but it is a decent compromise.

brettich
Guide
Jan 24, 2019

The wireless backhaul hidden networks will not shut off when using wired backhaul. I guess they are meant to be standby to take over in case anything happens in the wired cable. You can manually shut them off using telnet commands if you wish.

Thanks I will try that today.
brettich
Guide
Jan 24, 2019

The wireless backhaul hidden networks will not shut off when using wired backhaul. I guess they are meant to be standby to take over in case anything happens in the wired cable. You can manually shut them off using telnet commands if you wish.

I cannot find the interfaces / instructions on how to disable the wireless backhaul radios. I've spend the better part of the morning looking for them. Any ideas? I remember reading about it last week but can not find the post!
- ekhalil
  Master
  Jan 24, 2019
  brettich wrote:
  
  I cannot find the interfaces / instructions on how to disable the wireless backhaul radios. I've spend the better part of the morning looking for them. Any ideas? I remember reading about it last week but can not find the post!
  
  To disable the backhaul, please follow the following steps:
  
  From browser go to the router's debug page (http://192.168.1.1/debug.htm). Use your router's IP address or http://orbilogin.com/debug.htm
  
  Enter admin as user name and your router’s management password
  
  Tick "Enable Telnet" option
  
  Use Telnet to connect to your Router telnet 192.168.1.1 and enter admin and the same password as above
  
  Enter the commands:
  
  config set endis_wla_2nd_radio=0
  
  config get wl5g_BACKHAUL_AP --> printout should be usually ath2
  
  ifconfig ath2 down --> ath2 is the output from the previous get command
  
  The above is to disable the backhaul in the router. Please make sure that Daisy Chain is diabled so you will not have backhaul networks out of the satellites.
  
  Good luck
  - brettich
    Guide
    Feb 04, 2019
    FYI - if anyone is interested, I did end up disabling the wireless backhaul radios in the router (not sure they exist in the same way in the satellites).
    
    However, after several weeks I did NOT notice any change / improvement (good or bad) to my WIFI environment so I just turned them back on and rebooted everything. Still have wired backhaul, but the wireless backhaul radios are running again in standby mode?...
    I'd rather not mess with the underlying architecture unless absolutely necessary - I am sure Netgear has MUCH smarter engineers that me, I'll defer to their logic and reasoning ;-)
    
    BR

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Possible set up RBK23 with Ethernet backhaul