All good, except for the magenta light

[bengkohn]

I finally got my router (as a wireless AP) and satellite the way I want, with an ethernet backhaul. The trick seems to have been to take the cable out of the internet port on the router and put it in a LAN port.

Everything is working fine, except that the router is showing the magenta ring as if something were wrong. I'm hoping it is just complaining that there is nothing in the internet port, but everything seems to be working well.

Should I have any concerns?

[ekhalil]

Yes, the router ring will light magenta if nothing is connected to the WAN (internet) port.

How do you get internet access if nothing is connected to the WAN port (the yellow port)?

[bengkohn]

It is in Wireless AP mode, which should (and apparently does) mean that it just needs to be connected to the LAN somehow, so the LAN ports seem to work fine.

[ekhalil]

No, AP mode does also require that you connect the internet source (a port from your router) to the WAN (internet) port in Orbi, otherwise the router will continue to have the magenta ring on. 

The LAN ports can be used for wired devices as well as for wired backhaul. 

[bengkohn]

Fair enough, thank you. 

I will keep that in mind if I start to run into weirdness going forward, but for now it is working great. 

[inok]

I have got the same issue. My router is running in AP mode too. The magenta light lights all the time, although everything is working fine for me.

I have got Netgear Switch and a wired backhaul. In my understanding, in that configuration, there is no need to plug anything into the WAN port of my RBS50.

The first ETH port of all ORBI devices (one router, two satellites) are all connected to the Netgear switch. Nothing more, nothing less. The router has static IP, the satellites have dynamic IP. All in the same network.

The magenta light is annoying. Am I missing something?

[FURRYe38]

The Magenta should not be seen in AP mode if you have the base router connected at the Yellow LAN port to the main host router. You can use the LAN port as well, however when you do, this will cause the Magenta LED to be seen. 

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@inok wrote:

I have got the same issue. My router is running in AP mode too. The magenta light lights all the time, although everything is working fine for me.

I have got Netgear Switch and a wired backhaul. In my understanding, in that configuration, there is no need to plug anything into the WAN port of my RBS50.

The first ETH port of all ORBI devices (one router, two satellites) are all connected to the Netgear switch. Nothing more, nothing less. The router has static IP, the satellites have dynamic IP. All in the same network.

The magenta light is annoying. Am I missing something?

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[Christiaan11]

I got it working (finally) after trying gazillion different set-ups. I now have both satellites with WIRED backhaul (also showing as such in admin panel) and NO magenta light on router showing up. 

So maybe the following will help some of you as well. 

My set-up:

• I have RB50 + 2 satellites.
• RB50 in AP mode connected from yellow WAN port to LAN port on ISP router.
• Both satellites are also connected to a LAN port on ISP router. 
• Another ethernet cable from ISP router to switch.
• Have several other devices connected to the (non managed) switch. 

So connecting both router through yellow WAN and satellites to the ISP router (instead of switch) was the trick for me and made the magenta light turn off without losing wired backhaul capability. 

Also keep in mind that you really need to give it some time when you connect and turn all devices on. Orbi devices really need minutes to "settle". It was showing magenta initially on the satellites but I left it for a while and in admin panel the status moved from "good", to "config sync" back to "good" again. 

[FURRYe38]

What is the Mfr and model# of the switch you were using? Some switches don't work well with Orbi. Non managed switches and non Green Ethernet switches are prefered to use with Orbi. Possilbe the switch you have was the main cause if your problems. 

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@Christiaan11 wrote:

I got it working (finally) after trying gazillion different set-ups. I now have both satellites with WIRED backhaul (also showing as such in admin panel) and NO magenta light on router showing up. 

So maybe the following will help some of you as well. 

My set-up:

• I have RB50 + 2 satellites.
• RB50 in AP mode connected from yellow WAN port to LAN port on ISP router.
• Both satellites are also connected to a LAN port on ISP router. 
• Another ethernet cable from ISP router to switch.
• Have several other devices connected to the (non managed) switch. 

So connecting both router through yellow WAN and satellites to the ISP router (instead of switch) was the trick for me and made the magenta light turn off without losing wired backhaul capability. 

Also keep in mind that you really need to give it some time when you connect and turn all devices on. Orbi devices really need minutes to "settle". It was showing magenta initially on the satellites but I left it for a while and in admin panel the status moved from "good", to "config sync" back to "good" again. 

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[Christiaan11]

I don't believe the switch was the issue. It's a Netgear GS108 8-Port Gigabit Switch. In the set-up where I connected everything to the switch ethernet backhaul did work, however the magenta light on the Orbi router was  always on, like more people are mentioning on this forum. Moving all orbi devices (router + satellites) to ISP router using the WAN port on the Orbi router solved the light issue for me. 

[FURRYe38]

Yes, the WAN port on the Orbi is tied to the Magenta behavior. If you had been using the LAN port when in AP mode, the Magenta LED would be on all the time. WAN port would resolve this. 

Enjoy, 

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@Christiaan11 wrote:

I don't believe the switch was the issue. It's a Netgear GS108 8-Port Gigabit Switch. In the set-up where I connected everything to the switch ethernet backhaul did work, however the magenta light on the Orbi router was  always on, like more people are mentioning on this forum. Moving all orbi devices (router + satellites) to ISP router using the WAN port on the Orbi router solved the light issue for me. 

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