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Re: Daisy-chain not working as expected

Hanseman
Tutor

Daisy-chain not working as expected

Hi there,

I have tried the power-cycling trick as explained here but no success.

https://community.netgear.com/t5/Orbi/ORBI-RBR20-won-t-daisy-chain-wirelessly/m-p/1790493#M68733

 

My 2 satellites both connects to the router, the closest one with 5G connection and good status and the second on 2.4G with backhaul status poor. Daisy-Chain Topology is enabled. Tried powercycling and syncing in several different ways. This seems quite hard to get working. Or are there more tricks to try out?

 

Telnet information:

"mac address": "38:94:ED:0C:78:6C",
"ip address": "192.168.1.14",
"module name": "RBS50",
"serial number": "5PV1945X06042",
"signal strength": "-64",
"backhaul status": "3",
"device name": "Orbi Satellite-1",
"current version": "V2.3.5.30"

"mac address": "28:80:88:F9:BA:6B",
"ip address": "192.168.1.13",
"module name": "RBS50",
"serial number": "5LT2945C0646C",
"signal strength": "-47",
"backhaul status": "2",
"device name": "Orbi Satellite-2",
"current version": "V2.3.5.30"

 

Model: RBR50|Orbi AC3000 Tri-band WiFi Router
Message 1 of 19
Hanseman
Tutor

Re: Daisy-chain not working as expected

I'll start to answer myself. Smiley Happy

I tried to factory reset both satellites first. 

Then I started up the 1st, closest satellite. It connected with 2.4G to the router with -48 dBm.

Didn't really understand why it selected the slower network.

Well, I didn't bother and started the 2nd satellite and it DID connect with 5G to the first satellite. During five minutes. Then it changes over to the router again.

Meanwhile, the first router changed to 5G.

So now I have two satellites connected to router with -48 dBm and -59dBm.

 

This was not my intention but I guess the equipment will test the backhaul connection from time to time and make adjustments if needed? Does anyone knows how it works - this daisy-chaining-magic-behind-the-scenes?

Model: RBR50|Orbi AC3000 Tri-band WiFi Router
Message 2 of 19
CrimpOn
Guru

Re: Daisy-chain not working as expected

  1. I have no clue how the Orbi decides how the units connect, sorry.
  2. Daisy Chain appears to be intended for situations where a satellite is "enough closer" to another satellite than to the router to make having two hops at a higher speed better than one hop at a lower speed.  Have you measured how far the units are from each other? (not precisely, but a rough estimate). 

Sorry I can't offer sound advice.

Message 3 of 19
FURRYe38
Guru

Re: Daisy-chain not working as expected

What is the size of your home? Sq Ft?
What is the distance between the router and satellite(s)? 30 feet is recommended in between them to begin with depending upon building materials when wirelessly connected.

Message 4 of 19
Hanseman
Tutor

Re: Daisy-chain not working as expected

The house is about 1 800 sqm but it is quite long. 

I would guess the range between each unit is a bit over 30 feet.

The strange thing is that they are in a line but last satellite prefer talking to the router, anyhow.

Backhaul status says Good on both satellites.

 

Telnet info gives:

 

"mac address": "28:80:88:F9:BA:6B",
"ip address": "192.168.1.16",
"module name": "RBS50",
"serial number": "5LT2945C0646C",
"signal strength": "-51",
"backhaul status": "2",
"device name": "Orbi Satellite-1",
"current version": "V2.3.5.30"
}, {
"mac address": "38:94:ED:0C:78:6C",
"ip address": "192.168.1.15",
"module name": "RBS50",
"serial number": "5PV1945X06042",
"signal strength": "-71",
"backhaul status": "2",
"device name": "Orbi Satellite-2",
"current version": "V2.3.5.30"

Message 5 of 19
FURRYe38
Guru

Re: Daisy-chain not working as expected

What happens if you swap the RBS around? 

 

Has a factory reset been performed on the RBSs and re-synced with Daisy Chain enabled? 

 

Are you using the singal strength to determine how the last RBS is connecting to the RBR or RBS? 

Message 6 of 19
Hanseman
Tutor

Re: Daisy-chain not working as expected

I have made factory resets several time.

Not swapped satellites, though. Will make a test.

Message 7 of 19
FURRYe38
Guru

Re: Daisy-chain not working as expected

Let us know the results.

Message 8 of 19
Hanseman
Tutor

Re: Daisy-chain not working as expected

Well, the satellites didn't care where they were placed. They both still prefer connecting directly to main router. Daisy-chain is a badly implemented.

I'm starting to doubt if this was a good buy and if not a true mesh network would have worked better. It is a system that is quite pricy according to functionality.

The Orbi web interface is also a joke in sense of information.

Anyhow, checked telnet and it gave this:

 

"mac address": "28:80:88:F9:BA:6B",
"ip address": "192.168.1.16",
"module name": "RBS50",
"serial number": "5LT2945C0646C",
"signal strength": "-68",
"backhaul status": "2",
"device name": "Orbi Satellite-1",
"current version": "V2.3.5.30"
}, {
"mac address": "38:94:ED:0C:78:6C",
"ip address": "192.168.1.15",
"module name": "RBS50",
"serial number": "5PV1945X06042",
"signal strength": "-48",
"backhaul status": "2",
"device name": "Orbi Satellite-2",
"current version": "V2.3.5.30"

Message 9 of 19
SW_
Prodigy
Prodigy

Re: Daisy-chain not working as expected

Typically, star topology is preferred because it will perform better than Daisy-Chain topology, extra hop via Satellite.  When Daisy-Chain is enabled, it doesn't mean that Orbi will be forced to always operate in Daisy-Chain mode.

 

Your observation is right that Orbi will make adjustment from time to time.  Unless there is a force Daisy-Chain option/tickbox, you're getting the optimal network topology from Orbi.  Orbi will determine the best topology base on backhaul signal strength, traffic round trip time, and other heuristics over a period of time.

 

    >> @Hanseman  wrote: 

    >> ... So now I have two satellites connected to router with -48 dBm and -59dBm.

 

By the way, these are amazing signals and I wouldn't move those Satellites an inch!

Message 10 of 19
Hanseman
Tutor

Re: Daisy-chain not working as expected

Well, even when signal drops to -69 and sometimes -71 dBm the Orbi satellite never uses Daisy-chain. Instead it goes to status Poor and speed is decreased. Sometimes it goes over to 2.4 band instead of using mesh technology. This is not what I expected.

 

I had expected a more active monitoring of connection and a more agile behaviour. Or am I missing out on some settings?

Message 11 of 19
FURRYe38
Guru

Re: Daisy-chain not working as expected

Wondering if you may have a faulty system. Something I would contact NG support and about ask for help on this. If the RBS swapped around are failing to connect via Daisy Chain, this needs to be reviewed by NG support. 


@Hanseman wrote:

Well, even when signal drops to -69 and sometimes -71 dBm the Orbi satellite never uses Daisy-chain. Instead it goes to status Poor and speed is decreased. Sometimes it goes over to 2.4 band instead of using mesh technology. This is not what I expected.

 

I had expected a more active monitoring of connection and a more agile behaviour. Or am I missing out on some settings?


 

Message 12 of 19
SW_
Prodigy
Prodigy

Re: Daisy-chain not working as expected


@Hanseman wrote:

Well, even when signal drops to -69 and sometimes -71 dBm the Orbi satellite never uses Daisy-chain. Instead it goes to status Poor and speed is decreased. Sometimes it goes over to 2.4 band instead of using mesh technology. This is not what I expected.

 

I had expected a more active monitoring of connection and a more agile behaviour. Or am I missing out on some settings?


Yeah - that's right at the edge and I would expect Orbi to determine the fastest path before settling down on a stable topology.  You can also influence that decision by moving the Satellite around to get better dBm.

 

Just in case, please verify that Daisy-Chain is enabled on all your Satellites.  You can do that by pointing your browser at the Satellite debug.htm page.  Make sure Daisy-Chain checkbox is ticked on that page for all Satellites.

Message 13 of 19
Hanseman
Tutor

Re: Daisy-chain not working as expected

Thank you for the suggestion. There is a tick box on each satellite saying disable daisy-chain but they are unticked.

Message 14 of 19
FURRYe38
Guru

Re: Daisy-chain not working as expected

Can you select the box and input the check mark in the empty box? It should remain indicating Daisy Chain is enabled. 

Message 15 of 19
SW_
Prodigy
Prodigy

Re: Daisy-chain not working as expected


@Hanseman wrote:

Thank you for the suggestion. There is a tick box on each satellite saying disable daisy-chain but they are unticked.


You're right.  The Satellites debug config is correct.  Just play around with Satellites positioning until it shows the best dBm between RBR and RBS.  Given the dBm data thus far, I would disable Daisy-Chain completely to prevent Orbi from trying to switch back-and-forth, which could lead to unstable WiFi network.

Message 16 of 19
Hanseman
Tutor

Re: Daisy-chain not working as expected

Correct, the checkbox is not tickable on the satellites.

Message 17 of 19
Hanseman
Tutor

Re: Daisy-chain not working as expected

I will try this. Anyhow, it is a disappointment that the system prefers to move to 2.4 instead of daisy-chain. 

Message 18 of 19
SW_
Prodigy
Prodigy

Re: Daisy-chain not working as expected


@Hanseman wrote:

I will try this. Anyhow, it is a disappointment that the system prefers to move to 2.4 instead of daisy-chain. 


Yeah - There are always disappointments with Orbi by number of complaints on this Orbi Forum.  Together, we just need to figure out how to work around some of them until NG releases a more matured/stable firmware.

Message 19 of 19
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