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Re: Mixture of star and daisy chain topology

dklimas
Apprentice

Mixture of star and daisy chain topology

My house is in the shape of a very large L and where the network switch, cable, and router for the whole house is in the corner of the L in the master bedroom closet. I currently have the router placed here with one satellite about 1/2 of the way across the lower leg of the L. I need to add one but probably a third satellite in the upper leg of the L towards the kitchen/living room and eventually the garage. My question is can I mix star and dasiy chain topology? So the #1 sat would be on it's own in the lower leg connected to the router and the #2 and #3 sats would be daisy chained in the upper leg. Or do all the satellites have to be in series from the router?

 

Also, can I ethernet the back haul on all three or just the #1 sat that is connected to the router? Is it all or nothing? Can I ethernet #1 and #2 and keep the garage sat completey wireless?

Model: RBK50| Orbi AC3000 High-Performance Tri-Band WiFi System
Message 1 of 16

Accepted Solutions
ekhalil
Master

Re: Mixture of star and daisy chain topology

1. If all Satellites use wireless backhaul and you want to allow Satellites to also connect to other Satellites and not only to the Router the Daisy Chain should be enabled (checked) so Satellites will have the choice to connect to the node that has better coverage whether its a Router or Satellite.
2. If all Satellites are wired then the Daisy Chain setting is not relevant.
3. If you will have a mix of wired and wireless Satellites then the Daisy Chain option is only valid to which topology you want the wireless Satellites to take.
In the current software (2.2.1.210) there is a sw bug that in some cases causes issues when you have wired backhaul and you enable Daisy Chain, but it seems to be solved in the ongoing beta.

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Message 5 of 16

All Replies
FURRYe38
Guru

Re: Mixture of star and daisy chain topology

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 Daisy chaining, it's recommended to have the satelites all in line out from the base router instead of Star. Daisy Chaining just means that satellites can piggy back off each other instead of each being directly connected to the base router. 

 

It's preferred to use ethernet connections for the satellites:

https://kb.netgear.com/000051205/What-is-Ethernet-backhaul-and-how-do-I-set-it-up-on-my-Orbi-WiFi-Sy...


If you chose this, then Daisy Chain needs to be disabled. 


@dklimas wrote:

My house is in the shape of a very large L and where the network switch, cable, and router for the whole house is in the corner of the L in the master bedroom closet. I currently have the router placed here with one satellite about 1/2 of the way across the lower leg of the L. I need to add one but probably a third satellite in the upper leg of the L towards the kitchen/living room and eventually the garage. My question is can I mix star and dasiy chain topology? So the #1 sat would be on it's own in the lower leg connected to the router and the #2 and #3 sats would be daisy chained in the upper leg. Or do all the satellites have to be in series from the router?

 

Also, can I ethernet the back haul on all three or just the #1 sat that is connected to the router? Is it all or nothing? Can I ethernet #1 and #2 and keep the garage sat completey wireless?


 

Message 2 of 16
ekhalil
Master

Re: Mixture of star and daisy chain topology

Yes you can have some of the Satellites connected to the Router (Star topology) and others connected to other Satellites in Daisy Chain.
This can be either wired or wireless or combination of both.
Message 3 of 16
dklimas
Apprentice

Re: Mixture of star and daisy chain topology


@ekhalil wrote:
Yes you can have some of the Satellites connected to the Router (Star topology) and others connected to other Satellites in Daisy Chain.
This can be either wired or wireless or combination of both.

Thank you! Do I check or uncheck the Daisy Chain setting?

Message 4 of 16
ekhalil
Master

Re: Mixture of star and daisy chain topology

1. If all Satellites use wireless backhaul and you want to allow Satellites to also connect to other Satellites and not only to the Router the Daisy Chain should be enabled (checked) so Satellites will have the choice to connect to the node that has better coverage whether its a Router or Satellite.
2. If all Satellites are wired then the Daisy Chain setting is not relevant.
3. If you will have a mix of wired and wireless Satellites then the Daisy Chain option is only valid to which topology you want the wireless Satellites to take.
In the current software (2.2.1.210) there is a sw bug that in some cases causes issues when you have wired backhaul and you enable Daisy Chain, but it seems to be solved in the ongoing beta.
Message 5 of 16
Chuck_M
Mentor

Re: Mixture of star and daisy chain topology

I noticed that if you go to the satellite web gui (not the router gui) you can also specify daisy chain for that particular satellite vice the entire network.  I have not seen this in actual application, but it makes sense.

 

I was thinking I needed to something similar with my house, but havent pulled the trigger on it yet with an outdoor orbi antenna conected to the far end satellite.

 

In my setup I have two satellites hardwired directly to the router and then one satellite wirelessly connected to the router.

One of the hardwired satellites I would like to daisy chain via radio 

 

I believe this is sort of what you want... a mixed mode of backhaul

 

The question is how do you configure the check boxes of the satellites and the router.  I would bet you would check daisy chain on the MIDDLE MAN satellite and not on the router or endpoint satellite.

 

Will be an interesting experiment.

Message 6 of 16
dklimas
Apprentice

Re: Mixture of star and daisy chain topology


@Chuck_M wrote:

I noticed that if you go to the satellite web gui (not the router gui) you can also specify daisy chain for that particular satellite vice the entire network.  I have not seen this in actual application, but it makes sense.

 

I was thinking I needed to something similar with my house, but havent pulled the trigger on it yet with an outdoor orbi antenna conected to the far end satellite.

 

In my setup I have two satellites hardwired directly to the router and then one satellite wirelessly connected to the router.

One of the hardwired satellites I would like to daisy chain via radio 

 

I believe this is sort of what you want... a mixed mode of backhaul

 

The question is how do you configure the check boxes of the satellites and the router.  I would bet you would check daisy chain on the MIDDLE MAN satellite and not on the router or endpoint satellite.

 

Will be an interesting experiment.


I didn't even realize you could go to a separate satellite GUI or that you would need to to make the proper adjustments! Interesting.

Yes, exactly. A mixed backhaul is what I'm stuck with because of the lack of ethernet in the garage where I plan to install the #3 satellite. 

Message 7 of 16
Chuck_M
Mentor

Re: Mixture of star and daisy chain topology

If you try to configure like this please post your results here.

 

The current beta in testing has resolved some backhaul issues.  It may be more valuable for you to join the beta so that you can avoid current issues as you set this up.

 

Recommend going to the beta thread and asking to join -- getting the firmware and avoid certain frustration!

 

Here is the Beta thread in case you want to do this:

 

https://community.netgear.com/t5/Orbi/Looking-for-a-select-group-of-Orbi-Community-members-that-are/...

 

Message 8 of 16
franktribe
Apprentice

Re: Mixture of star and daisy chain topology

Do you know if the current and/or the beta firmware allows for 2 satelittes connected to the router via Ethernet (Ethernet backhaul) actually works? In prior versions of the firmware I couldn't have both satelittles connected via Ethernet. So, I went back to 5GHz wireless backhaul. That is very stable. But, the Ethernet backhaul used to be unstable. But, I haven't tried it in a while. Curious if it is better with the .210 firmware or the beta.

 

Thanks,

Chris

 

Message 9 of 16
Chuck_M
Mentor

Re: Mixture of star and daisy chain topology

I have three satellites originally under the current and now under the t beta firmware

 

Two are ethernet

One is wireless

 

Works like a champ.

Message 10 of 16
franktribe
Apprentice

Re: Mixture of star and daisy chain topology

Cool, thanks. I will ask to join the beta.

Message 11 of 16
ekhalil
Master

Re: Mixture of star and daisy chain topology


@franktribe wrote:

Do you know if the current and/or the beta firmware allows for 2 satelittes connected to the router via Ethernet (Ethernet backhaul) actually works? In prior versions of the firmware I couldn't have both satelittles connected via Ethernet. So, I went back to 5GHz wireless backhaul. That is very stable. But, the Ethernet backhaul used to be unstable. But, I haven't tried it in a while. Curious if it is better with the .210 firmware or the beta.

.....

 


Many Ethernet backhaul issues were solved in 2.2.1.210 but that also introduced some LAN port handling issues. It seems that majority of -if not all- these issues are resolved in the ongoing beta software.

Message 12 of 16
franktribe
Apprentice

Re: Mixture of star and daisy chain topology

Great to hear!!!! Thank you.

Message 13 of 16
FURRYe38
Guru

Re: Mixture of star and daisy chain topology

Yes you can have both satellites connected via wired ethernet. You could with v16 as well. There are some odd issues with ehternet back haul. Daisy Chain needs to be disabled. The use of managed or green ethernet network switches cause problems with Orbi and wired connections. Use of non managed, non green ethernet switches is recommended. 


@franktribe wrote:

Do you know if the current and/or the beta firmware allows for 2 satelittes connected to the router via Ethernet (Ethernet backhaul) actually works? In prior versions of the firmware I couldn't have both satelittles connected via Ethernet. So, I went back to 5GHz wireless backhaul. That is very stable. But, the Ethernet backhaul used to be unstable. But, I haven't tried it in a while. Curious if it is better with the .210 firmware or the beta.

 

Thanks,

Chris

 


 

Message 14 of 16
franktribe
Apprentice

Re: Mixture of star and daisy chain topology

Thank you, I don't need to use switches for it. So, I am good there. Looks like I am doing some reconfiguration tonight. Sorry kids....Internet will be down for a bit 🙂 HAHA.

Message 15 of 16
FURRYe38
Guru

Re: Mixture of star and daisy chain topology

Enjoy. Smiley Wink

Message 16 of 16
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