RBK50 Satellite will disconnect only when cat6 cable is connected

[BurtonSnol3orde]

I have an RBK50 system with two satellites and have recently hooked up a wifi bridge that is plugged into one of our satellites and sends internet out to our barn.  

It gave me fits doing similar things when we set it up initially, but somehow it ended up working.  Recently, it has gone back to somehow "killing" the satellite.  If we leave the bridge unplugged, the satellite never disconnects.  As soon as we connect it, the satellite will disconnect within about 5 min.  It doesn't do it immediately, but shortly after it will.  

I'm thinking that somehow Orbi thinks it is a threatening connection and shutting it down or something along those lines, but it doesn't make much sense.  Any advice?

[ekhalil]

Looks like this bridge is creating loops in the Orbi satellite. What type of bridge is this and how is it configured?

[BurtonSnol3orde]

There are a pair of Ubiquiti Nanostation M2 one on each end.  They are configured in bridge mode as Station and AP on Channel 1 (least usage) and I've narrowed beam significantly.  

Can you expand on what you mean by "Creating loops"  The antenna are running a totally different SSID that is hidden and password connected. 

[ekhalil]

One more question, are you using wired or wireless backhaul? (the connection between Orbi's router and satellite)

[BurtonSnol3orde]

wireless backhaul to both sats. 

[ekhalil]

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@BurtonSnol3orde wrote:

wireless backhaul to both sats. 

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Can you please confirm that you have Daisy Chain disabled.

[BurtonSnol3orde]

Daisy chain is currently enabled. The main router is in basement.

[BurtonSnol3orde]

I'm sorry if I wasn't clearer earlier.  Both satellites are wireless backhaul and daisy chain is enabled (and necessary).  

Current setup:

Router --wireless--> Satellite 2 --wired--> nanostation M2 antenna configured with different SSID --wireless--> out to nanostation in barn --wired--> router running DD-WRT to broadcast to the barn. 

I cannot even connect plug in the first nanostation without it causing Satellite 2 to disconnect from the network within 5-10 min

[ekhalil]

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@BurtonSnol3orde wrote:

I'm sorry if I wasn't clearer earlier.  Both satellites are wireless backhaul and daisy chain is enabled (and necessary).  

Current setup:

Router --wireless--> Satellite 2 --wired--> nanostation M2 antenna configured with different SSID --wireless--> out to nanostation in barn --wired--> router running DD-WRT to broadcast to the barn. 

I cannot even connect plug in the first nanostation without it causing Satellite 2 to disconnect from the network within 5-10 min

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Sorry, I can't see where Satellite 1 is! 🙂 

[BurtonSnol3orde]

Satellite 1 is connected like normal, but not involved in this setup. I suppose sat 2 likely Daisy chains from sat 1. Router is in basement, sat 1 is first floor, sat 2 is 2nd floor.

[ekhalil]

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@BurtonSnol3orde wrote:
Satellite 1 is connected like normal, but not involved in this setup. I suppose sat 2 likely Daisy chains from sat 1. Router is in basement, sat 1 is first floor, sat 2 is 2nd floor.

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- Are devices able to attach to the SSID from the M2 or only to the DD-WRT router?

- How is the DD-WRT router configured? AP or Router Mode?

- What is the distance between Satellite 2 and the DD-WRT coverage range? Is there a possibility that a device can be covered by both nodes at the same time?

[BurtonSnol3orde]

Devices can attach to the m2 SSID but there's no internet because the satellite it is connected to it's disconnected from the home network.
Ddwrt is in AP mode.
They are close enough to overlap, but they are on different channels.

[ekhalil]

• I suspect that you have a bad radio in the UBNT SERIE M device connected to Satellite 2 which -somehow- causing loops in the Orbi network. Have you tried to swap the UBNT devices to eliminate if a radio issue in the device connected to Sateöllite 2?
• The UBNT SERIE M devices are sensitive to grounding. Using those UBNT devices is not recommended to use if you don't take the grounding steps seriously. Do you have a good ground?
• The M2 device connected to Satellite 2 is configured in AP mode and the remote one is in Station mode, correct?
• Are you using the same SSID in Orbi as in the DD-WRT router? If yes please try changing that.

[BurtonSnol3orde]

First off, thanks for your efforts. I'll do my best to answer your questions and I have a bit of new info from playing with it today.

I swapped then this morning and had the same issues.

You are correct, AP in the house, station in the barn.

SSID is totally different.

So today I reset everything and started over. Got the bridge working fine to the barn. I can hardwire into the barn antenna and get full speeds, no issues at all. I can connect to the router and run a speed test, but within seconds the Orbi satellite that everything runs through disconnects from the home network.

[ekhalil]

Since you're using different SSID's, why don't you change the the first UBNT to Router Mode for a test.

[BurtonSnol3orde]

I've wanted to try the first nano in router mode, but I must be doing something wrong.  Each time I do it, there is no internet passing through.  I can connect via my computer to that nanostation in router mode, but thats it.  I can't even track down the setup page when in router mode.  I can locate the IP via the ubiquiti device discovery tool, but even going that route, the setup/login page never loads.  

[BurtonSnol3orde]

Also in router mode, if I connect to the home nanostation and navigate to 192.168.1.1 it pulls the setup page for the barn ddwrt router rather than the setup page for the home orbi router.  

I don't normally have them set the same, but I just reset the ddwrt router and that is default.  I l always change it when I set it up. 

[ekhalil]

In Router Mode the UBNT should have an own subnet different than Orbi's, you need to set a new network in the router UBNT.

Do you still see the Orbi Satellite disconnecting from the network when you plug in the UBNT?

[BurtonSnol3orde]

So, I've narrowed it down a little more, but I'm just as confused.

I ended up trying to pull in the normal orbi SSID with a single nanostation antenna and it worked well.  I can get full speed when directly wired into the ethernet line coming off the nanostation.  Problem arises when I connect a router (set as AP wtih DCHP disabled).  Internet seems to work intermittantly with it becoming unavailable.  Anything I should try/check?

[ekhalil]

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@BurtonSnol3orde wrote:

........

I ended up trying to pull in the normal orbi SSID with a single nanostation antenna and it worked well.  ................

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Is this nanostation set to Router, AP or Station Mode?

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@BurtonSnol3orde wrote:

.......  Problem arises when I connect a router (set as AP wtih DCHP disabled).  Internet seems to work intermittantly with it becoming unavailable.  Anything I should try/check?

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What problems do you get now when you connect the router in AP mode?

[ekhalil]

@BurtonSnol3orde How is it going? 🙂

[BurtonSnol3orde]

Hard to explain exactly. I get very erratic speeds/ connections. It's perfect about 90% of the time and then it'll just stop totally for a moment and then continue. IE: YouTube video may buffer quickly then stop and freeze before playing perfectly. A speed test will freeze at the "ping" for 20+ seconds and then return a ping of 10ms and great speeds. Laptops appear to perform more regularly than cellular devices. Android/iOS shows no difference.