Wireless Printer connection sharing across RBK30 router and Satellite.

[NewGeek]

Hello All,

I have a Orbi RBK30 running with one main unit and one Satellite. About 10 devices using the system with some connected main router and other to Satellite. No performance issues for the past 1+ year. Latest firmware on each Orbi.

We recently got a EPSON wireless printer. This was connected in the main office to the main router using wireless.

Shared Wireless printing works as long as the printing device is connected to main router. Any device that is connected to Satellite is not able to see the printer. As soon as the laptop connected to Satellite is moved into range of router and reconnects to router it can see the printer.

Very standard setup of the router. Not in AP mode.

How do I share the printer across device irrespective of whether they are connected to Satellite or Main router.?

Thanks.

[NewGeek · Accepted solution]

Hello all,

RIP does not make a difference. Finally got some time and ran a low level network scan.  Found packets getting lost between router and satellite.

Tired full power down and other scenario. Finally gave up and factory reset with backup.

Restored from backup and then upgraded to today's latest patch. RBR40 2.3.5.30 and RBW30 / V2.3.5.6. Full power down and generated new password for Satellite and Router communication.

Added device one by one.

Ping works, Printers work, Network scan is clean. All Device on DHCP.

Access control on with "Newdevice addition."

Will let things stabalize and then change access control to "Block all new device.".

Fingers crossed.

Thanks for all you help and assistance.

[CrimpOn]

Oh, dear.  This should not matter.  Has an IP address been "assigned" to the printer?  (on the Advanced Tab->Setup->LAN Setup)

My devices would go haywire every time my printer got a new IP address.

[NewGeek]

Hello,

Yes the printer has a IP address. I can replicate the issue with

• fixed / static IP address outside DHCP range.
• IP Address reservation within DHCP range.
• IP address within DHCP range.

As the printer is in the office, it connects to the Orbi Router. Any device which connects to router is able to access the printer.

I did another test and tried to just ping a Windows laptop connected to router from a laptop connected to orbi satellite. both have IP and internet access. Ping failed.

Then I moved the laptop to same point, router or satellite, and ping worked.

For some reason ping across Satellite/router fails.

.....

[CrimpOn]

I have a different Orbi (RBR50 & RBS50) and I print, telnet, ssh, web, ping across the backhaul link all the time.  (I was fixated on backhaul delay and set up multiple ping tests going both ways, and I print from devices on the router and on the satellite.)

The Orbi is in router mode (not AP) and is assigning IP's with DHCP.  Looking at the "Attached Devices" information, EVERY device (router and satellite) has an IP in the same "octet"?  i.e. 192.168.1.x or 10.0.0.x.  The first three numbers are the same and only numbers in the last section are different.  Doesn't matter if they are "in" or "out" of the DHCP range.  Only that they are in the same subnet.

[NewGeek]

Crimpon,

Thanks for the quick reply.

I checked and rechecked. All the IP's are in the same subnet range. 192.168.50.x.

For some reason... ping between same device, satellite or router, works.

Ping across the device, satellite to router or router to satellite, does not work. Same Subnet across. All device have IP's.

Would a full reset of both Router and Satellite help.?

thanks.

[CrimpOn]

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@NewGeek wrote:

Would a full reset of both Router and Satellite help.?

---

A factory reset is sort of the "nuclear option."  i.e. once the paperclip comes out, the entire system has to be configured from scratch.  With only 10 devices, this may not be a horrible task.  (Some users report 100+ devices!  I have about 35.)

We started with a printing issue, and also it is impossible to ping across the backhaul link.  All of 192.168 is a private IP address space.  It should not make any difference that it is 192.168.50.x or 192.168.anything else.x

Your RIP direction is set to "Both", correct?

[michaelkenward]

Tried this?

Fix address on printer. (It should have configuration software for that.)

Then reserve that fixed address on the router.

[CrimpOn]

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@michaelkenward wrote:

Fix address on printer. (It should have configuration software for that.)

Then reserve that fixed address on the router.

---

I'd like to learn more about the rationale for setting a static IP on the printer in addition to assigning that IP to the printer in the LAN Setup (which, it appears has been done).  Is this sort of a "belt and suspenders" thing?

In the situation as described, I find it hard to reconcile that a laptop can find the printer when connected to the router, but not when connected to the satellite.

[NewGeek]

I checked and confirmed that the RIP direction is "Both" and version is "RIP-1".

Any device that is connected to the Satellite can ping each other. The same apply to any device that is connected to main Orbi router. All ping to devices that are not on same Orbi device fail the ping test.

[NewGeek]

Sorry clicked post a little too soon.

I did try the static IP on the printer and then reserving it on the router. This was tried with IP within DHCP range and outside it. Each each was done with full reboot of printer and Orbi...

[CrimpOn]

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@NewGeek wrote:

I checked and confirmed that the RIP direction is "Both" and version is "RIP-1"

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Hmmm.  My RIP version shows as "Disabled".  I have no confidence about my understanding of RIP, or if it even is pertinent to the discussion.  Maybe (just for fun) you could change it to Disabled and see?

[NewGeek]

Hello CrimpOn.

Let me disable the RIP and test it out. Will get back to you soon.

Thanks for all your assistance and advice. I appreciate it.

[NewGeek · Accepted solution]

Hello all,

RIP does not make a difference. Finally got some time and ran a low level network scan.  Found packets getting lost between router and satellite.

Tired full power down and other scenario. Finally gave up and factory reset with backup.

Restored from backup and then upgraded to today's latest patch. RBR40 2.3.5.30 and RBW30 / V2.3.5.6. Full power down and generated new password for Satellite and Router communication.

Added device one by one.

Ping works, Printers work, Network scan is clean. All Device on DHCP.

Access control on with "Newdevice addition."

Will let things stabalize and then change access control to "Block all new device.".

Fingers crossed.

Thanks for all you help and assistance.

[RetroViator]

I was having a similar problem.  I was not able to access my NAS from two of my computers, but I could from a third.  I spent quite a bit of time messing with Samba and SMB (as I had recently installed the Win10 1903 update), but not only could I not access via SMB, I could not ping.  Using Wireshark, I was able to watch the pings go out, but no response.  I could also not ping from the server back to the computers.  

Eventually, and accidently, I moved the working laptop to another part of the house, and it stopped connecting to the NAS.  This got me thinking about my Orbi setup.  On a whim, I changed the RIP version from Disabled to RIP-2M, as 2M has to do with multicast packets (such as used by Bonjour and other modern dynamic addressing services).  After changing the RIP version and a router reboot, everything was working again.  

So, either I just needed to restart my router.  Or, the 2.3.5.30 firmware created a issue between my RBR50 and RBR30 for handling multicast packets.

Once things settle out, perhaps I'll turn RIP off and see if everything keeps working to determine if all I needed was a reboot.

[FURRYe38]

Thanks for letting us know. 

Has a factory reset of the RBR and setup from scratch been performed after updating to v30? One more thing to try to see if printer sharing and such using defaults gets resolved with out having to change RIP settings. 

ALso be aware that SMB v1 is disabled now in Windows 10. You can enable it. 

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@RetroViator wrote:

I was having a similar problem.  I was not able to access my NAS from two of my computers, but I could from a third.  I spent quite a bit of time messing with Samba and SMB (as I had recently installed the Win10 1903 update), but not only could I not access via SMB, I could not ping.  Using Wireshark, I was able to watch the pings go out, but no response.  I could also not ping from the server back to the computers.  

Eventually, and accidently, I moved the working laptop to another part of the house, and it stopped connecting to the NAS.  This got me thinking about my Orbi setup.  On a whim, I changed the RIP version from Disabled to RIP-2M, as 2M has to do with multicast packets (such as used by Bonjour and other modern dynamic addressing services).  After changing the RIP version and a router reboot, everything was working again.  

So, either I just needed to restart my router.  Or, the 2.3.5.30 firmware created a issue between my RBR50 and RBR30 for handling multicast packets.

Once things settle out, perhaps I'll turn RIP off and see if everything keeps working to determine if all I needed was a reboot.

---

[NewGeek]

Hello All,

My system has been stable for a while now. Ping response across the board is working.

Factory reset, software update and password generation... worked.

I did try multiple different scenarios for RIP and it does not make any diff. Currently RIP is off and system works. I tried with RIP on and diferent version... works.

I think the last firmware did some fix. 🙂

I have a printer and a NAS on the LAN. All on DHCP. Printer is wireless and NAS is wired into the main orbi router.

Regards.

[FURRYe38]

Thanks for letting us know. 

Enjoy. 

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@NewGeek wrote:

Hello All,

My system has been stable for a while now. Ping response across the board is working.

Factory reset, software update and password generation... worked.

I did try multiple different scenarios for RIP and it does not make any diff. Currently RIP is off and system works. I tried with RIP on and diferent version... works.

I think the last firmware did some fix. 🙂

I have a printer and a NAS on the LAN. All on DHCP. Printer is wireless and NAS is wired into the main orbi router.

Regards.

---

[RetroViator]

Well, after awhile, I once again lost my ability to access the NAS.  As as expected, it seems RIP had nothing to do with my problems accessing the server from a computer connected via a satellite (but I could access via computers connected through the main router). 

As before, a router restart restored the connection.  I suppose I will have to perform a factory reset.  It is a bit frustrating that I have to do that periodically.  Perhaps it is tied to firmware updates.

[RetroViator]

A final update to share that performing a factory reset of the Router did not resolve the problem, but a full factory reset of the satellite did.  Actually, I should say a reset, downloading the latest firmware again, and another reset solved the problem.  It has been more than a week, and the connection issue has not returned.