RBR750 ap mode wired backhaul, wan port=internet/no synced sats, lan port=no internet/synced sats

[zombywoof]

I'm stuck.

I have a RBR750 and 2 RBS750 satellites. All are upgraded to firmware V7.2.6.31(_5.0.24).

I did a reset on all devices and started out new. First I've set the RBR to AP mode and choose dynamic ip assignment (using a static DHCP lease on my Zyxel router). Configured my SSID, turned off Guest/IOT SSIDs for the sake of simpleness.

When I try to sync the satellites I run into a dilemma.

Option 1: RBR connect using its yellow WAN-port.: The RBR does not see the sats but wifi clients have working internet.

Option 2: RBR connect using a LAN-port: The RBR sees and sync the sats, but wifi clients have no working internet.

Option 1 does see the sats when I connect them directly to the RBR, but thats not feasible in this house. There are 2 switches between the sats and the RBR. This setup did work for 2 years!

[zombywoof · Accepted solution]

Fixed it.😀

I went back to firmware V4.6.14.3_2.3.12, didnt even reset to factory, kept all settings and all problems disappeared.

Now i can connect to the RBR LAN port.

I'm able to ping the RBR perfectly

The RBR sees and syncs the satellites over wired backhaul over multiple switches.

The wireless clients get 500-600 Mbps internet everywhere in the house

Conclusion: the firmwares above V4.6.14.3_2.3.12 destroy AP mode.

[FURRYe38]

IF the system had been working, what changed? FW updated recently? If so, I'd downgrade back to last working FW version or v.21. There are known issues with v.31 and can't recommend it. NG is aware of it. 

[zombywoof]

Downgraded to v21

Set it to AP mode

And now I try to access it on its assigned ip.

When I connect the RBR using a LAN-port, and ping it, I get some succesful replies, but 75% timeouts. And the webinterface is very very slow. And wireless clients have no internet.

When I connect using the WAN-port, pings work and webinterface is fast. But now the RBR cant see the satellites.

Are all LAN ports broken? No, when I connect the RBR on WAN and plug a laptop in the RBR on LAN, i can ping 8.8.8.8 perfectly and fast.

What a mess...

[CrimpOn]

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@zombywoof wrote:

This setup did work for 2 years!

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There have been several conversations on the forum in the past year about using the Orbi AX product line (750, 850) in Access Point (AP) mode. My observation from these discussions is that the AX product routers are programmed to expect:

• The internet will appear on the WAN port of the router.
• Satellites that are not connected via WiFi will appear on one of the LAN ports of the router.
• Because all of these units have Ethernet switches as an essential component, many devices appear to communicate because of the "layer 2" Ethernet LAN capability.  But, the router is not collecting essential information because it is looking at specific ports for specific information (WAN and LAN).

Many of the discussions are a result of the router unit being placed in a location with only one Ethernet cable to a central patch panel or switching location.  The previous generation of Orbi products appears to have dealt with a single cable connection differently than the AX products.  Thus, what "worked" before no longer works.

The solution is to create the ability to connect the router WAN port to the ISP device (bypassing switches if possible) and one of the LAN ports to the satellites.  Method to achieve this include:

• Physically installing another Ethernet cable
• Using smart Ethernet switches to create VLAN to allow the single Ethernet cable to appear separate the WAN and LAN traffic.

One easy way to test is to temporarily connect the router to the ISP device using a separate Ethernet cable. (I got a 100 ft. Cat6 cable from Amazon for under $20.) while using the existing cable connection for the LAN port.  If suddenly "it works", then this is the problem.

[zombywoof]

Earlier I already tried connecting the RBR WAN port to the Internetrouter with a direct cable. Didnt help.

The problem is more basic:

If I connect a laptop to a RBR LAN port, i can ping the RBR perfectly

If I connect a laptop to a switch and that switch to a RBR LAN port, pinging the RBR gives 75% time-outs

[FURRYe38]

After you downgraded the system back to v.21, did you factory reset both RBR and RBS and setup from scratch and setup the RBR and RBS in router mode? Then have the RBS wireless sync the RBR in router mode first, then directly connect them one at a time to the back of the RBRs LAN ports, one at a time. Should connect and shot GOOD and Wired status after a few minutes. Once that is done, then configure the RBR for AP mode using the static IP address configuration on the RBR. 

If there is a LAN switch in the mix, brand and model# of this LAN switch please.

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@zombywoof wrote:

Downgraded to v21

Set it to AP mode

And now I try to access it on its assigned ip.

When I connect the RBR using a LAN-port, and ping it, I get some succesful replies, but 75% timeouts. And the webinterface is very very slow. And wireless clients have no internet.

When I connect using the WAN-port, pings work and webinterface is fast. But now the RBR cant see the satellites.

Are all LAN ports broken? No, when I connect the RBR on WAN and plug a laptop in the RBR on LAN, i can ping 8.8.8.8 perfectly and fast.

What a mess...

---

[zombywoof · Accepted solution]

Fixed it.😀

I went back to firmware V4.6.14.3_2.3.12, didnt even reset to factory, kept all settings and all problems disappeared.

Now i can connect to the RBR LAN port.

I'm able to ping the RBR perfectly

The RBR sees and syncs the satellites over wired backhaul over multiple switches.

The wireless clients get 500-600 Mbps internet everywhere in the house

Conclusion: the firmwares above V4.6.14.3_2.3.12 destroy AP mode.

[FURRYe38]

Last time I had my 750 series online with RBS had tested AP mode with RBS ethernet connected. All worked. That was on v.21. I'll check my 750 series again while in AP Mode and see whats happening. I see I updated my system back on 4/25 to v.31. Will test AP Mode first and see what I find out. 

[zombywoof]

If you test with any 7.2 version, try:

laptop - LAN PORT RBR750 and then ping RBR -t (this will work)

laptop - switch - LAN PORT RBR750 and then ping RBR -t (this willl give lots of timeouts)

[FURRYe38]

So go my RBK752 system up and running. 

First off was RBR in router mode to make sure RBS wireless and ethernet connected to the RBR. 

HP 1400 series non managed switch used in between. 

Then configured AP mode and use a RAX80 for host router.

Left RBS ethernet connected to switch and switch connected to RBR after applying AP mode configuration:

Gave several minutes for everything to settle in. 192.168.1.75 IP static IP address used on RBR for AP mode:

RBR AP mode connected devices page:

RBS web page:

RBS connected devices page:

Ping results with ethernet connected PC behind the RBR:

Ping results with same ethernet connected PC behind the HP LAN switch connected behind the RBR:

[zombywoof]

Can you try a ping -t (keep pinging). And wait a while. 

[zombywoof]

In your picture:

Also remarkable, with 7.2 it does not show it's IP. With 4.2 it does show it's IP.

[FURRYe38]

Ya thats a bug we found back on v.21. Reported it. Still on going. Doesn't effect much. Just a UI display issue. 

[zombywoof]

Yeah i know, it does have the IP. Its just remarkable.

V31 also btw

BTW, your ping should be ping -t

In my issue as described above the problem was: it gave 7-10 good replies but then came 7-10 timeouts

[FURRYe38]

Ran this for this period of time then also let it run while I was typing up this post to respond, about 2 minutes, saw no issues while it was pinging:

Ping statistics for 192.168.1.75:
Packets: Sent = 130, Received = 130, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 0ms, Maximum = 14ms, Average = 0ms