Forum Discussion

Rishman's avatar
Rishman
Just joined
12 hours ago

Ethernet on black WiFi pod issue

I have a hub 5x and two black WiFi pods on a 350Mb package. Off one of the WiFi pods, I have a tp-link powerline adapter connected to the pod via ethernet cable to serve internet in a garden office.

All has been working fine for around 6 months. In the last week, there was some sort of over night outage for a few hours. Since then I’ve had issues with the one WiFi pod and internet via powerline (everything else came back fine after the outage).

The WiFi pod pulses white indicating a connection issue back to the hub. I’ve power cycled everything in order several times. No luck. I’ve swapped round the WiFi pods in case of a specific pod fault and same behaviour. I’ve tried different Ethernet ports, Ethernet cables and power sockets. Again; no luck.

What I have noticed is that the pod works/connects fine WITHOUT an Ethernet cable connected. As soon as I connect the cable, the pod cycles through connection again (blue, then green lights) but doesn’t revert to a solid white light; it pulses white as if there is no connection (even after waiting some time).

the WiFi pod and hub are only six metres apart and with it working previously I’m confident it isn’t a placement issue. 

I can’t plug powerline directly into the hub (without a lot of cable/drilling work) as the hub is placed on a different electrical circuit to where the WiFi pod is placed.

Both WiFi pods show up in the VM connect app indicating they are provisioned correctly I guess. I do have intermittent issues where VM app service status check returns that it can’t connect to hub but internet is working fine for a plethora of devices connected wirelessly and wired into the hub and the other WiFi pod so I haven’t paid much attention to that.

I’ve exhausted all ideas on remedying this problem. Help gratefully received.

Broadband
Connection
Hub 5
WIFI

6 Replies

  • Client62's avatar
    Client62
    Alessandro Volta
    11 hours ago

    Does either end of the TP-Link Power Line Adaptor system have a static IP clash with the IP of the VM Hub or the VM Pods ?   

    Some TP-Link kit has a DHCP server, if enabled this can be another source of IP clashes.

    • Rishman's avatar
      Rishman
      Just joined
      9 hours ago

      Thanks. The TP-Link kit (AV1300) is using dynamic ip; picking up from the VM Hub. It doesn’t have a DHCP server. I can see this in the TP-Link config. I did test it connected directly to the hub and on the alternative electrical circuit and it worked fine…

  • Adduxi's avatar
    Adduxi
    Very Insightful Person
    11 hours ago

    Try a 60 second pinhole reset on the Hub?

    Remove any ethernet cables from the Hub and hold the pinhole reset switch for 60 seconds. Do NOT reboot the Hub, just let it do it's thing. Note you will need the passwords from the bottom of the Hub afterwards, so make sure they are legible. NOTE this will remove any custom settings you may have set in the Hub, and they will all have to be setup again.

  • Client62's avatar
    Client62
    Alessandro Volta
    8 hours ago

    1) I grasped that you have this Hub end setup and the VM Pod stops working.

    VM Hub <--- Wi-Fi ---> VM Pod  <--- Ethernet ---> AV1300 

    2) If you changed for testing purposed to ...

    VM Hub <--- Wi-Fi ---> VM Pod  <--- Ethernet ---> LAPTOP

    Would the VM Pod connect to the VM Hub & work giving
    the Laptop internet via the network cable ?

    Or has the VM Pod stopped working as an external Wi-Fi adaptor ?

  • Roger_Gooner's avatar
    Roger_Gooner
    Alessandro Volta
    7 hours ago

    The hub 5x is struggling to handle Ethernet backhaul via third-party hardware (like powerline) after a reset, so the pod fails the handshake. Do this to fix the problem.

    1️⃣ Disable “Power Save” on the TP‑Link powerline adapters.
    This ensures the Ethernet link won’t flap when the pod tries to use wired backhaul.

    2️⃣ Factory‑reset and re‑pair the TP‑Link adapters.
    This clears stale MAC tables created during the outage.

    3️⃣ Now power everything off at the wall socket in this order:

    1. Hub 5x
    2. Both VM Pods
    3. Both TP‑Link adapters

    Leave everything off for at least two minutes. This full cold shutdown clears ARP tables, mesh state and link negotiation history.

    4️⃣ Power on the Hub 5x.

    5️⃣ Power on the VM Pods (wireless only at first).
    Turn on both pods without Ethernet connected.

    6️⃣ Power on the TP‑Link powerline adapters.
    This ensures the powerline link is stable.

    7️⃣ Connect the Ethernet cable to the pod.
    Only now plug the Ethernet cable from the powerline into the VM Pod. If everything above is correct:

    • the pod should accept Ethernet backhaul
    • the light should go solid white
    • no pulsing white
    • no blue/green cycling

     

    The black VM pods only have one Ethernet port and are very strict about what they accept as a wired backhaul, and powerline adapters often trigger rejection. The newer white pods have two Ethernet ports and an internal switch, making them far more stable for wired backhaul setups like yours. The biggest problem might be in persuading VM to swap the black pods for white ones. But best of all is to dump powerline and use only Ethernet cables for backhaul.

    • Roger_Gooner's avatar
      Roger_Gooner
      Alessandro Volta
      5 hours ago

      Oops, ignore last paragraph as black VM pods have two Ethernet ports.