Superhub 3 incompatible with TP-Link Deco M5

[Jeremy_K]

After changing from a Superhub2 to a Superhub 3 my TP-Link Deco system stopped working.  After tests and discussions with TP-Link it appears that the Superhub 3.0 does not correctly pass through the IEEE 1905.1 packets that the Deco system uses for ethernet backhaul.

This would seem to be an unfortunate incompatibility.  Has anyone else found this?  Virgin, please sort out the deficiencies in your hub.

[Nikinp]

But why would it start using Ethernet and then switch to Wi-Fi. Surely wouldn’t work at all?

the switch is GS748T netgear prosafe 

[sophist]

have you configured the switch in any way (beyond giving it an IP address so that you can manage it)?

multiple vlans? (not that this should matter..)

storm control? 1905.1 broadcasts on the network to find other 1905.1 devices.. if you have storm control configured, it could be rate limiting that broadcast traffic.. again, feels unlikely, but i guess it's possible..

as for why it works initially and then fails, i have no idea..

you need to find out whether or not the switch is passing those frames or not.. this is possible with the switch you have, but will require creating a port mirror and running a packet capture to verify..

a port mirror will copy all traffic being sent/received on a given port to another  port, you can then connect a pc to that mirror port and run a packet capture to see what traffic is passing (or not, as the case may be..)

if it were me, i'd mirror the three ports that the decos connect to to one other port and capture all traffic with an ethertype of 0x893a to see if it's flowing between them.. and take the troubleshooting from there..

[Nikinp]

Thanks Tehwolf,

The only thing I've configured is the IP address. I'm a novice when it comes to these things and I am way out of my depth on what you describe to do.

You mentioned using the netgear switch elsewhere in the network. Are you suggesting finding a way to directly wire the Decos together, and then have a port on one of the slave Decos link to the netgear switch? 

i.e. Modem->Main deco->slave deco->slave deco with either slave deco then connecting to the switch

I would have thought that having the netgear switch anywhere in the network would have lead to this issue? Or am I mistaken

[sophist]

The Decos will (almost certainly) talk amongst themselves on the main port so as long as the switch that they are all connected to supports 1905.1 they will be able to communicate.. you could connect the secondary port to the netgear and it should all be fine.

so no, not wiring them directly together, but buying another switch and connecting it thus:

Hub-->master deco-->switch---->slave deco/slave deco---->netgear switch

in this configuration, all of the decos will be connected to a switch that works, with one of the slave decos also being connected to the netgear for those additional 50 ports (50 ports!! ;p)

one other thing though, have you upgraded the firmware of the netgear switch? if not, you may find a more recent revision works..

I'm kinda surprised that it doesn't work out-of-the-box to be honest - there are very few complaints from people using deco with netgear (most searches turn up issues with d-link switches).. and there's little/no information about whether or not the netgear switch explicitly supports it.. there's some information out there that suggests that other netgear devices support it, so it seems odd that some do and some don't... unless your switch is ancient or something...

[Nikinp]

Thanks. I have all the decos connected via walled ethernet sockets that run back to my loft. So I would need to use the patch panel outlets and wire them into another switch in the loft. But its do-able.

My switch is still selling on amazon as 'amazon choice' so I dont think its that ancient. Its running the latest firmware too.

When I spoke to TP link on two separate occasions they asked how long the cabling is from the Main deco to the switch. For me its about 15m, but I dont know if that has an effect. Its weird that they asked.

[sophist]

there have been 5 hardware variants of the 748 - it was released in 2013 - (which is when the 1905 standard was finally agreed) - it would then take a while for the standard to filter into products, a year or two maybe, depending on the OEM.. if you had a v1 piece of hardware, it's possible that there was a limitation that meant it couldn't be implemented.. this is all hypothetical though - in *theory* 1905 could make use of any/all existing hardware as it wasn't doing anything particularly unusual - in practice, there are a number of devices from various different vendors that have had issues with it (particularly older gear..).

I would recommend that you take a look at the storm control settings on the switch though - maybe just switch them off.. there's very little risk of a broadcast storm on a home network (not impossible, but unlikely)

[Nikinp]

Screenshot of switch storm control settings. They look disabled to me, but I'm no expert

[Nikinp]

I would also love your view on Tenda Nova MW6 - as it says it does ethernet backhaul too. Any idea if this works the same way and therefore have similar issues? I only bought the Deco last week and can still return I think

[gary_dexter]

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@Nikinp wrote:

I would also love your view on Tenda Nova MW6 - as it says it does ethernet backhaul too. Any idea if this works the same way and therefore have similar issues? I only bought the Deco last week and can still return I think

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The Tenda’s aren’t well reviewed here and elsewhere 

[sophist]

i have no knowledge/experience of tenda nova.

i use ubiquiti unifi access points - they are at the higher end of the consumer price range, but the four AP's i have dotted around the house + 1 in the garden have been installed since early 2016 and have been excellent - they work as well today as the day i installed them. 

they have both mesh and non-mesh options.. i use the UAP-AC-PRO devices (which isn't a "mesh" unit) - configure a single SSID across all of them and you'll roam between them almost seamlessly.  

they're a little more complex to get up and running than the more recent mesh systems that are very much geared for the consumer, and take a little more setting up (but not much for basic use).. you'll need a separate router too though, as the unifi APs are just APs.. 

ubiquiti also have a more consumer-focused brand, AmpliFi, but again, i have no direct experience of it or how it implements meshing..