I have a Virgin Media Hub 4. Would the R2 work with my complex system. I don't want to purchase something only needing to send it back straight away.

[thisisreallife]

Hi all,

So I want to purchase a R2.

I currently have a Superhub 4. And I want to put that router into Modem/Bridge mode and then connect the Netduma R2 to it instead. BUT. My house got renovated a few months ago and in that process we ended up getting these installed on 3 levels of my house: They're called Ubiquiti access points. Now I don't know much about these but here is a link: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Ubiquiti-UniFi-Lite-Access-Point/dp/B08T6CKG5B. I'm not sure if it's exactly this model but it looks like that.

Now, what I do know is that my wiring is like this currently:

Superhub 4 > TP Link 5 Port Gigabit Desktop Switch (model TL-SG1005p) > D-Link Ethernet Port Hub (model DGS-108) > Lots of Devices

The D-Link Ethernet Port Hub basically will have a LOT of Ethernet wires connected to it. I have the PS5, the Laptop, Smart TVs, 3 Ubiquiti Access Points, Chromecast, 2 Sky TVs and other stuff. Literally the only WIFI we have is 2 mobile phones.

So now I want a Netduma, and I have a few questions:

Firstly I want to know if the Netduma works well with Virgin/Superhub 4? Did it make your experience better or worse or the same? Honest answers please!

Secondly, I literally want the Netduma just for the OS. I'll obviously slot the Netduma in between the Superhub 4 and the TP Link 5. And then to be safe, I'll plug PS5 via ethernet straight into the Netduma. Everything else will be laid out the same. So if I buy a Netduma R2 and set it up, is everything else still going to work fine? I'll want everything that's wired connected to the Netduma R2, and the two mobile phones connected via WiFi to the Ubiquity Access Points. Is that ok?

I want the Access Points working the same as intended. I'll hate it if I buy the Netduma and now the 'wifi has gone off around the house' I'll get a yelling at from every family member.

Thank you!

[Netduma Fraser]

Yes that should absolutely work fine, just disable WiFi on the R2 and you'll be good to go!

[thisisreallife]

On 8/23/2022 at 5:33 PM, Netduma Fraser said:

Yes that should absolutely work fine, just disable WiFi on the R2 and you'll be good to go!

Hello, so my Netduma R2 arrived today and I've been setting it up.

Everything is good to go, if you look at the image on the first post, the Netduma lies between the Virgin Superhub 4 and the TP Link 5 Port.

Now the way the engineer did everything previously when he set everything up (before I had a Netduma) was that the Ubiquiti (lets call it Ubi) Access Points had their own WIFI name, so essentially I had two WIFIs to choose from; the original Virgin Media one, and the Ubi one. I never once connected to the Virgin Media once he set everything up.

So now I've got it all set up, I have three WIFIs I can connect to, the Virgin Media one (which I've now put in Modem mode), the Netduma R2 and the Ubi one. So which one do I connect to on my phone and devices? Do I connect to Netduma or Ubi?

You also said to disable WiFi on the R2. I presume I do that by Network Settings > WIFI > Untick 'Enable 2.5/5ghs Wifi' ? When I do that, both my Netduma and Ubi turns off.

If I disable WIFI on my R2, I can't access the DUMA OS 192 page.

I'm a bit confused.

[Netduma Liam]

Yeah so connect your devices to the Ubi network now.

Are you able to connect a device to the R2 directly via ethernet? If so, do that, then access the R2 interface and disable it's Wi-Fi.

You can then check that you still have access to the R2 interface over wired, then connect to the switch and verify the same is true.  Assuming that's fine, the Ubi should also then have internet access and you should be able to get to the DumaOS interface from devices connected through there.

Let us know how you get on, sometimes with these things it's just a case of working through a specific order.

[thisisreallife]

3 hours ago, Netduma Liam said:

Yeah so connect your devices to the Ubi network now.

Are you able to connect a device to the R2 directly via ethernet? If so, do that, then access the R2 interface and disable it's Wi-Fi.

You can then check that you still have access to the R2 interface over wired, then connect to the switch and verify the same is true.  Assuming that's fine, the Ubi should also then have internet access and you should be able to get to the DumaOS interface from devices connected through there.

Let us know how you get on, sometimes with these things it's just a case of working through a specific order.

Thanks for response!

Well something strange happened. I connected the TP LINK (which has the 3 Ubi devices) to the Netduma R2, and it does appear. But then after around 5 minutes it will cut off and disappear from my WiFi. Any idea why this is happening? It doesn't appear at all after this.

I remember when the engineer first did it set up the Ubis he did it over 5Ghz because it kept on cutting off when it was on 2.4.

Do I need to change something on the devices under Netduma to ensure its 5Ghz only?

I turned 2.4 off but then a whole bunch of other devices stopped working (is this normal?).

[Netduma Fraser]

When making changes to the R2 WiFi it won't affect the WiFi of the devices behind it so you wouldn't do anything on there to get the Ubi devices using 5GHz only, you would do that on their interfaces. If devices were connected to the 2.4GHz then they would disconnect until you then reconnect them to the 5GHz. You may have some devices that work with 2.4GHz only. If for some reason the WiFi of the R2 being on/off somehow causes the Ubi WiFi to go off then just re-enable the R2 WiFi but select the option to not broadcast the SSID, that will prevent it showing in the list of WiFi networks in your area.

[thisisreallife]

8 hours ago, Netduma Fraser said:

When making changes to the R2 WiFi it won't affect the WiFi of the devices behind it so you wouldn't do anything on there to get the Ubi devices using 5GHz only, you would do that on their interfaces. If devices were connected to the 2.4GHz then they would disconnect until you then reconnect them to the 5GHz. You may have some devices that work with 2.4GHz only. If for some reason the WiFi of the R2 being on/off somehow causes the Ubi WiFi to go off then just re-enable the R2 WiFi but select the option to not broadcast the SSID, that will prevent it showing in the list of WiFi networks in your area.

Thank you.

Do you have any idea why my Ubi access points are connecting to Netduma R2 for a few minutes and then it disconnects completely and then doesn't appear at all on the WiFi list?

[Netduma Fraser]

No reason springs to mind immediately, especially given the router doesn't have the power to disable another device WiFi, do the APs have an interface with a log file you can look at? Otherwise could you provide the log from the System Information page on the R2 when it happens please?

[thisisreallife]

On 9/16/2022 at 12:05 AM, Netduma Fraser said:

No reason springs to mind immediately, especially given the router doesn't have the power to disable another device WiFi, do the APs have an interface with a log file you can look at? Otherwise could you provide the log from the System Information page on the R2 when it happens please?

Hello friend.

Sorry I've been really busy. So I disconnected the TP link with the 3 access points, and connected them. Waited 30 seconds and the name appeared on my WiFi list. I connected to it, and then around 30 seconds to a minute, it disconnected and then didn't appear again.

Here is the log:

 

Thank you!

log-1663536874468.txt

[Netduma Fraser]

No worries, thanks for the log, I can't see anything in there that would cause the issue you've described. However, I think I know what the issue may be (thanks for providing the models of devices), it appears as though your switch and APs are all powered over ethernet without their own dedicated power supply. In comparison to the V Hub the R2 is not as powerful so I suspect it is not powerful enough to power 4 devices over ethernet hence why the AP WiFi networks disappear very quickly after being plugged in - they're actually powered off. If you were to replace the switch with one that has it's own power supply then that may resolve the issue.

[thisisreallife]

9 hours ago, Netduma Fraser said:

No worries, thanks for the log, I can't see anything in there that would cause the issue you've described. However, I think I know what the issue may be (thanks for providing the models of devices), it appears as though your switch and APs are all powered over ethernet without their own dedicated power supply. In comparison to the V Hub the R2 is not as powerful so I suspect it is not powerful enough to power 4 devices over ethernet hence why the AP WiFi networks disappear very quickly after being plugged in - they're actually powered off. If you were to replace the switch with one that has it's own power supply then that may resolve the issue.

Hello!

Do you mean the TP Link 5 Port Gigabit Desktop Switch?

The one I've got actually has a wire that plugs into the back on the switch, which actually connects to a plug. It looks like this  attached(but with a UK plug not American plug).

 

Unless you mean something else?. Can you send me a link of the model you mean please

 

 

[thisisreallife]

Another idea. If worst comes to worse and I can't get your resolved.

Can I just connect the switch back into the Virgin router and have it running off the Virgin router?

The only devices that will be connecting to it will be maybe one mobile phone and a Google Nest Doorbell.

So that shouldn't affect my connection when gaming as often

[Netduma Fraser]

Yes that's the one I meant, I didn't see any mention of a power plug in an Amazon listing but lots of mentions of Power over Ethernet. The APs do they have a separate power source? Yes you could absolutely do that, the more devices connected behind the R2 the better really.

[thisisreallife]

1 hour ago, Netduma Fraser said:

Yes that's the one I meant, I didn't see any mention of a power plug in an Amazon listing but lots of mentions of Power over Ethernet. The APs do they have a separate power source? Yes you could absolutely do that, the more devices connected behind the R2 the better really.

All I know is that the APs are connected via ethernet to the Switch.

Do I need to turn my Virgin off modem mode if I want to connect the TP LINK switch to it directly as opposed to the Netduma?

[Netduma Fraser]

Yes you would need to do that as a switch can't take traffic from a modem only, so back into router mode and then it will work

[thisisreallife]

43 minutes ago, Netduma Fraser said:

Yes you would need to do that as a switch can't take traffic from a modem only, so back into router mode and then it will work

Thanks. So if I keep it in normal WiFi mode, would it mess anything up with the Netduma? Is there anything I need to do with the Netduma settings 

[Netduma Fraser]

That's right, no it wouldn't mess anything up, usually we recommend putting the R2 WAN IP found on the System Information page into the hub DMZ - try that but it could cause conflict for the devices connected behind the switch