I need help setting up my six mesh routers. I am not technically savvy so my terminology may be off.
We live in the country and receive internet from a local provider (Valley Internet) via a POE antenna on one building (office). The ISP-provided modem/router is inside that building. Cat5 cables run throughout the office building to various LAN ports. One wireless access point is connected to a LAN port in the building. There is another POE antenna at the office which sends the internet signal (via WAN ??) to two other structures on the property about 200-300 feet away (house and guesthouse).
There is a POE antenna receiving the signal at the house and feeding into a 16-port switch. Cat5 cables run from the switch to LAN ports throughout the house. There are three wireless access points (bridges ??) connected to LAN ports in the house.
There is a POE antenna receiving the signal at the guesthouse. That provides one active LAN port.
Yesterday I began the Wyze mesh router installation process along with telephone help from a representative from my ISP. The ISP rep remotely converted their device into a modem only. I connected one Wyze mesh router to the modem via ethernet cable as a root router and created a network. That process was fairly painless and seemed to work well. The office then had LAN and wireless connectivity. The LAN (WAN ??) signal also successfully made it to the house and guesthouse providing internet in both structures. Afterward, the remainder of the mesh network setup was completely unsuccessful in all ways…
I confirmed the LAN Internet signal was live at the POE in the guesthouse. I connected a Wyze mesh router LAN port to the POE LAN port with an ethernet cable. I followed the setup instructions on the app but the router (node) always ended up saying it was in a bad location and directing me to choose another location. It seemed as though it was ONLY searching for the root router via wireless signal and not recognizing it on the LAN connection. In an effort to troubleshoot, I took that same node to the office and was able to easily and quickly connect it to the root router wirelessly. Upon returning it to the guesthouse and trying again, I again received a message indicating it was in a bad place and could not connect.
I then went into the house and confirmed the internet signal at the receiving POE LAN was live. I connected a different Wyze mesh router via ethernet cable from the POW LAN port to the node LAN port. I followed the in-app setup instructions for adding it to the existing network and again received the same message indicating it was in a bad location and could not connect to the root router. I made no less than eight attempts to connect nodes via LAN, but all failed the exact same way.
Out of frustration I reverted all hardware back to its original configuration and boxed up the Wyze devices preparing to reluctantly return them for a refund. This morning I called Wyze and they told me the routers should work when connected as I described. It seems like something simple is missing or needs adjusted. I still have the six mesh routers sitting in boxes on my desk in hopes one of you will set me straight and tell me what idiot step I am missing.
Are these six mesh routers the white ones or the Pro black ones (6e)?
I don’t have either, but I am sure the folks that can answer this will need to know this information.
Hopefully they are still using these instructions?
I could not digest the first part of the original posters explanation of his building. It was too much to picture in my head.
I will say two things. First, I think this is not a job for WiFi. I think I would concentrate on how to lay some PVC underground with CAT 6e or CAT 7 cable. By the way, when you lay cable underground, NEVER lay just one run. Sure as you do, something will be flawed and you will dig us and replace it. So, always do two or more.
Second, if you don’t want to do that. I think you should look at the newest WiFi 7 mesh routers. Better strength and range and that might make the difference and solve this issue.
So, how to do that? Take advantage of Amazon’s return policy. Purchase a WiFi 7 system that you like, and try it, vice the Wyze routers. If it solves it, good. Done, just an expensive solution.
If it does not fix the problem, get the shovel and dig up the ground.
BTW, I saw no mention of what the distances are between these buildings. What’s the distances?
Since you already have your Root Mesh Router set up and working, you are half way there. The LAN Port on the Root will be connected to the Switch that connects the LAN in all the other buildings.
When you set up your Satellite Mesh Routers, do NOT set them up while connected to LAN. Set them up when near the Root, but allow them to set up wirelessly on WiFi. Once they are successfully set up and installed in the app with wireless backhaul, you can then plug them into the switch and they should then switch over automatically to Wired LAN Backhaul. You can then unplug them, take them to their designated building, plug them via the LAN Port to a LAN plug, and power them back up to provide WiFi to that building.
There are three separate buildings on the network, house, guesthouse, and office. The house and guesthouse are each about 300 feet away from the office. The internet signal arrives from the ISP at the office. The internet signal then travels via WAN antennas to the house and guesthouse instead of LAN hard cables. This has been how the network connects for over 15 years. There is no need to dig or run cables because the WAN antennas take that place.
I simply need to know two things:
CAN the five satellite router nodes connect to the root router via ethernet on the network instead of wirelessly connecting?
If so, I need to know how to do that because the very simple and easy to follow instructions in the phone app do not allow for it to happen. It failed eight times in a row the exact same way.
That sounds like it may be exactly what I needed to know, thanks! I tried this with one node one time, and it didn’t work. I may have done it incorrectly so I will try again.
For clarification, are these the steps to follow to success?
I will connect each of the five satellite node routers to the root router wirelessly in close proximity.
Then I will move each of them where I want them and plug them into the LAN.
I do not need to make any additional settings changes in the app for the nodes.
They will each automatically connect to the root router via LAN instead of searching for the wireless connection.
I just did this yesterday with a new Wyze Mesh Router Pro to test it out again as I was installing. Only one additional note… Give it time. These routers are notoriously slow in starting up and getting booted to the network. And, when I say time, I mean T I M E. Like go take a nap time. If they weren’t bulletproof in their device connectivity, it would be a sore spot. But, I have never used a more reliable router.
Also, because you are dealing with a non standard network, using an LAN to WAN to LAN transmitter and receiver series… And one that appears to be quite dated, you may have something there in the WAN relay that is possibly incompatible with the new technology or needs configured to allow for the WMR Routers. It has been years since I have messed with WAN relays. If I remember correctly, @cyberdog_17 uses a similar setup on an expanded network but I’m not sure what equipment is used.
I installed my 4th router yesterday. It was a Pro, but the setup is the same as the white one. I installed it wirelessly next to the root. Be sure all your GPS, WiFi, and BT are on in the phone. Once the new Sattelite was named and online, it asked for a firmware update, which I did. If yours asks for an update, you can wait until all are installed. After the update and I again confirmed it was online, I pulled the plug, connected it by Ethernet to the LAN Port on the Root (2nd port), and powered it up. It again took its obligatory sweet time booting, but when it was finally online, it automatically switched to Wired Backhaul and was ready to rock.
For yours, after you get them setup wirelessly next to the root and you then unplug it, You might want to confirm the switch over to wired backhaul first like I did. Plug it into the switch being fed from the Root and make sure it will switch over right there first. That switch is what is feeding your WAN relay, correct? Once confirmed, you can then take it to its assigned location and LAN connect it there. If it doesn’t connect via Wired Backhaul, then the WAN relay is the issue and there is a compatibility issue being blocked by the WAN. That might need configured to allow the routers to operate on the WAN.
I have a separate building (shop/old barn) and use wireless bridges to connect it to my network in the house. Been running that way for probably 10 years or more. They work fine and I’ve never had to make any changes on my wifi router/access point to make it work. As long as the IP addresses are shared across the whole network, everything just works.
I’m not positive the OP is using Wireless Access Points (WiFi) to get the signal to the out buildings or the router would have connected to that WiFi when it booted. There is no WiFi in the out buildings, only Ethernet.
It is my suspicion that they have a dedicated point to point wireless frame relay to transmit from one building to the next and back so that there would need to be a dedicated proprietary transceiver on both sides of the relay using RF or microwave and band encryption to secure the signal. They mentioned WAN Antenna rather than WiFi Antenna, so I am envisioning a point to point WAN extender, not a WiFi extender or access point.
After learning a small trick and patience I was able to install and connect all six routers in my network this evening. One root router, one wireless backhaul and four wired backhaul. I updated firmware on all of them and all was well. Then I created a password for the guest network and saved that info. I received a message it would cause the routers to be offline for five minutes.
After clicking save, most routers immediately went dark with no connection and no LED light. A couple went to a solid red LED. All stayed in that status for over a half hour and are still that way now.
I power cycled the POEs and all routers are the same and appear to be frozen that way.
I have only enabled the Guest Network once (once was enough) and all 4 of mine are on wireless backhaul. I do recall though that it is a painfully slow reboot process. Unfortunately, shutting down that guest network resulted in the same painfully slow reboot. You may not have waited long enough before you power cycled their Ethernet feed. Not sure what that does if they loose connectivity mid-configuration. If you can get to the Root in the app, you may be able to get a network restart using the Restart in the Main settings menu.
Thanks. That fits. I power cycled all six routers and everything S L O W L Y came back up. The primary network is up and running. The guest network is established and working. All LAN and WiFi ports and routers are fully functional. Yay!!!
Thank you to all who provided advise and lessons learned.
For others who may search this topic in the future
Install/setup/connect all satellite mesh routers wirelessly to the root router
Then unplug their power supply and connect them to the LAN at the root router
Then move them to their desired location in the network and connect them via LAN or wirelessly if they are close enough to the root router or an active satellite router
Each of these steps is painfully slow so be prepared with lots of patience and it will all work out
Sorry you had to spend all that time doing that. I certainly do hope their performance makes up for their very slow configuration times. But, I am glad you found a solution and have a working network now!
Let’s do a little virtual test for a minute. Situation, 6 routers; 1 root and 5 sats nodes. Objective, restart the network. Question, which is going to take longer? A. Restart root, then within a minute, reboot/restart/unplug and plug power back in on all 5 node. B. Restart root, then one at a time waiting until each node completely back online, then do the same to the next until all 5 have been restarted and are back online. A or B?
Or C, use the Restart within the App to do everything remotely at once and save all the wasteful energy running around power cycling all the routers and the wasteful time waiting for each one to restart individually which would obviously take more time.
Congratulations to everyone involved in getting this working, I could see where similar situations could arise in the future, and this would make a great template for a solution!!!
