Question Suitable Ethernet switches for a Zyxel NWA50AX installation ?

[noslotsemaj]

Although it was really easy setting my network with three of these units (all wired), each of them in my set up had an ethernet switch before it and I eventually found out that this was the cause of the problems I was experiencing. (The problem was only with the WAPs; all the other equipment plugged into the switch worked okay and I recorded good speeds to them). If I plugged the Zyxel unit directly into the ethernet cable from the router I had no problems.

The switches I purchased were TP-Link LS1005G unmanaged gigabit rated switches (without PoE because I have a power supply unit for each WAP). I'm guessing I need an alternative switch. Can someone point me in the direction of what I need to buy (in terms of specification) or even better give me a specific model recommendation? … and how easy for a semi-novice would they be to set up? I only need five ports and as I've said the WAPs are mains powered I don't need PoE. I'm in the UK with a fibre to the premises service rated at 500 mbps and the router is my ISP's standard - SR203 from Sky UK.

 

[thestryker]

What problems were you having exactly?

The reason I ask is that networking hardware typically doesn't care what it's plugged into in a situation like that. The only time they should care is POE/managed which isn't applicable.

 

[noslotsemaj]

Mostly I could log on and skip through a couple of websites at good speeds but then very quickly it would just hang / stall before eventually loading or timing out. Seemed worse on IOS devices. No problems now all the WAPs are directly connected but I need to plug my other devices in.

 

[thestryker]

That's extremely. weird behavior, especially since you mentioned not having any issues with other devices connected to the same switches. Just to make sure how it was setup your WAP each had their own switch that other devices also connected to and then these switches were hooked up directly to the ISP router?

 

[noslotsemaj]

My set up was (when I had issues) ONT box from Openreach to Sky SR 203 router, all three available ports on the router had a vitually identical set up downstream .... an ethernet cable to a TP-Link LS1005G gigabit / non PoE switch (i.e. three of these) and connected to each of these switches was a single Zyxel NWA50AX access point and a Sky Q box (or minibox) and a smart TV. The same problematic behaviour prevailed even if only one of these three 'lines' was connected. (I did this in case the WAP units were in some way interfering with one another).

I've looked around the Internet to see if other have suffered similar issues and a few have ... without much information as to what, if anything, they did to successfully overcome the issue.

 

[thestryker]

That's exactly how I suspected you had things setup and that should be a perfectly fine way to do it. I was thinking maybe having all of the WAP connected to a single switch, but you already tested a switch by itself which would negate that.

Did you ever try (and I know this would defeat the purpose of the setup entirely) a switch with just the WAP and nothing else connected to it with that hooked up to your router?

I'm just trying to think of any way to narrow down where the issue is because I don't think buying a different switch is going to resolve the problem.

 

[noslotsemaj]

I don’t think I tried that but I’ll give it a go tomorrow … and let you know. Thanks for your interest / support BTW!

 

[Ralston18]

And I will add the suggestion to post a simple sketch showing the current network topology: before and after configurations regarding the switches as necessary.

No need to show any personally identifying information. Just the basics: devices, make/model, ports used, cable runs, etc. Include power connections as well.

Seeing the full network picture will prove helpful towards troubleshooting.

The sketch may help identify a problem or potential problem.

Perhaps a loop of some sort.

You can post the sketch using imgur (www.imgur.com).

 

[noslotsemaj]

Did a few more tests this morning and I think I've got to the bottom of it. It's not the network switch / WAP combination that's causing the problem ... it's plugging the Sky Q box in as well that causes the problem. Without the Sky Q mini box plugged in the Zyxel NWA50AX / network switch combo works okay. As thestryker indicated connecting the Sky Q box in must be creating some kind of loop. Thanks for your help / interest guys!

 

[noslotsemaj]

I also found on one of the units that a smart TV that was already connected wirelessly caused problems with the WAP's performance when I connected the TV via an ethernet cable to the network switch. It's strange that there's a problem with a smart TV but not in the same scenario with a laptop computer.

 

[thestryker]

That's indeed a really weird problem that doesn't make sense as it's acting like there are collisions but there certainly shouldn't be. I can't imagine the TV has both wireless and wired connections active at the same time.

Maybe try a different ethernet cable for that TV if you haven't already done so.

 

[noslotsemaj]

I've reconnected the TV - specifying on the TV settings a wired connection - and everything's okay. Interestingly on another Smart TV (from a different manufacturer) there was no need to do so.