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Can I have a switch between a hardwired backhaul and the satellite mesh router?
July 1, 2025 at
08:42 PM
Here is a rough look at my network setup: https://snipboard.io/4gSGFr.jpg
I just upgraded all of my gig switches to 2.5 gig switches.
Nutshell -- cable modem to main router in the basement. One of the outputs on the main router is a 2.5 gig switch. It connects to devices and also outputs via an ethernet wall jack which leads up to the livingroom above. To get it from the livingroom to the second story, I take the output of the wall panel and run it into a switch ... and one of the outputs goes into a MoCA adapter. That carries the signal to two different MoCA adapters on the second floor -- one in my small home office and one in our master bedroom. The office works great. I just introduced a switch into my bedroom setup. Before, I just used the feed from the MoCA adapter to the satellite mesh router (essentially a "hardwire-ish" backhaul). Then from the LAN ports, I'd run some cables to my NVIDIA Shield TV and other devices that need internet.
Since my MoCA adapters have 2.5 gig ports and are 2.5 gig speed capable, I wanted to bypass the mesh router gig bottleneck. So I tried going from the MoCA in the bedroom into the 2.5 gig switch... and then one of the switch outputs would go to the router to continue the "wired" backhaul. However, if I do that my network in that room REALLY struggles and/or dies.
If I go MoCA --> router --> switch --> devices, it works... but at that point, I might as well just run off the satellite router as I only have a couple of devices in that room that need internet, and I'm already bottlenecked at a gig.
I'm WONDERING if the port I'm using on the back of the router is what is causing problems. According to a Google search, on the backhaul/satellite router, I should be going into the WAN port. That's what it says for ASUS. And I just got off the phone with an ASUS rep who confirmed the satellite unit should be connected using the WAN port on the satellite side to get the wired backhaul.
https://snipboard.io/1kwIHN.jpg
If I use a LAN port on the satellite unit to feed the "wired" backhaul signal (but is also containing data packets/traffic from everything else going through various switches), my speeds drop to <10 megs down.
Is that normal?
And if so, do you think having an additional switch immediately UPSTREAM of the satellite router (between the MoCA adapter and the satellite router) is causing problems?
Any recommendations on how I can take advantage of both a 2.5 gig switch in this location -AND- still have that satellite router act as a wired backhaul?
I just upgraded all of my gig switches to 2.5 gig switches.
Nutshell -- cable modem to main router in the basement. One of the outputs on the main router is a 2.5 gig switch. It connects to devices and also outputs via an ethernet wall jack which leads up to the livingroom above. To get it from the livingroom to the second story, I take the output of the wall panel and run it into a switch ... and one of the outputs goes into a MoCA adapter. That carries the signal to two different MoCA adapters on the second floor -- one in my small home office and one in our master bedroom. The office works great. I just introduced a switch into my bedroom setup. Before, I just used the feed from the MoCA adapter to the satellite mesh router (essentially a "hardwire-ish" backhaul). Then from the LAN ports, I'd run some cables to my NVIDIA Shield TV and other devices that need internet.
Since my MoCA adapters have 2.5 gig ports and are 2.5 gig speed capable, I wanted to bypass the mesh router gig bottleneck. So I tried going from the MoCA in the bedroom into the 2.5 gig switch... and then one of the switch outputs would go to the router to continue the "wired" backhaul. However, if I do that my network in that room REALLY struggles and/or dies.
If I go MoCA --> router --> switch --> devices, it works... but at that point, I might as well just run off the satellite router as I only have a couple of devices in that room that need internet, and I'm already bottlenecked at a gig.
I'm WONDERING if the port I'm using on the back of the router is what is causing problems. According to a Google search, on the backhaul/satellite router, I should be going into the WAN port. That's what it says for ASUS. And I just got off the phone with an ASUS rep who confirmed the satellite unit should be connected using the WAN port on the satellite side to get the wired backhaul.
https://snipboard.io/1kwIHN.jpg
If I use a LAN port on the satellite unit to feed the "wired" backhaul signal (but is also containing data packets/traffic from everything else going through various switches), my speeds drop to <10 megs down.
Is that normal?
And if so, do you think having an additional switch immediately UPSTREAM of the satellite router (between the MoCA adapter and the satellite router) is causing problems?
Any recommendations on how I can take advantage of both a 2.5 gig switch in this location -AND- still have that satellite router act as a wired backhaul?
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Moca is kind of like an old token ring network (more of a bus than a ring), it's a shared media. All the devices share bandwidth (sometimes half duplex, slow devices slow the entire network), this is different from ethernet which is a star topology. With ethernet, in theory each device gets the full bandwidth the switch is rated for (switches do have limits on the total bandwidth they can switch). It isn't entirely clear to me if some of your "routers" have Moca built in or if you're just using Moca adapters. You can use MOCA adapters with a single cable directly between the adapters and not the spaghetti of splitters and cables to multiple devices throughout a house that's typical, but at that point you could just run ethernet or fiber instead.
If you create multiple links between different networks or even two links between two switches that don't have a special setting to allow it, you'll cause all sorts of problems.
If you connect the lan side of two routers that are trying to hand out IP address using DHCP together, they'll fight to assign ip address to your devices. If they're in the same address space, you'll end up with ip address conflicts.
I suspect in your quest to try to get a 2.5g link, I suspect you are creating some or all of the problems above.
What I'd ultimately do is:
-Build a reliable wifi network that doesn't depend on an ISP modem.
-Get a router that's capable of WAN Failover / load balancing. This would allow you to use both internet providers and switch between them or allocate traffic to certain devices to a particular provider.
-Not worry about 2.5gbps until you sort out the rest of your issues and improve your understanding of how networks function.
During the lunch hour, I did some speed test at the master bedroom location using my Nvidia Shield's speed test app using four different scenarios...
MoCA --> 2.5GB switch --> NVidia Shield (so no mesh satellite router): 138 D / 32 U
MoCA --> 2.5 GB switch --> satellite router --> NVidia Shield: 584 D / 34 U
MoCA --> NVidia Shield direct (no switch / no router): 138 D / 32 U (WUT?!?!)
MoCA --> satellite router --> Nvidia Shield: 846 D / 41 U
So this config really likes having the wired satellite unit in play... and doesn't like the switch at that location. So either there's something up with that switch -or- to your theory, all of the switches are freaking things out. I only have a few reatlively low bandwidth devices at that location (the Shield being the biggest bitrate hog when using Plex)... but it worked fine without a switch. So even if I'm "bottlenecked" at a gig there, it'll be fine.
And yeah, I know the MoCA devices are 2.5 gig TOTAL throughput... but nothing else was sapping speed at that time. And as I added or removed switches/routers, my speed increased.
As far as creating a wireless WiFi network, we have a two-story house and I can only get hardwire through one story's worth of walls. Hence the MoCA jump from the main level to the upper level. Going strictly wireless would be meh. And since I do online gaming in our basement man cave and my NAS is in that same room, I'll want me fastest speeds at that location (in the case of the NAS, for outside consumption).
And although the bedroom location didn't place nicely with the switch, my wired backhaul speeds are solid now that I took the switch back out of the chain. 846 (wired) and 843 (wireless) down when my current cable modem is capped around 900 is pretty impressive for being two floors away from the origination router. Since going to the 2.5 gig switches, the latency to websites seems to be reduced and pulling up the NAS / network drives is NOTABLY better. Outside of the issue with the fourth switch in the mix being a beast for a bit, I'm pretty happy for my use-case scenario. And I've even got that ironed out where not sure further attempts to optimize are worth it.
Thanks for the time and repped.
At this point, I think I've got solved what I need solved.
I now think you meant a 'satellite' node of the mesh router system. I would draw the diagram a bit differently, but as I understand your diagram now, I don't see a topology problem.
What model of mesh router are you using?
i now think you meant a 'satellite' node of the mesh router system. i would draw the diagram a bit differently, but as i understand your diagram now, i don't see a topology problem.
what model of mesh router are you using?
ASUS RT-AX92U