tp-link ER7206 won't connect to internet through Motorola MB8611

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tp-link ER7206 won't connect to internet through Motorola MB8611

This thread has been locked for further replies. You can start a new thread to share your ideas or ask questions.
tp-link ER7206 won't connect to internet through Motorola MB8611
tp-link ER7206 won't connect to internet through Motorola MB8611
2023-02-16 18:55:40
Model: ER7206 (TL-ER7206)  
Hardware Version: V1
Firmware Version:

I live in the Salt Lake Metro area and have Comcast / Xfinity 800mb service.

I recently purchased a SB8200 cable modem which is supposed to get download speeds up to 900mb - but I could never get above 300mb occasionally 400mb.   Even directly connected to the modem without the router.

Comcast keeps sending me emails that I don't have the right modem to take full advantage of the speed I'm paying for.      One of the modems they suggested was the Motorola MB8611.   It arrived today.   

 

After spending nearly three hours working on it, I still can not get the router (ER7206) to connect to the modem (MB8611).   I've tried:

1) all the reboot cycles I can find on the internet:

     a) turning off both the modem and router, waiting 10 - 30 minutes, reconnecting the modem, letting it fully boot up, then connect the router and boot it up.

     b) disconnecting and turning off router and modem, rebooting modem without coax connected, waiting for it to boot up then connecting coax, waiting for it to finish download and upload process (lights for download and upload move from flashing green to steady blue, and internet activity light is off) then connect router and re-boot

     c) turning off modem with router connected and on, rebooting modem after waiting 1 minute and after waiting 10 minutes and as much as 30 minutes

     d) rebooting modem without router connected to modem but turned off.  waiting 1, 10 and 30 minutes, reboot, then reboot router.  

 

2) I can get the modem to connect direct to my PC with No router connected, and obtain an IP address from Comcast, by

    a) disconnecting power from modem

    b) disconnecting router and connecting PC directly

    c) waiting minimum of 10 minutes for MAC binding within comcast and modem to reset

    d) rebooting Modem

    e) refreshing IP address on PC (ipconfig /renew)

 

Note: Speedtest with this configuration (Ookla) still only reaches 700mb at best for short burst at beginning of text but levels out between 400-500mb - slightly better so questioning SB8200 as my speed problem and possibly just comcast throttling.  

 

3) Configuration changes in router to be everything suggested that I could find on tp-link forums and anywhere else on the web.

     a) cloning IP address of PC used in #2 above

     b) checking Get IP using Unicast DHCP

     c) Hard coding Primary and Secondary DNS to 8.8.8.8  and 8.8.4.4 respectively

     d) setting the IP address to static and using all the parameters assigned (dns, subnet, default gateway, etc) by comcast in step 2 above.

 

Nothing has worked.

 

Ideas?

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#1
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Re:tp-link ER7206 won't connect to internet through Motorola MB8611
2023-02-17 11:48:55

Dear @Dave67 ,

 

Thank you so much for taking the time to report the issue to our community!

 

If you choose Dynamic IP in WAN connection type, what is the WAN IP address?

What is the firmware version of ER7206?

Did you use the router in standalone mode or controller mode?

 

You may try to reset it and test again.

Best Regards! >> Omada EAP Firmware Trial Available Here << >> Get the Latest Omada SDN Controller Releases Here << *Try filtering posts on each forum by Label of [Early Access]*
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#2
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Re:tp-link ER7206 won't connect to internet through Motorola MB8611
2023-02-17 13:37:24

  @Dave67 

 

It's probably one or two things. 

 

First thing is you need to make sure you are using Comcast's speedtest server, and if the reported performance is better than a 3rd party via Ookla then you know that they have an oversubscription between their internet pipe and all their own feeder pipes coming from fine people like you.

 

Second, coax is a shared media access technology, meaning you and all your neighbours share the upload and download channels, so it's entirely possible that your local cable system is just 'maxed' out--especially in these days of 'work from home'.  To fix this Comcast needs to do a 'mid-split', where they break your neighbourhood cable plant into two or more segments, each independently fed from upstream (so each segment gets its own fresh set of u/d channels).

 

My advice, unless boiling oceans is your thing, if you can only realistically get 300-400Mbps is to only pay for that much, so do they have a cheaper 300M or 500M offering?

<< Paying it forward, one juicy problem at a time... >>
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Re:tp-link ER7206 won't connect to internet through Motorola MB8611
2023-02-17 16:50:00

  @d0ugmac1 Thanks.   Helpful reminders.  My problem with the router not connecting to either modem ended up being a cabling issue.  Once that was resolved both the SB8200 and the MB8611 worked like a charm.   No boiling oceans is not my thing but thanks for the reminder.  I came out of the cable industry years ago and fully understand shared broadband.   I was very surprised however, that once the cabling issue was discovered and worked out (around midnight last night) the SB8200 was repeatedly getting speeds as high as 700mb on a single Ethernet port.  Not surprising since likely not a lot of traffic at that time of night.  Surprising because I was not expecting that from the SB8200 without pooling the two Ethernet ports based on everything I had read.   In subsequent tests after aggregating the two ports, and configuring the router for dual wan access, I saw no speed difference between the two configurations (single and aggregated ports).    Moving to the MB8611 which boasts 2gig+ speed capability, I was consistently getting above 800mb (again at midnight with little traffic on the WAN / (aka Comcast coax and fiber network)) - which also surprised me since I only pay for 800mb.   Guess Docsys 3.1 has some play allowed to burst above the paid speed.

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Re:tp-link ER7206 won't connect to internet through Motorola MB8611
2023-02-17 17:04:35

  @Dave67 

 

That's fantastic news!  I hope that defective cable was 'recycled' in a manner consistent with the grief it caused :)

 

A single copper GigE port should be able to get upwards of ~950Mbps assuming optimal conditions.  I am not surprised that bonding the two ports did nothing as a result, since you were not exceeding the capabilities of a single port.  I could see it making sense if the internal DOCSIS modem was capable of and provisioned > 1Gbps and you needed the two ports bonded to allow that out of the modem (as presumably the MB8611 could be).  My personal DOCSIS provider also allows bursts above the stated rate before the shaper kicks in...I think this is because the number and capacity of RF channels being used by the modem is greater than your 'subscribed' rate.  Let's say you were using 5 downstream channels, each capable of 180Mbps...that up to 900M of capacity, but the traffic shaper upstream would try to slow (throttle) you back down to ~800M within a few seconds of any sustained burst exceeding 800M. 

 

Of interest but mostly irrelevant to you is that I also have a FTTH provider and what's interesting about that one was the ability to establish a second connection through the first one (ie use the provider's FTTH modem, and then using an ER605 behind that to setup a second PPPoe connection...and that second connection could burst up to the capability of the ONT (~1Gps symmetrical in my case), whereas the outer connection seemed to be limited to my subscribed rate).  Fun and games.

<< Paying it forward, one juicy problem at a time... >>
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#5
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Re:tp-link ER7206 won't connect to internet through Motorola MB8611
2023-02-17 17:07:40

  @Hank21 Thanks.  My problem ended up being a cabling issue between the router and the modem of the PHD nature (push here dummy).   The diagram in the console and the markings on the case of the router were not clicking in my pea brain.   While the labels on the outside of the case clearly say SPF / WAN and WAN, the diagram in the console created some confusion for me as I was simply considering the first position on the diagram as slot #1 and not the SPF / WAN port.   As such, I kept attaching to the slot marked as slot 2 on the case vs what is actually slot to on the console diagram (see images below).   Frankly, I'm amazed that connecting the modem to slot 2 without slot configured as WAN in the router, EVER worked for me (as it had for the past two weeks), B/C connectivity to the modem should have basically been working as a switch, and without connecting the modem to the WAN port not sure how NAT was occuring.   But I'm stopping at that rabbit hole and not trying to figure out why.   Bottom line,   once connected to the correct ports, it works beautifully. 

 

 

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#6
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Re:tp-link ER7206 won't connect to internet through Motorola MB8611
2023-02-17 17:11:18
LOL.. well it wasn't exact a cable fault. See my other post back above. w/r/t DOCSYS shaping - sounds dead on. I saw that behavior in several tests as well. Thanks
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#7
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