How to connect cabled devices to mesh network?

w8rn8r

Finally, I've accepted that I need to leave my Multy devices behind.
(even though they still do a good job)

I have a network setup that includes a WAN router (no WLAN) and NAS (Synology) in the basement.

A cable leads to a LAN switch on floor 1. The switch connects three devices:
PC, outdoor camera base station, mesh center device (WSQ60).
(side note: in the current configuration, that switch is not really required; the WSQ 60 has enough ports)

Floor 2 has a WLAN mesh device (WSQ60) with 3 cabled devices connected (TV, sat receiver, audio amp).

Floor 3 has a WLAN mesh device (WSQ30) with no cabled devices.

In search of a good replacement configuration, I have now tested a combo of:
- USG Lite 60AX (floor 1, with a switch)
- NWA55AXE (floor 2, with a switch)
- NWA50AX PRO plus a switch (floor 3).

Turned out the USG Lite 60AX creates its own subnet on the WLAN side, so the NAS would be in a different subnet, breaking a good number of connections such as SMB, DLNA.

So I tried to create a small mesh network consisting of the NWA50AX PRO as the main mesh device, connected via cable to the router, and the NWA55AXE. They work well together.

BUT - the LAN port of the NWA55AXE doesn't want to accept any cabled connections. A laptop connected via cable couldn't get an IP address via DHCP (the router is DHCP server).

Why would that be the case?

A side observation: in Nebula, the NWA55AXE is shown with orange color.
What should that tell me?

Thinking a little further: why doesn't the NWA50AX PRO support cabled devices?
The LAN port should be able to act as uplink or downlink.
Where more ports are needed, switches can handle that.
That would IMHO be an ideal, low complexity solution.