How to set up Tenda Nova mesh for wired backhaul - MW5, MW6, etc.

[Seán]

It seems like the Qnap is filtering something that the Tenda Nodes use to establish the wired backhaul connection. If possible, I suggest connecting the two such that they are not daisy chained through the Qnap, i.e. only use a single LAN port on the Qnap, like the following if possible:

ISP router -> Wall socket -> MW 12 WAN Port (Primary node)
ISP router -> Wall socket -> MW 12 LAN Port (Secondary node)
ISP router -> Qnap QSW-2104-2T

[mivi]

Thanks Sean, I agree that's probably the best workaround in my case.

Just out of curiosity (because it aligns with the suggestions at the start of this whole thread) I also tried the following:
ISP router -> MW 12 WAN Port (Primary node)
ISP router -> Wall socket -> MW 12 LAN Port (Secondary node #1)  Uses wired backhaul
MW 12 LAN Port (Primary node)  -> Qnap QSW-2104-2T -> Wall socket -> MW 12 LAN Port (Secondary node #2)  Does not use wired backhaul

Either way it's not a viable solution for my case, since I would need (to keep) a third MW12. Maybe it helps someone else in debugging

[SirLouen]

This is the new bible of Tenda Mesh!

I've followed your method but I have to say that the points are not getting wired, they stay on the wireless structure. I know this because I've checked the latency between nodes and its not a full wired latency under miliseconds.

Would it be possible to access some kind of Web interface for this nova routers? I've been trying to access the 192.168.X.1 for the gateway interface (I prefer not to use the bridged mode because I prefer my main router not to asign DHCP addresses to all the devices connected to the mesh) but it doesn't find any web interface. Maybe it's hidden under a different port?

I have 3 MW6 and 3 MW3

[Seán]

Unfortunately there is no web interface or any other means of configuring the Tenda nodes that I'm aware of other than through the App, e.g. no Telnet or SSH access either.

Another way to check if it's using wired backhaul is to unplug the backhaul Ethernet cable of the node you're connected to while running a continuous ping test. The nodes don't automatically switch between wired and wireless backhaul (except when power cycled), so this should cause the pings to time out until the Ethernet cable is reconnected.

As the Tenda MW5C model reportedly does not support wired backhaul, it's likely the same with the MW3 model also. The MW3 Ethernet ports are also limited to 100Mbps.

[SirLouen]

Unfortunately there is no web interface or any other means of configuring the Tenda nodes that I'm aware of other than through the App, e.g. no Telnet or SSH access either.

Another way to check if it's using wired backhaul is to unplug the backhaul Ethernet cable of the node you're connected to while running a continuous ping test. The nodes don't automatically switch between wired and wireless backhaul (except when power cycled), so this should cause the pings to time out until the Ethernet cable is reconnected.

As the Tenda MW5C model reportedly does not support wired backhaul, it's likely the same with the MW3 model also. The MW3 Ethernet ports are also limited to 100Mbps.

After a ton of time wasted, I have to say that I've been able to create the wired backhaul using your method with the 6 points (1 MW6 as the gateway and the rest as secondary nodes).

I had to set up one by one, disconnecting the rest (instead of just plugin all at the same time straight away).

Still I don't really like the solution because, I just wanted to set this as a secondary wifi for my site (mainly for home automation, I have dozens of devices). But my main Mesh is based on Asus spots and they must be in front of the wall ethernet sockets so basically my Tendas must be only secondary nodes.

Currently I have the gateway with the WAN to the internet and the LAN to the switch that deploys to the rest of the network. So basically the main gateway tenda is acting like a router/NAT. I've noticed that I can gain root access and disable the DHCP so I can set it as a bridge, so I can integrate everything in one network.

I'm going to try first to disable such DHCP and then set them in gateway mode, to see if I can try to put them in a different wired setting (just all nodes dropping from a switch instead of having the main gateway acting as the main router, because if it breaks will be fun to lose internet in the all the site

---

By the way, the method to access root is pretty easy tomorrow I will test it because I'm not in the site

1. You press 3 seconds the reset button (3 not 6 because, 6 resets the router to defaults) this brings up telnet
2. You access via telnet with root and password base64 your wifi password

And then with the command

cfm set dhcps.listnum 0

Your remove DHCP

Credits to Chris Rees and Anton Viktorov

[sotong99]

Is it i can connect like this in bridge mode  , my one is nova mw3

   

[Seán]

I have not tried with 3 network switches between both Nova nodes but reckon this configuration should work with the Primary node configured in Bridge mode first. Only use the LAN port on the Primary node. Connect the LAN of the secondary node to the switch. Power on the Primary node first and leave it a minute or two until its LED stops blinking and is lit green, then power on the secondary node.

[SirLouen]

This is my current setup, but no free of headaches

The thing is that in my house I have a cabled network behind walls and I only use Novas for home automation, not for regular WIFI usage (I have ASUS ZenWifis for such). I decided to move my home automations away, because I want low latency wherever I am in my house, mostly for online gaming and I since I have like 50+ ESP devices constantly pinging for keep alives  they may interfere in the gaming experience.

I don't have enough cable thrown to put Novas in different sockets to ZenWifis so they are just behind and I've found it doesn't matter at all

This is why ZenWifis go always before Novas and here is the setup:



But I'm having a HUGE issue with this shitty NOVA APs: Whenever I connect anything new to the network, it creates a network loop and it drops my Switches and blocks the network.

To solve this, I have to unplug ALL the NOVAS and then start plugin them back one by one very slowly to restore the network

These NOVA are a massive headache as I say. Maybe I will return all 6 at once under warranty claiming they are utterly broken by design and consider an alternative. I might research a little bit though, because I have to admit that I got all 6 (3 MW6 and 3MW3 for $150), which I will never find in any other product anywhere near.

[SirLouen]

Finally, I've found the issue with the network loops that was bringing me nuts

https://www.reddit.com/r/amazoneero/comm...for_25gbe/

This is not a sole issue of Tenda NOVA, but many other shitty cheap mesh systems.

The big problem here is that whenever Nova restarts and doesn't set the Ethernet backhaul, fallbacks into a Wireless Backhaul. This provokes a network loop because it's trying to connect via Wifi and Ethernet at the same time (yes, they are so stupid that doesn't disable the other iface by default).

I've contacted the support, which probably it is omega useless and will not solve my issue.

I'm thinking of buying a couple of cheap TP-Link TL-WR841N, flashing then with DD-WRT and setting a WDS network (not sure if this is possible, but it's the cheapest way to do a pseudo-mesh cheap system that doesn't mess up for my home automation devices, that are almost a hundred. Or maybe test with those Mercusys, perhaps they are better on this regards.

Although I'm also going to wait for Tenda answer, in case they give me a CFM command to issue in the telnet shell in case I can solve this the hard way. But I seriously doubt they will. The support smells like shit.

Probably most people around won't be having this issue because most are most likely using cheap switches without loop detection systems, which in this case paradoxically is an advantage.

The cheap things turn out expensive in the end.

EDIT:

As expected I've tried to setup a cheap Gb  switch I had in the storage room without the loop detection, and the whole wired backhaul is now working like a charm. Its kind of funny because even the App that took ages to load, it's now working flawlessly, it connects in no time and it shows the nodes almost perfectly.

What I've noticed is that after disabling DHCP I can simply use whatever combination of ports I like, both WAN and LAN respectively without mattering much, I think the whole point of the OP is rendered useless as soon as you set the Tenda Mesh wired backhaul to Bridged mode, which is more conformable DHCP wise and then remove with CFM (telnet) the DHCP flag.

If I could also remove the wifi backhaul, then I will keep these Tenda 100% for sure. But I want that 2.5Gb connection switches because I've setup a whole 10Gb Cat6a network in my site, and I like to take advantage of this, specially when streaming a videogame, from my computer, to anywhere in the whose where there is a node (the ASUS ZenWifi have 2.5Gb wired backhauls and as I showed in the previous image, most Tenda NOVA are just behind them).

I'm now wondering if anyone of you are not having issues with the wireless failover. It seems that Tendas was only thinking on Wireless mesh because I must understand that for most users this is the most convenient way to have a fully featured wifi system in their home without having to throw ethernet cable. As soon as an ethernet connection drops, Tendas will switch to Wireless mode and they will never return back. This is the biggest caveat. 

If at least the had some sort of priority, so in case they found an ethernet uplink they returned back to wired mode, it would be also sufficient. But the Tenda nodes are dumb AF.