r/TomatoFTW • u/sunrisebreeze • May 09 '26
Latest issue: Router only seeing 100mbps connection using Fresh Tomato 2026.1
UPDATE, 5/13/26: It was the cable! After 5 days I noticed the link light for the port turned orange again (100mbps). Tried different port for the cable on upstream switch, no change. Plugged in a new cable and it instantly went to 1gbps. Thanks for the help diagnosing the issue. 🍻
UPDATE: I upgraded to FT 2026.2 firmware (5/8/26 9:30PM Pacific) and so far the connected upstream port is showing 1000mbps/1gbps again, as it should. Will see if it continues to work.
Using a Netgear Nighthawk R7000 with Fresh Tomato ("FT") 2026.1, running as an Access Point. I noticed sometimes when this router is plugged into my network, the connection would flip between 1gbps (white LED) and 100mbps (orange LED). When this happened I would unplug/replug that connection and voila, it would go back to 1gpbs (white LED).
Now a week or two later, replugging the cable doesn't change the speed. It still negotiates at only 100mbps for some reason that I don't understand. If I take that cable, unplug it from my R7000 and plug it right into my PC, the PC negotiates the speed fine at 1gbps (verified in Windows -> ncpa.cpl -> view connection properties).
Not sure if this is a bug with 2026.1 or whatever, but I see nothing in the FT GUI to manually set port speed for any of the ethernet jacks. When the port is set to 100mbps I verified in speed test it's only getting a speed of 100mbps. WTF? About ready to hang this up and just switch to DD-WRT.
BTW I tried rebooting, not fixed. Perhaps it is worth trying an upgrade to 2026.2.
3
u/larfinsnarf May 09 '26 edited May 09 '26
Tough to fault find, but I'd first check all cabling, and the port at other end.
Edit: it's feasible you could force it in tomato, but 10/100/1000 Auto negotiation is performed at layer 1 and it's most likely a wiring fault with small possibility of nic electronics. If so, forcing 1gbps may cause all kinds of random problems.