Can't get this working on cold boot

[BobbyB]

Bottom line: From a power on boot or soft reboot, the device does not come up if there is any PC connected to eth1

The specs:
ITUS Networks Shield with OpenWrt SNAPSHOT r19093-9851d4b6ce / LuCI Master git-22.058.70382-d29400e installed
10 Mbps ISP connection (NOT a typo)
Netgear router 100 Mbps (WAN + 4 LAN)
1 Gbps switch whose uplink port is connected to a router port
ITUS Shield eth0 WAN
ITUS Shield eth1 LAN

Tests which DOES NOT make it work (laptop on ITUS eth1)
ITUS WAN eth0 --> router 100 Mbps port
ITUS WAN eth0 --> switch Gbps port

I still have a PC with a COM port so I connect a DB9 to RJ45 Cisco cable to the console and boot (5 times; 2 GOOD, 3 NOT) and save the logs.
I compare and notice the only difference when NOT working is: eth1: 1000 Mbps Full duplex, port 1, queue 1
I figure maybe it is to do with the speed differences. eth0 is 100 Mbps

So I do the original 2 tests above again but run the ITUS LAN eth1 wire through a 10 Mbps hub making eth1 slower than eth0. NO GO

Using a sniffer I do the original 2 tests above again but this time run the ITUS eth0 WAN wire through my 10 Mbps hub and now I know why. There is no DHCP request. I see broadcasts on the wire like SSDP from my wireless printer and ARPs and other stuff but not a peep from the ITUS WAN port.

So what is wrong?

Any test above with NO connection on eth1 gives me a working router to which I can then connect to eth1 and access it.

[BobbyB]

This does not not solve the original problem but if I cold boot with a PC on eth2 then the router works as it should.

It's still not the ideal solution. Until the device gets its WAN IP from the main router you cannot SSH to it or use the Web interface.

Now that I know these caveats I can still make use of this device for testing.

Effectively this thread is SOLVED.