Applied Energistics 2- ME System Question

[JustinMcLauchlin]

I have an issue with my ME Storage system with AE2. I have 3 main Smart Cables going into a Dense Energy Cell, and the three have channel values as follows: Bottom Right =4, Top left =5, and the bottom left =1. My issue is this: when I attach a Smart Cable to something down the line, it says "Device Missing Channel", however, the smart cable only displays those numbers above. Why is it saying i need another channel if i have many left to use? I added some picture to get an idea of what is going on. As a side note: i added an ME controller on the first pic where the dense cell is, and all my channels were gone (it replaced the bottom left cable)

 

[GamerwithnoGame]

If the system previously had no controllers, it forms what's called an Ad-hoc network (wiki link) - this works differently from systems with Controllers in, and are limited to 8 devices in total across the whole network. I'm also slightly confused by the in-line energy cell - can they transmit signals channels through? I think we might need a bit more detail to figure this out, unless someone more AE2 savvy has something to input.

 

[JustinMcLauchlin]

Yes, the in-line energy cell passes power and data. However, I figured out part of an issue, but there are still more along the lines of this post. I removed all base cable and put in dense me cable, then put a controller where the energy cell was. This helped me get access to more channels and networks, but once it all gets to the controller it has a total of 23 incoming connections. My problem is, further down the line i go to branch off one of the dense cables that has (1/8) connections like shown in the picture, and it loses all connection to my system (system-wide)