Hey all,New Orbi owner. To cut a long story short, everything works great in Router mode. As soon as I switch to AP mode, everything goes offline. Satellites go magenta. I can occasionally connect to the main router, but then it dumps me off Wi-Fi within a few seconds. This repeats over and over.This is connected to my Zyxel C1100Z mode running in router mode (Wi-Fi off).So... the only way to have a working connection is the Zyxel being a router on the 192.168.0.1 subnet, and the Orbi on the 192.168.1.1 subnet. It’s really annoying!I’ve reset the devices a hundred times, latest firmware etc etc. I’m at a loss.Any ideas? Thanks in advance.

I fear people are "picking nits". Furry38 mentioned that it is a modem/router combination, which it clearly IS (see the jack labeled "DSL" in the picture), but it can also be deployed as only a router (with the jack labeled "WAN"). In this specific case, the product was deployed as a router, and replacing it with a different router solved the problem. Everybody is "right".

Let me add, I have to fully reset the Orbi router after I switch to AP mode, because I've got no way of connecting to it otherwise. It almost FEELS like an IP conflict when the Orbi is switching to AP mode, but I don't understand that because the modem is supposed to deal with it. And yes, I've tried rebooting the modem to fix this, and no dice. I simply cannot use AP mode.

Thousands of Orbi owners have chosen to put the Orbi in Access Point (AP) mode, so you are correct that "something is amiss." When you change the Orbi to AP mode, you reboot the Orbi and all of the satellites, and all of your devices, correct? The difference between Router and AP modes is which device responds to DHCP requests from devices and the IP of the internet gateway. My modem from Spectrum, for example, has IP 192.168.0.1. The default for Orbi is to get the IP address dynamically from the ISP, which is what mine does. It assigns 192.168.0.3 to my Orbi and says that the internet gateway is 192.168.0.1. If I had told the Orbi to use a static IP address of 192.168.1.1 on the modem side, the modem would not see it. So, if you attempt to connect to 192.168.1.1, the Orbi isn't there because it is at 192.168.0.x When in Router mode, the Orbi intercepts DHCP requests and hands out IP addresses from its own pool of numbers. The modem never sees those DHCP requests. The default is for the Orbi to give itself 192.168.1.1, have a pool of IP's starting with 192.168.1.2, and tell devices that the internet gateway can be found at 192.168.1.1 (the Orbi). What actually happens, of course, is that the Orbi passes internet traffic to the modem (192.168.0.1), which then passes it on to the ISP's hub... and so on. In AP mode DHCP requests from devices go through the Orbi to the router, and they will all get IP's of 192.168.0.x. For example, if you have a Windows PC attached to an Orbi ethernet port, went to the command line, and did "ipconfig /all" you would see that the PC got one IP address in Router mode and a different IP address in AP mode. In AP mode, NONE of the router functions are active. Like, "Parental Mode" doesn't apply, Disney Circle doesn't apply. Port forwarding doesn't happen. Your primary router does "ALL things router." My guess is that satellites immediately go magenta because they originally got one IP address from the Orbi Router and are clinging to it. Geez, all of your devices may be clinging to IP addresses that no longer can find their gateway. That's about the extent of my knowledge. My advice is to (a) change from Router to AP, and (b) reboot EVERYTHING (satellites, devices, etc.) Of course, this begs the question of WHY you want to change from Router to AP mode. My Orbi has been in Router mode since I bought it, and works fine. Some people SWEAR that Orbi's don't work right unless they are in AP mode. For them, the change helps.

Thank you for the reply. I do understand the difference between the modes. Personally, the reason for me for wanting to use AP mode is to have all devices on the same subnet. Most of my house is hardwired through switches, for instance. With WiFi now being on the 192.168.1.x subnet, file sharing isn’t as easy when my wired devices are connected to 192.168.0.x. In any case, I fail to understand why AP mode isn’t working. I’ve rebooted the Orbi components, and even left the satellites unplugged when doing this. The next test will be to see if changing the SSID first to something random will fix things. Like somehow a WiFi device or devices connecting to the Orbi are screwing things up. It’s just all a bit odd.

Well, turns out my brain-wave is correct. Now in AP mode successfully by changing the SSID to something different first. I have 20 zillion things I need to turn off before switching the SSID back, because when whatever trouble device connects back, it's going to mess it up and I'll have to reset the Orbis. Also, I noticed the Orbi doesn't know what any devices are, now. All UNKNOWN, for the most part, when in AP mode. Bummer!

Can’t use AP mode on new RBK53 | NETGEAR Communities

15 Replies

WilliamGr
Guide
Nov 19, 2018
Let me add, I have to fully reset the Orbi router after I switch to AP mode, because I've got no way of connecting to it otherwise.

It almost FEELS like an IP conflict when the Orbi is switching to AP mode, but I don't understand that because the modem is supposed to deal with it. And yes, I've tried rebooting the modem to fix this, and no dice. I simply cannot use AP mode.
- CrimpOn
  Guru - Experienced User
  Nov 19, 2018
  Thousands of Orbi owners have chosen to put the Orbi in Access Point (AP) mode, so you are correct that "something is amiss."
  
  When you change the Orbi to AP mode, you reboot the Orbi and all of the satellites, and all of your devices, correct?
  
  The difference between Router and AP modes is which device responds to DHCP requests from devices and the IP of the internet gateway. My modem from Spectrum, for example, has IP 192.168.0.1. The default for Orbi is to get the IP address dynamically from the ISP, which is what mine does. It assigns 192.168.0.3 to my Orbi and says that the internet gateway is 192.168.0.1. If I had told the Orbi to use a static IP address of 192.168.1.1 on the modem side, the modem would not see it.
  
  So, if you attempt to connect to 192.168.1.1, the Orbi isn't there because it is at 192.168.0.x
  
  When in Router mode, the Orbi intercepts DHCP requests and hands out IP addresses from its own pool of numbers. The modem never sees those DHCP requests. The default is for the Orbi to give itself 192.168.1.1, have a pool of IP's starting with 192.168.1.2, and tell devices that the internet gateway can be found at 192.168.1.1 (the Orbi). What actually happens, of course, is that the Orbi passes internet traffic to the modem (192.168.0.1), which then passes it on to the ISP's hub... and so on.
  
  In AP mode DHCP requests from devices go through the Orbi to the router, and they will all get IP's of 192.168.0.x. For example, if you have a Windows PC attached to an Orbi ethernet port, went to the command line, and did "ipconfig /all" you would see that the PC got one IP address in Router mode and a different IP address in AP mode. In AP mode, NONE of the router functions are active. Like, "Parental Mode" doesn't apply, Disney Circle doesn't apply. Port forwarding doesn't happen. Your primary router does "ALL things router."
  
  My guess is that satellites immediately go magenta because they originally got one IP address from the Orbi Router and are clinging to it. Geez, all of your devices may be clinging to IP addresses that no longer can find their gateway.
  
  That's about the extent of my knowledge. My advice is to (a) change from Router to AP, and (b) reboot EVERYTHING (satellites, devices, etc.)
  
  Of course, this begs the question of WHY you want to change from Router to AP mode. My Orbi has been in Router mode since I bought it, and works fine. Some people SWEAR that Orbi's don't work right unless they are in AP mode. For them, the change helps.
  - WilliamGr
    Guide
    Nov 19, 2018
    Thank you for the reply. I do understand the difference between the modes. Personally, the reason for me for wanting to use AP mode is to have all devices on the same subnet.
    
    Most of my house is hardwired through switches, for instance. With WiFi now being on the 192.168.1.x subnet, file sharing isn’t as easy when my wired devices are connected to 192.168.0.x.
    
    In any case, I fail to understand why AP mode isn’t working. I’ve rebooted the Orbi components, and even left the satellites unplugged when doing this.
    
    The next test will be to see if changing the SSID first to something random will fix things. Like somehow a WiFi device or devices connecting to the Orbi are screwing things up.
    
    It’s just all a bit odd.

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Can’t use AP mode on new RBK53