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Forum Discussion
Guest network in AP Mode?
I'm thinking about putting a router in front of my RBK50 and running the Orbi system in Access Point mode. Do you lose access to the Guest Network feature in AP mode?
Thanks much.
whittl...
Moses,
Another question if I am not overstaying my welcome...
Do you know if the LAN ports on your Orbi router and Orbi satelites are active in your configuration? Are they basically acting as switch ports for your internal network?
-whittle
Hi Whittle,
I can confirm that the LAN ports on the router are active and working in AP mode. I have a windows PC connected to one port and another switch connected to a second port, so yes they are all still active in AP mode. I can't confirm the ORBI satellites since I have two RBW30s which doesn't come with any LAN ports. However, I don't see why they would not work either. It would basically be the same as in Router mode.
I also have both the ORBI router and satellites assigned static IP addresses from my FIOS router (via MAC address) since the ORBI doesn't allow you to set them directly. Makes connecting to each of them much easier. You don't have to look up their information each time.
Regards,
Moses
Thanks Moses and FURRYe38!
I am running an RBK50 in AP mode under fw 2.1.4.10 with a guest network that is set to not let guests see each other. When I wirelessly connect a PC via the guest network I can manage the Netgear GS108 and GS116 switches that should be invisible to a guest. An IP scanner software also sees the deivces on the regular network. I cannot browse into the RBR50 or the RBS50. I cannot browse into other regular network devices that have a web GUI. I have not tried other penetrations of the guest network.
FW 2.1.4.16 is purported to have addressed this problem. It was made available 6/4, but is not yet the public release/update. I have not tried it. See the discussion "Orbi firmware update v2.1.4.16 availability".
I was waiting until the new fw hit the regular rlease, but I just noticed a flag on my Orbi home page that says "A new firmware upgrade is available. Click here to get it". This is new. This is big if it also means "Don't click here to not get it"
Hi Joe,
I had just manually installed FW 2.1.4.16 on my router when I saw your message. I was aware about the isolation issue with the guest network from the forum topic that you linked. It was less of concern for me since I only enabled the guest network when I have friends over. It's great to have them scan a QR Code to gain access automatically to the guest network if they have an iPhone. :)
I did do some basic tests on the guest network with the latest firmware and while it is not a complete isolation, it does seem to offer enough protection (at least for me). When I use the fing app on the guest network, I can only see the IP address of the all the devices but not the type, name or MAC address of those devices. It's totally the opposite from when I am connect to the internal Wi-Fi where all the info are revealed. I also can't connect to my ORBI Router or FIOS Router from the guest network. Neither can the IOS apps, when on the guest network. I can't ping or connect to the hidden shares on my windows file server or print to my printer.
I can however, project contents from my laptop (on guest network) to a Roku TV on the internal network. That was something that I was not expecting. For that scenario, I guess that can be good or bad. So yeah, not perfect but enough segregation for me to still want to continue to use the guest network.
Moses