Home Orbi using cheap router on satellite for 3rd network

Question

Friend needs mesh coverage with 3 separate networks for her large two story home .

If she buys a regular home Orbi 3 pack, she can use the built-in guest network and end up with two separate secure networks. Is that right?

Now for the 3rd secure network, suppose I attach a cheap router using ethernet cable to one of the satellites as an access point. Then use that as the 3rd secure network. I realize that the wireless from the attached router will compete with the Orbi satellite but they could be set to different channels on the 2.4 GHz band. Would this work?

CrimpOn · Answer

This is an interesting situation.&nbsp; The intention of a "Guest" network is to have devices quarantined so that they cannot connect to any of the resources on the primary network OR connect to each other.&nbsp; In this sense, yes, Orbi has two "secure" networks but they are different.&nbsp; There is an option to " Allow guests to see each other and access my local network", which of course simply means that guests have the same access but do not have to know the primary Orbi login password.&nbsp;"Mesh" and adding another WiFi network with a different SSID are incompatible.&nbsp; i.e. the Orbi primary and guest SSID's will cover anyplace that the router and satellites cover.&nbsp; Adding a 2.4G access point to one of the Orbi's will create a localized WiFi that covers as much area as that access point covers.&nbsp; When a person wanders away from good coverage, they simply lose WiFi.&nbsp;You might want to take a look at the Orbi Pro, which features three SSID's to begin with.&nbsp; Yes, Orbi Pro's cost more, but then so does adding (and maintaining) another WiFi system.&nbsp; There is a user forum for the Orbi Pro.&nbsp; Maybe someone on that forum could offer advice.&nbsp;All this begs the question of "what need is this trying to address?"&nbsp; (Especially when the dreaded "2.4G" WiFi is&nbsp; mentioned.)&nbsp; I can think of several things: Air B&amp;B.&nbsp; Someone renting a room.&nbsp; Perhaps if you describe more about what three "secure" SSID's are intended to accomplish, people can offer more nuanced advice.

Skyzoomer · Answer

CrimpOn&nbsp;wrote:(((This is an interesting situation.&nbsp; The intention of a "Guest" network is to have devices quarantined so that they cannot connect to any of the resources on the primary network OR connect to each other.&nbsp; In this sense, yes, Orbi has two "secure" networks but they are different.&nbsp; There is an option to " Allow guests to see each other and access my local network", which of course simply means that guests have the same access but do not have to know the primary Orbi login password.)))&nbsp;Yes, devices on the guest network able to see each other and access the internet but not able to access the the primary network in any way, is what is desired.&nbsp;((("Mesh" and adding another WiFi network with a different SSID are incompatible.&nbsp; i.e. the Orbi primary and guest SSID's will cover anyplace that the router and satellites cover.&nbsp; Adding a 2.4G access point to one of the Orbi's will create a localized WiFi that covers as much area as that access point covers.&nbsp; When a person wanders away from good coverage, they simply lose WiFi.)))&nbsp;The 2.4G access point will only serve the rooms in the house that family number-3 reside in.&nbsp;&nbsp;(((You might want to take a look at the Orbi Pro, which features three SSID's to begin with.&nbsp; Yes, Orbi Pro's cost more, but then so does adding (and maintaining) another WiFi system.&nbsp; There is a user forum for the Orbi Pro.&nbsp; Maybe someone on that forum could offer advice.)))&nbsp;Trying to avoid the additional expense of the Orbi Pro 3-pack (~$500) vs the home Orbi 3-pack (~$250) which is 1/2 the price.&nbsp; The owner of the house already has a cheap Netgear router that could be used as the access point so no expense there.&nbsp;(((All this begs the question of "what need is this trying to address?"&nbsp; (Especially when the dreaded "2.4G" WiFi is&nbsp; mentioned.)&nbsp; I can think of several things: Air B&amp;B.&nbsp; Someone renting a room.&nbsp; Perhaps if you describe more about what three "secure" SSID's are intended to accomplish, people can offer more nuanced advice.)))&nbsp;Owner (primary network), daughter's family (Orbi's guest network) and a rental family (cheap router as AP).&nbsp; The rental family will be restriced to their own rooms only.&nbsp; Daughter could roam the house except for the rental areas.&nbsp; They want all to be isolated from each other for privacy reasons.&nbsp;&nbsp;

CrimpOn · Answer

Yes, this makes sense, as long as you have a way to connect the old Netgear router to the nearest Orbi.

One tiny clarification: the daughter will be able to access the internet, but not connect to any other devices on the primary OR the guest networks. That option is "all or nothing". Probably not of interest unless she wants to print something on a WiFi printer.

It's not clear (to me) what the "privacy concerns" are. internet traffic goes from the device, through the Orbi, to the internet and back. Data packets do not go to other devices - - - unless, of course, the Orbi administrator does something sneaky like "mirroring" all of the traffic out Port 1, which would capture everything from everybody. Might be worth giving that issue some more discussion.

Skyzoomer · Answer

CrimpOn&nbsp;wrote:(((Yes, this makes sense, as long as you have a way to connect the old Netgear router to the nearest Orbi.)))&nbsp;I'm assuming that I could just run an ethernet cable from the nearest Orbi to one of the 4 lan ports on the old Netgear router.&nbsp; Set the old router to access point and .....&nbsp;Oh wait.... Assuming the Orbi's IP address is 192.168.1.1 (I don't know so made up this IP address), does the old router have to be set to 192.168.1.x?&nbsp; In other words, does the 3rd octet have to be the same as the Orbi's?&nbsp;I'm assuming that to be on a different network, the old router's IP address 3rd octet would have to be different.&nbsp; Like 192.168.200.1.&nbsp; Is this right?&nbsp; I'm a noob regarding networking.&nbsp;(((One tiny clarification: the daughter will be able to access the internet, but not connect to any other devices on the primary OR the guest networks.&nbsp; That option is "all or nothing".&nbsp; Probably not of interest unless she wants to print something on a WiFi printer.)))&nbsp;Yes, the daughter's family would have to have their own wireless printer on their guest network.&nbsp; Or they could have their printer connected via USB to their desktop PC.&nbsp; Or they would have to store the file on a USB flash drive and bring to the owner's PC for printing.&nbsp;&nbsp;(((It's not clear (to me) what the "privacy concerns" are.&nbsp; internet traffic goes from the device, through the Orbi, to the internet and back.&nbsp; Data packets do not go to other devices - - - unless, of course, the Orbi administrator does something sneaky like "mirroring" all of the traffic out Port 1, which would capture everything from everybody.&nbsp; Might be worth giving that issue some more discussion.)))&nbsp;Privacy concern is that no family could view shared files on another family's PCs.&nbsp; This is why 3 separate networks are needed.&nbsp; Privacy concern is not about intercepting internet traffic.&nbsp;I need help on setting up the old router to be on its own unique network, as described above.&nbsp;

CrimpOn · Answer

This is coming together nicely, and good that you understand that compromises may have to be made.&nbsp;The old Netgear router will expect to be connected using its WAN (often yellow) port to any LAN port on the Orbi unit.The old Netgear router can be set up two ways:If iin Access Point (AP) mode, it will receive an IP address from the primary router, as will any devicer attached to it.&nbsp; And, yes, there is that since people attaching to this AP will be in the same IP space as the Orbi network, they could potentially get at "shared resources."&nbsp; However, most of the time there are things like passwords which prevent "any old PC" from getting at resources.If in router mode, then the Netgear will assign IPs in a different subnet and will do NAT translation on all of them.&nbsp; My guess is that this will interfere with any devices on the old Netgear from "seeing" devices on the Orbi.I think the only "compromise" situation is the business with the daughter being "alone" on the Guest network, unable to see anything else on the Guest network, even a printer.&nbsp; This may be "no big deal".&nbsp;Hope this goes well for you.

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Home Orbi using cheap router on satellite for 3rd network

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