New Orbi setup

---

Al17online wrote:

Been researching Mesh Wifi sytems for the past week. Professional reviews give the Orbi system great reviews all over the net. However, Amazon reviews arent so great. Decided to take the chance with Orbi. Have a few questions that I hope can be answered here.

 2 story home with a finished basement. Guess its on the larger size. Optimum comes in from the basement. Current Optimum modem is a Arris TM 822G (which I want to upgrade, eventually) Lloking to get the RBK53 system and if needed add the the RBS50Y if needed.

1) Looking at Netgear switches. From what I read,  only want unmanaged & non green switches. Dont want the power management feature. Is that correct? People use every known brand and model of switch.  My TP-Link switch says it is "green" and has been no trouble.  IGMP management seems to be a serious problem.

2) Have the NG GS108NA on my list. I see that there is a ProSafe  GS108NA & a GS108NA.  Is the Prosafe a "green" model?

3) is the GS108NA a valid optioin?

4)Can I create 2 SSID's with Orbi?  Want to put the security cams on its own network  Orbi is designed to broadcast a single SSID for the primary network and a single SSID for the "Guest" network, both of which are 2.4G and 5G.  That's the whole point of the Orbi system.  My security cams are on my primary network, along with everything else.  If cams are sharing the same radios and backhaul as everything else, what is the point of giving them a separate SSID?

5)What is passthrough mode? And do I need it?  There should be only a single "router" in the network.  The Arris is a "modem with telephony", i.e. it has only "passthrough" mode.  (It offers no router functions and no WiFi capability.)  When you upgrade, purchase a similar product.  The Orbi must be set up in "router" mode.

6)Does the satelite act as a wired switch / port as well? I can plug a device into it instead of that device going wireless? Would I lose Wifi speed from that satelite by doing that? Yes, the 50 series Orbi's have a four port gigabit switch (on the router, Yellow port goes to the modem).  Any ethernet device can be plugged into the other ports.  I, for example, have two desktops connected directly and a gigabit switch into the last port.  Since wired devices do not consume WiFi bandwidth, wiring devices leaves more WiFi available for the things that have to be WiFi.

7) Correct set up? Modem to Orbi Router, router to switch, switch to wired devices? Yes, that works.

8) Can a 2nd switch be connected to a satelite for wired coverage as well? Yes, switches can be connected to the satellite(s).

---

You did not ask, but "maximum throughput" is created when the satellites are wired to the router with ethernet.  Alas, most of us are constrained by our inability to run ethernet cables.  The 5G WiFi backhaul is amazing.