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bugwhisperer's avatar
bugwhisperer
Aspirant
May 02, 2020

Nighthawk Ac1900 and Orbi

I have installed an Orbi router and satellite with a Nighthawk aC1900 cable modem router. I want to turn the radios off the Nighthawk to avoid interference with the Orbi but I cannot access the Nighthawk with the Orbi installed. How do I access the Nighthawk with the Orbi installed? routerlogin takes me to the Orbi only.  

10 Replies

  • CrimpOn's avatar
    CrimpOn
    Guru - Experienced User

    bugwhisperer wrote:

    I have installed an Orbi router and satellite with a Nighthawk aC1900 cable modem router. I want to turn the radios off the Nighthawk to avoid interference with the Orbi but I cannot access the Nighthawk with the Orbi installed. How do I access the Nighthawk with the Orbi installed? routerlogin takes me to the Orbi only.  


    Do both the Nighthawk and the Orbi have the same WiFi name (SSID) and password? (exactly the same)

    Simply power off the Orbi and connect to the Nighthawk instead.

     

    If they do not, then connect to the Nighthawk WiFi instead of the Orbi.

     

    Or, on the Orbi web interface, the "Internet" menu item will show you the Orbi's "Gateway", which is the Nighthawk.  Browse to this IP address rather than using "routerlogin.net".

     

    p.s. Giving the Orbi exactly the same WiFi credentials as the Nighthawk is a good idea, because (a) no devices need to be reconfigured to join the Orbi and (b) if you decide to unplug the Orbi the Nighthawk can take over again.

     

    p.p.s. It sometimes causes problems to have two "routers" in the same network.  See this Netgear article:

    https://kb.netgear.com/30186/What-is-Double-NAT 

    • bugwhisperer's avatar
      bugwhisperer
      Aspirant

      Thank you! I entered through the gateway and turned the Radio button off.  The Gateway address on Orbi changed and I can no longer access the Nighthawk as a modem. How do I check to confirm the procedure worked?

      • CrimpOn's avatar
        CrimpOn
        Guru - Experienced User

        Just turning the WiFi radio off should not change the Orbi gateway.  Putting the Nighthawk into "bridge" or "passthrough" mode would.

        Is the "new" gateway a "public" IP address? (i.e. is does not start with 192.168, 10.10, or 172.16)