Anyone know why the option to allow guests access to network is greyed out? I would rather not have guest being able to access my local network (see photo below)

I am giving Orbi a try again after a few firmware releases and guest mode introduced. Funny, I was excited to see Orbi had guest mode, then I find no method of using it PROPERLY in AP mode. How hard is it to add a simple "advanced feature" called "VLAN". I do not want to use the Orbi in router mode with DHCP. As I have my own firewall which handles DHCP assignment. But with both guest and non-guest WIFI networks having access to the same local network in AP mode REALLY defeats the purpose of a guest network. So what was your point Netgear? Netgear only has 2 options: 1. Enable an internal DHCP server that can assign ONLY the guest network bridge, while allowing non-DHCP mode for the non-guest network bridge (Yes, this means you will need your internal DHCP server to be enabled/disabled per wireless network bridge). This allows the continued use of the customer's personal router/firewall. And in some cases this is required for FIOS and other ISPs which must assign the IP to a device for authorization. 2. Enable the abilty to assign 801.11q vLAN tagging to both guest and non-guest WIFI networks. This will allow our personal router/firewall to separate networks and create isolation. I PREFER THIS OPTION AND I AM SURE OTHERS WOULD AGREE. Please Netgear, YOU HAVE THE BEST WIFI "ALMOST MESH" SETUP ON THE MARKET. You can easily add these basic abilities and secure the TOP SPOT. Other Wireless products already do this, and have for years now...ASUS. DLINK, LINKSYS....

Yes,Devices are treated the same using AP mode. Both guest and non-guest devices land on the same subnet giving guest devices full access to your non guest devices with no way to isolate and/or separate.Hence my comment to Netgear...what was their point. This is not a guest network if guests have access to the non guest devices.

ok , so in ap mode the guest wifi works but its the router that would take care of the isolation eg vlan and in ap mode its not possible to control this on the orbi

Hello TechtoyTV I replicated the issue you are seeing and passed this on to the engineers. DarrenM

hi is the orbi in router mode or AP mode as here in router mode the allow guests access to network is selectable , i havnt tried it in ap mode but i dont think guest wifi is selectable in ap mode ether

Orbi Guest Wifi Settings | NETGEAR Communities

15 Replies

peteytesting
Hero
Dec 02, 2016
hi

is the orbi in router mode or AP mode

as here in router mode the allow guests access to network is selectable , i havnt tried it in ap mode but i dont think guest wifi is selectable in ap mode ether
TechToyTV
Tutor
Dec 02, 2016
It's in AP mode since I have FIOS
- peteytesting
  Hero
  Dec 02, 2016
  hi
  
  as far as i was led to believe guest wifi shouldnt work at all in ap mode as its the upstream device that would control this , the orbi in ap mode doesnt do vlan or anything else
  - TechToyTV
    Tutor
    Dec 02, 2016
    It does work in AP mode (as seen below)
TechToyTV
Tutor
Dec 03, 2016
That's strange because the Netgear Nighthawk x6 I had been using previously let me control all of that. The FIOS router does not handle any of the wifi
Flash008
Luminary
Dec 09, 2016
Yes,

Devices are treated the same using AP mode. Both guest and non-guest devices land on the same subnet giving guest devices full access to your non guest devices with no way to isolate and/or separate.

Hence my comment to Netgear...what was their point. This is not a guest network if guests have access to the non guest devices.
BeachBum65
Aspirant
Dec 12, 2016
Agreed Flash. While pleased to see the Guest option, I also found that I could not "uncheck" the option that allows guest access to the rest of my network. Hopefully this is rectified soon - surely it is not a big deal to fix this. I never had a problem doing this with other routers.
BeachBum65
Aspirant
Dec 12, 2016
I should add that I tested while on guest network and verified that I could get to other parts of my network, media server, etc.

Forum Discussion

Orbi Guest Wifi Settings