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Forum Discussion
Orbi setup with ATT router, ethernet backhaul
I recently purchased this system, trying to eliminate dead spots and awkward wifi transitions in my home. I have an ATT 5268AC modem/router, with Fiber.
The plan: ATT gateway LAN -> Orbi Rout...
If your one Ethernet drop is central to your house I would look at doing the following:
Put a switch at the end of the Ethernet drop, in the center of your house.
Plug your camera system into the switch.
Plug your Orbi "router" into the switch. Yellow Inernet Port wired to the switch.
Run Orbi in AP mode.
Now you are using the Ethernet for your WiFi "backhaul" and for your camera system, and you have the Orbi "router" in the center of your house, where it can get good wireless connection to the satellites.
st_shaw wrote:
If your one Ethernet drop is central to your house I would look at doing the following:
Put a switch at the end of the Ethernet drop, in the center of your house.
Plug your camera system into the switch.
Plug your Orbi "router" into the switch. Yellow Inernet Port wired to the switch.
Run Orbi in AP mode.
Now you are using the Ethernet for your WiFi "backhaul" and for your camera system, and you have the Orbi "router" in the center of your house, where it can get good wireless connection to the satellites.
That's a great suggestion! I do appreciate it. I will consider doing that, although it still troubles me a bit that the Orbi (satellite or router) that's right adjacent to the hardline internet is going to be using a wireless signal. I would think it'd be better if both the router and satellite were hardwired, no? Ultimately, I was planning to run another Cat 5e cable to the second satellite (once I make sure I'm going to keep this arrangement). Now I'm not sure that would even work...
stephentyler20 wrote:
That's a great suggestion! I do appreciate it. I will consider doing that, although it still troubles me a bit that the Orbi (satellite or router) that's right adjacent to the hardline internet is going to be using a wireless signal. I would think it'd be better if both the router and satellite were hardwired, no?
I'm not sure what the concern is here. You said you have one Ethernet cable. You connect the end of the cable to the Orbi "router" and you put your satellites 30-40 feet away, at other ends of the house. Yes, the Orbi router is using a wireless signal--to connect with your client devices and to connect to the satellites. But, the Orbi router is using the wire to connect to your router and the Internet.
This setup makes the most of Orbi. The strength of Orbi is the wireless backhaul and the ability to cover your house without having to run wires. If you want a wired system, a set of wired access points is a better solution than Orbi.
Well I do think that the idea of putting the Orbi Router at the other end of the ethernet cable is a great idea and I don't see why you need a switch as you can just comnnect the cameras to one of the other ethernet ports on the Orbi; if you can get the Orbi Router uin the centre of the house it will always work best so i would give this a go.
As to how I set mine up, I plugged an ethernet cable from my ISP router into the yellow port on my Orbi router. I then connected my laptop to another ethernet port on the Orbi. I used Orbilogin to get into the Orbi and selected AP mode. I got both of my setellites connected wirelessly whilst they were in the same room and then repositioned plugging in the ethernet cable for my wired satellite once I had it in the final position. Nothing more was required.
It does seem expected that you will cause problems if the satellite is wired to your ISP router and your Orbi is in router mode sicne the satellite will be wired to a different network than the Orbi one so it will never work as you currently have it set up.
You're right that the switch would not be needed as long as the Orbi router provided enough LAN ports.
Thanks all - I think you're right, this sounds like the better way to set up my house.
I'm going to try this:
- Orbi Router RBR50 in the center of the house, in AP Mode, with Ethernet from cable modem connecting into the WAN / Yellow port on the RBR50. Cameras will be connected directly to the Orbi router LAN ports (I only need 2).
- Orbi Satellite RBS50 x 2 at opposite ends of the house, as a wireless connect.
Since I've found that things seem to go haywire whenever I start messing with settings, I'll probably do a hard reset when I go to set up the system this way. Then I'll set all 3 up in the same physical space as others have suggested.
I'll post back with results.
So I set up this configuration, and it seems to be working OK. Internet speeds are a little slower for some reason - around 250 down, 190 up (I did a speed test with my laptop connected to the ethernet line where the Orbi router is now plugged in, and got 320 down, 300 up). Perhaps the cameras being plugged into the Orbi router are slowing things down? Not really sure, but frankly it's a small difference that I can live with.
So, I think I'll stick with this solution for the time being and see how it goes! The nice thing about this is it lets me position one of my Satellites a bit more optimally, since it doesn't have to be right next to the modem. Seems like a win.
Sounds like it’s working well. Those are decent speeds for WiFi. Around 220 is all I get on my MacBookPro because that’s all its WiFi can support.
Next time, do a speed test before you bring all other wifi items online. Cameras can cause some performance issues. Best to always test speeds before wireless devices go live.
stephentyler20 wrote:
So I set up this configuration, and it seems to be working OK. Internet speeds are a little slower for some reason - around 250 down, 190 up (I did a speed test with my laptop connected to the ethernet line where the Orbi router is now plugged in, and got 320 down, 300 up). Perhaps the cameras being plugged into the Orbi router are slowing things down? Not really sure, but frankly it's a small difference that I can live with.
So, I think I'll stick with this solution for the time being and see how it goes! The nice thing about this is it lets me position one of my Satellites a bit more optimally, since it doesn't have to be right next to the modem. Seems like a win.
