NETGEAR is aware of a growing number of phone and online scams. To learn how to stay safe click here.
Forum Discussion
Solved
RBR50 setup with network switch
I am going to be setting up my RBR50 with a network switch. The reason for this is because I'm on a community network with no access to the main network modem. Currently I'm setup using a linksys wifi...
Yes, like I said, if you need a switch then install one at the walll out let then connect the RBR to the switch. But nothing else can connect to the switch. If you need more ports in back of the RBR, then you can add a switch here as well.
Good Luck.
I dont quite understand? The main community comcast modem sits in a basement electrical closet in the main common house. According to the orbi setup instructions, I would plug the orbi into the modem and reboot the modem. Not possible for me to do this. Instead that modem is constantly on and running the network for the whole community. I'm simply plugged into a network jack in my house - which is on a patch panel. Because there is only one main line, I can't patch my office network jack into the main line, and the orbi. Instead, I will be plugging the switch into the main port, and running a patch from the switch to the network jack in the office, and then from the switch to the orbi. I'm just wondering if this setup will be similar to what I had with the linksys wifi router?
I would first try connecting the RBR to the wall jack and see if it gets the signal.
Have a wired PC or laptop connected to the back of the RBR and use a web browser at 192.168.1.1 and look at the Basic tab or Advanced Tab pages to see if the RBR reports the Internet connection after you connect the RBR to the wall jack to the Yellow port on the back of the RBR.
- I appreciate all the help you are trying to give friend - but I need to install a switcher. The orbi would then plug into that switcher. I'll just give it a go and see if I'm successful. Thanks for trying though.
Yes, like I said, if you need a switch then install one at the walll out let then connect the RBR to the switch. But nothing else can connect to the switch. If you need more ports in back of the RBR, then you can add a switch here as well.
Good Luck.
FURRYe38 wrote:Yes, like I said, if you need a switch then install one at the walll out let then connect the RBR to the switch. But nothing else can connect to the switch. If you need more ports in back of the RBR, then you can add a switch here as well.
This is a good practice, but is not technically correct.
Let me start by commenting there is no need to "power cycle the modem". Yes, it is often recommended as a good practice, but your situation is not "normal". Adding a switch to the picture does not accomplish this.
The entire complex is being "fed" by a modem and a router (not simply a modem). A modem accepts only a single device, and the Comcast modem is supplying internet to a bunch of "houses". The link that appears on Jack #12 of the patch panel is connected to an ethernet port on that router, as are patch panels in other houses. (An easy way to verify this is to look at the IP address on the WAN port of the Linksys. If it is a "private" IP address, that is an indication that your Linksys is connected to a router.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Private_network
If you connect an 8-port switch to port #12 on the patch panel, then each device that is connected to that switch will get an IP address from the central router, just like the Linksys router did. When you then plug the Orbi/Linksys into the switch, it will create a different private IP space on the LAN side of the Orbi/Linksys. Anything connected to the Orbi/Linksys will have internet access, but it will have no access to other devices that are connected directly to the switch.
This is why FURRYe38 (and I recommend (a) replacing the Linksys with the Orbi, and (b) if you need additional ethernet ports, attach the switch to the Orbi.
There are situations where the ISP modem has fixated on the MAC address of the router that has been attached and refuses to recognize a new MAC address. That is what resetting (or power cycling) the modem accomplishes. This is not your situation.
