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Forum Discussion
Orbi RBR 850 as AP conflict with Proton VPN
Many thanks to CrimpOn and FURRYe38 for their replies to a prior post (https://community.netgear.com/t5/Orbi-WIFI-6-AX-AND-Wi-Fi-6E-AXE/Protectli-vault-and-Orbi-850-compatibility/td-p/2304455) in whi...
CrazyEddie wrote:
I used a Beryl AX as an alternative AP and it worked without any issue, so it seems like it's the Orbi (or my failure to do something in the settings). Can anyone think of a setting on the Orbi that I need to change? It's in AP mode. Someone suggested I change back to router mode, but I'd prefer not to have two routers, and if it works for the Beryl AX, I'm hopeful it can be figured out for the Orbi (especially since I have three units....)
What a cute little travel router. (Beryl AX) How is it connected to the OPNsense firewall? (Ethernet or WiFi?) and is the Beryl in Access Point mode?
Probably not much to change on the Orbi settings when in Access Point mode. It is surprising that the Orbi WiFi signal would actually switch on and off. (for real? device wireless settings report "not connected", but then connect again in 30 seconds?)
What happens when the VPN feature is not active on OPNsense?
What a cute little travel router. (Beryl AX) How is it connected to the OPNsense firewall? (Ethernet or WiFi?) and is the Beryl in Access Point mode?
Thanks for the reply. The size is pretty convenient for travel. It's new to me and I've only used it once at a recent hotel stay. At home I connected the Beryl via ethernet in the same Protectli port to which the Orbi router (in AP mode) was connected. I believe using the ethernet connection puts the Beryl in the equivalent of access point mode automatically. (The other choices are "repeater" "tether" and "cellular".)
Probably not much to change on the Orbi settings when in Access Point mode. It is surprising that the Orbi WiFi signal would actually switch on and off. (for real? device wireless settings report "not connected", but then connect again in 30 seconds?)
That's my non-technical explanation for what happens (when using the Orbi) as I watch the MacBook Air Wi-Fi icon in the top of the screen. It's connected, then I see the "bars" drop, then nothing is shown, then it connects again. (I have the same problem with other devices, so it's not just the MacBook.) also try to run Speedtest and periodically will then get a message "Error Test failed to complete. Check your internet connection and try again." Running ifconfig.me in Terminal produces "curl: (6) Could not resolve host: ifconfig.me" If there is a better place to look (in logs?) for an explanation, please point me in that direction.
What happens when the VPN feature is not active on OPNsense?
Everything works like a charm. My current speeds when connected to the Orbi are 298/38 (and that's with using Proton VPN on my device - not the firewall). Without the VPN running on the device, the speeds are 430/39.
CrazyEddie wrote:
I believe using the ethernet connection puts the Beryl in the equivalent of access point mode automatically. (The other choices are "repeater" "tether" and "cellular".)
My sense from reading the User Manual (https://docs.gl-inet.com/en/4/tutorials/internet_ethernet/ ) is that the Beryl remains in router mode, providing all sorts of router functions no matter how it is connected to the primary system.
An easy test is to look at the IP address that a device gets when it is connected to the Beryl WiFi compared when connected to the Orbi WiFi. If they are the same, then the OPNsense firewall is assigning IPs directly to devices no matter how they are connected. If they are different, then the Beryl has created a separate LAN subnet.
Thanks. To add to the mystery. When I connect to the Orbi I can see one IP address when I'm going without VPN, and another when I connect through the VPN (on my device - not the FW). When I try to replicate those two addresses when connected to the Beryl, I can do so if the VPN is connected (and it shows the same VPN IP), but I am unable to connect to the internet via the Beryl unless the VPN is connected.