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Forum Discussion
RBK752 (AX4200) configure / operate with no internet
This is a pre-sales question. I have only cellular internet at our house. The access to the internet is ONLY through cellular technology: phone data, phone hot spot or a Verizon MiFi cellular modem...
DGB01 wrote:
The questions are:
1) can the NetGear device (AX4200 in this case) be set up without access to the internet?
2) Will the NetGear AX4200 operate in local only (no internet) mode without problems?
3) What mode of operation would the NetGear device be set to?
1) Yes. Certainly.
2) The Orbi will not have problems, but most devices connected to probably will complain about the lack of internet.
Internet of Things (IoT) devices, for example, typically cannot function without access to the cloud.
3) It has to be in 'router' mode.
A nearly identical situation came up a couple of years ago when a group was setting up a hospital operation in the Carribean and had no internet connection but needed to network their laptops to their database.
The Orbi will have to be set up using the web interface and not the Orbi 'app'.
Very few devices are capable of two simultaneous WiFi connections so I wonder how practical this setup will be. For example, if a laptop is on the MiFi and you want to print out a web page.. how is that going to work? I am also wondering about the underlying premise: that devices around the house are using up the monthly data, but would function fine with no internet connection at all. A computer using a local printer, for example, will not generate any internet usage. Nor a television streaming video from a local DVR
I went ahead and purchased the Orbi. One of the main reasons for a local (no internet) wifi network was to allow iphones to "cast" to a TV without using a lighting to HDMI adapter. To date, I have not really accomplished this, but I do have a local wireless network (which can be used in the future if we get internet to the house ... other than cellular).
Below are some comments in case they might be helpful to someone.
We live in the country (actually not very far from town ... 20,000 + popluation) and have no means to the internet except through cellular data. I suppose we could use satellite, but I think there would be simliar issues ... especially data limits.
The initial setup of the Orbi network is cumbersome since the setup is designed around the internet. I did have to use the web interface (rather awkward way of getting there).
I got the local (no internet) wifi network up and running with the Orbi router configured in router mode (vs access point).
I left the Mifi on the 192.168.1.1 subnet and put the Orbi on a 10.0.1.1 subnet. This allows the desktop (tower) computer to access both networks independently. My desktop can connect to the Orbi through the ethernet port on the Orbi and still maintain the internet through the Mifi wireless network.
You are correct. Most devices and programs want (often require) the internet to operate properly.
The purpose of the Mifi is almost exclusively to provide data for my tower computer. Other devices have to access the internet some other way. If I allow devices access to the Mifi, they will consume the monthly Mifi data (15 GB) in virtually no time, leaving no internet for the tower.
The iphones (and Android / ??? phones) access the internet through their data. If a laptop requires internet, it must go through a cellular phone acting as a hot spot.
You are also correct about most (it not all) devices can only connect to one wifi network. Printing from the laptop while on the internet is cumbersome at the least. One has to get the web page (or whatever is desired) loaded and then connect to the printer (and disconnect from the internet) to print. I have no good solution for this for a laptop. See below for a solution for the cell phones.
The printer is on the local Orbi wifi network. Devices can use the local network (setup as described below) to access the printer or I think they can connect directly to the printer.
Using the default wifi network configuration on a cell phone to the local Orbi network will cause the phone to lose the internet connect since the cellular phone see a wifi network and assumes it will provide internet even if it is local only. The workaround for this is to assign a static IP address (manually) with the router field left blank. This allows the cell phone to connect to the Orbi network and keep its internet data.
A problem for which I have not found a solution is casting from the cell phone to a smart TV. This discussion focuses on Apple products. I can connect to a movie source (for example, Disney+) on the phone and play the contents on the phone. I have been able to mirror the phone screen to the TV until I need to use airplay. At that point, the TV wants to use the internet for the data and eventually times out. I have not been able to configure peer-to-peer airplay yet (maybe never???).
AppleTV devices have the same problem as airplay.
It doesn't make sense to me why Apple requires an internet connection on the end (viewing) device when the internet connection is available through the initiating device (the iphone in this case).
Hopefully this can be helpful to someone and MAYBE in the future manufacturers will provide some of the capability described above.
Thanks for your input and help.