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Forum Discussion
RBK852/3 WiFi 6 mesh and WiFi 5 router
So, I've found the RBK852/3 mesh system that seems great for my home internet (I haven't actually bought them yet). I was interested if I could use the WiFi 6 capabilities of these, even if I am usin...
IAmAFrenchFry wrote:So, I've found the RBK852/3 mesh system that seems great for my home internet (I haven't actually bought them yet). I was interested if I could use the WiFi 6 capabilities of these, even if I am using a WiFi 5 router (or if it is possible to use a third-party router with these at all, and if it is, a guide would be great).
The reason I would like to do this is because I need a router with more ports/bandwidth throughput than one of these APs have. Additionally, having WiFi 6 is a bonus, and not requiring WiFi 6 on a router is also a bonus!
Thanks for your help!
The RBK850 system has a lot of throughput. What are your requirements that lead you to believe that you need to add an additional router to it?
For additional ethernet ports, you don't need another router because you can connect an unmanaged switch to multiplex one of your available ports into many more. Also, the wifi 6 systems are backwards compatible and support older wireless clients. The higher speeds of wifi 6 will only be seen from your wifi 6 clients (e.g., iPhone 11 Pro).
Mikey94025 wrote:
IAmAFrenchFry wrote:So, I've found the RBK852/3 mesh system that seems great for my home internet (I haven't actually bought them yet). I was interested if I could use the WiFi 6 capabilities of these, even if I am using a WiFi 5 router (or if it is possible to use a third-party router with these at all, and if it is, a guide would be great).
The reason I would like to do this is because I need a router with more ports/bandwidth throughput than one of these APs have. Additionally, having WiFi 6 is a bonus, and not requiring WiFi 6 on a router is also a bonus!
Thanks for your help!
The RBK850 system has a lot of throughput. What are your requirements that lead you to believe that you need to add an additional router to it?
For additional ethernet ports, you don't need another router because you can connect an unmanaged switch to multiplex one of your available ports into many more. Also, the wifi 6 systems are backwards compatible and support older wireless clients. The higher speeds of wifi 6 will only be seen from your wifi 6 clients (e.g., iPhone 11 Pro).
I would've preferred to have a 10Gb port somewhere, but a 2.5Gb port is fine because future-proofing is a waste of money (I have a 2Gb internet plan available around me that I want to see the benefits of bc everything is 1Gb).
Well in that case, I would also like to ask you about the (web) interface. Can I do all of the things that I would be able to do on my own router such as port forward, manage (physical) ports, configure DDNS, change DNS, etc. etc.?
Lastly, you said that I could connect an unmanaged switch, but can I connect a managed one?
Thanks!
The admin web interface is primary and more fully-featured than what the Orbi app offers. The AX system's admin portal does lack some of the advanced fine-grained controls and capabilities seen in the AC series web portal, like control over Beamforming/mu-mimo/fast roaming and enabling of telnet, but all the primary things you mention are available via the web portal.
Some have mentioned problems with managed switches here, related to wired satellite connectivity and device-to-device connectivity within your mesh wireless network when some devices are behind a managed switch. The AX system's firmware is less mature than the older AC systems so you should expect some issues if your setup deviates from the customer norm so far. I like the performance of the AX system but it is unfortunately not yet "easy plug and play" for many people.
The problem with managed switches is the IGMP protocols on these switchs. Most of manage switches have user configurable features that can disable this protocol thus making managed switch usable with Orbi systems. This is one common problem for both Orbi AC and AX systesm. Also some green ethernet featured switches can also cause problems. So switches that are non managed and or with non green ethernet features are recommended.
