Setting up AP Mode and Placement with switch

I connected the Orbi router between the router/modem and the switch.  I put it in AP mode.  I wanted to go with what is best even if it meant I needed another satellite so I left the Orbi router direclty connected to the ISP gateway and before my big switch.   One thing I like is even in AP mode the Orbi app/web management shows all the network items including items wired directly to my switch.  I didn’t expect that as with my Airport Extreme network I only saw the items wirelessly connected directly to each Airport (used my router login to see the whole network). This lets me use the Orbi app to see everything on my network vs having to login to the ISP router for the wired items.  And more of the items seem to be able to identify themselves in the Orbi interface than my ISP router interface.  I did test in the basement moving the plugs so the orbi was the other side of the switch and it, unsurprisingly, then didn’t have information about hardwired (not to Orbis) things connected to the switch.  So this feature is one reason to connect it directly to the router even in AP mode.   Although I think lots of people have my sort of setup with a utility closet in the basement with all the wires and would rather have all the wifi points upstairs.

Continued Questions (maybe I should ask these in a new post as it is differnet than my original question).

DROPS

I am having some odd random drops.  One device will completely drop off of WiFi and take several minutes to reconnect.    Even toggling WiFi on/off and trying to reconnect I get a connection but even when I get back on the wifi it shows connected but no internet for a while (minute?).  I did try forgetting the connection and connecting fresh to help clear out any issue but it keeps happening.  What is odd is that when this happens other devices in the area (including in the exact same place in my lap/hand) continue to work.   It has happened to several different devices — iphone, iPads and MacBook.   This never happened before.  Before I might get a slow loading page or something that seemed to stall out but not literally seeing the WiFi connection disappear.  It seems particularly odd that only happens to one device at a time and not others in the same location - I have had my iPad disconnected in my lap while using my connected iPhone right on top of it while I wait for the iPad to get reconnected.  Before the disconnects and after I get reconnected I have a strong connection so it isn’t a week connection issue (and the remaining devices show full bars of wifi web the one disconnects).   Any ideas?

ORBI OUTDOOR —The outdoor Orbi (that I had previously already in Extender mode).  It doesn’t seem to be working well.  It connects but speeds are slow (slower than they were before while everything else is faster — my internet is slow to start with so slow means low single digit speed tests).   Sometimes after plugging it back in I can get a good speed test but then later it grinds to very slow and unfortunately some inside things choose to switch to it and think it is ok but then later it is crawling again.  The Orbi app shows it as hardwired to the router in the basement — when it is wireless and closer to a satellite.   Orbi cannot seem to figure out what it is - sometimes it is listed as a thermostat, tablet and other random stuff.  Is there a reason this is showing as wired on the far away Orbi router (AP mode)?  I wonder if it is so slow because it is really connecting to the router vs the closer satellite.   I didn’t reset this after getting the whole system as I used the same SSID before (and it is mounted high and not easy to reset to factory, set to extender again etc). now I am going to leave it out of the network and hope for a firmware update to let it be a true satellite.   Unless there are any other solutions.

Comment/Feedback — Netgear should really have the whole AP vs Router mode in part of the setup instructions/process.  It really should be one of the first questions in the setup - do you have separate modem and router or just one box.    Even connecting directly from my laptop to the Orbi Router with an ethernet cable and using the web management I had to tell it multiple times no I don’t want to use the app, I don’t have a phone to use etc as it tried to push me back to the app.   Then even when I told it to set up myself it forced me through the process which started with the router and satellites and only after all that I could dig into the advanced to change to AP mode.   There was no way I found to switch the mode as the first step.  The web process initially gave the Orbi Router system IP addresses not on my main router.  When I changed over the Orbi Router to AP it got a new valid IP address from my router.  It took a bit of time for all the things connected to get new IP addresses.  But one of the satellites (and all connected to it) were stuck with an invalid IP.  When I realized that I rebooted but it was another problem people could abandon the product over not making it easy and clear on how to use this product if you have a router/modem gateway which is becoming a very common setup from ISPs (as far as I know).