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Solved
Setup RBR850 with ATT U-verse BGW210
I am not seeing any issues that I am aware of, I am asking if my setup is ok because its different than what I am reading.
ATT U-verse Router setup:
The ATT router is connected to the WAN (fiberoptic connection). Port 1 is connected to Port 1 of the Orbi RBR850. Port 2 is connected to the ATT U-verse WAP. Port 3 is connected to the ATT U-verse DVR box. The wireless network is disabled.
Orbi RBR850 setup:
Port 1 connected to the ATT router. This router is routing, not in AP mode. All other devices in my house are connected to this router or one of the two satellites.
What I see -
On my ATT router, the ATT U-verse hardware has IP addresses in the 168.192.xxx.xxx range. I see all of the devices connected via the Orbi router in the device list but without IP addresses.
On my Orbi router, all my home devices have IP addresses in the 10.0.xxx.xxx range. Of course I do NOT see the ATT U-verse hardware in this device list as all of that hardware is connected only to the ATT router.
As far as I can tell, everything is working fine. If I turn my Orbi router to AP mode, I think it will pass on the connected devices for assignment by the ATT router and these devices will end up on the same network as the U-verse hardware, 168.192.xxx.xxx. The documentation says putting the Orbi router in AP mode disables the guest network feature, which I am also using and would like to use.
Having two routers in my system seems non-optimal and from everything I have read is hazardous to performance and stability but if the Orbi router is smart enough to use IP addresses on a completely different network than that ATT router, is there any reason for me to try AP mode and get everything on a single network? Are there side effects that I am not seeing or some aspects I am not considering?
MWS_65 wrote:I realize AP mode is reccomended. Does anyone know why it is preferred over the setup I am using? The reason I am asking is because I know it is reccomended and I don't understand why it is the preferred setup.
It's not optimal but in my opinion it is also not hazardous. Many home router customers don't know what "bridge mode" is nor know how to set it up on their cable modems, therefore many people are running just fine with Double NAT. Some games may not work because of the Double NAT, it is more difficult to setup port forwarding correctly (because there are 2 router to setup correctly), and it will very likely mean you can't get full 1Gb bandwidth due to the extra overhead of the second router. But it should still work correctly. Some Orbi customers may be experiencing wifi disconnects and other weird behaviors caused by Double NAT, but it's unclear if that's really the cause of their issues.
9 Replies
Yes, for your ISP modem/router, it would be recommended to use AP mode on the RBR, then all devices will be on the same network as the ISP modem/router.
Thanks for the response, I do appreciate it.
I realize AP mode is reccomended. Does anyone know why it is preferred over the setup I am using? The reason I am asking is because I know it is reccomended and I don't understand why it is the preferred setup.
MWS_65 wrote:I realize AP mode is reccomended. Does anyone know why it is preferred over the setup I am using? The reason I am asking is because I know it is reccomended and I don't understand why it is the preferred setup.
It's not optimal but in my opinion it is also not hazardous. Many home router customers don't know what "bridge mode" is nor know how to set it up on their cable modems, therefore many people are running just fine with Double NAT. Some games may not work because of the Double NAT, it is more difficult to setup port forwarding correctly (because there are 2 router to setup correctly), and it will very likely mean you can't get full 1Gb bandwidth due to the extra overhead of the second router. But it should still work correctly. Some Orbi customers may be experiencing wifi disconnects and other weird behaviors caused by Double NAT, but it's unclear if that's really the cause of their issues.
