What Netgear product will best extend my R9000 router?

WilsonLR wrote:

Thanks StephenB​. I could never get my 2-Wire 3600HGV modem to work in passthru mode so I am already double routing. What are the implications?

 

Probably you should replace that gateway too.  It's really limited (802.11b/g wifi, 100 megabit LAN ports).  Goes back to around 2010 I think.

So if you used router mode you'd be triple routing?  It would work, but kind of crazy.

Some implications

1. upnp on the inner network won't work - it will open up a port in the inner router, but that is not enough to accept an inbound internet connection.
2. port forwarding is more complicated.  You need to forward from the edge router to the inner router, and then from the inner router to the client.
3. devices connected to the edge network cannot reach devices on the inner network.  Though devices on the inner network can reach the edge network.
4. If you use an IPTV service that uses a VLAN, devices using that service would need to be connected to the outer network.
5. ...

WilsonLR wrote:

I certainly don't want a 3rd router. If the ORBI runs in AP mode, couldn't I get a two pack to replace the Airports and still use the R9000 wifi the same way I am doing it now with all using the same Wifi name?

Do you have any 802.11ad (WiGig) devices?  Do you use the built-in plex server?  If you don't use either of those R9000 features, then you'd be better off  just using the Orbi as your router, and retiring the R9000.  One aspect is that the Orbi mesh provides more seamless roaming than you get with multiple independent radios using the same network name.  Another is that you'd get WiFi 6 or WiFi 7 wifi protocols (depending on what you purchased), the R9000 is WiFi 5.

But the two-pack+r9000 idea would work similarly to the airport+r9000 combination you use now.