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Recently upgraded my primary router from NightHawk X6 R8000 to Orbi RBR750 (Mesh router with 2 satellites) in order to get better wireless coverage area through my home. Now, I'm finding that I want to keep a wired connection to several devices (printer, main desktop, NAS, etc.) that are all in close proximity, so I want to use my old NightHawk as a cascaded router to give me enough wired hookups for my various devices.
Q: How do I set up the NightHawk router as a secondary unit?
Did a factory reset on the NH before adding it to the network.
I have an ethernet cable running from the main Orbi router to the "Internet" jack on the NH, and then additional cables running from the other jacks to the various devices. That's easy enough.
I turned off all the wireless radios on the NH, since I don't need that function. Probably not pertinent to the problem at hand, but still cuts down on the clutter.
I have turned off DHCP on the NH, so that the Orbi can assign addresses to the devices.
When I connect to the Orbi admin screen, I can see the NH router under connected devices, but I cannot see the devices connected through it.
I cannot connect to the NH admin screen from the Orbi wireless network.
When I connect to the NH admin screen from my primary desktop, I can see the printer and other devices.
What gives? Do I need to set a static IP for the NH router? For the other devices? Is there some other setting I need to tweak on the NH so that it can merely function as a passthrough for the wired connections? Ideas?
> [...] I want to use my old NightHawk as a cascaded router to give me > enough wired hookups for my various devices.
You don't want another router; you want a network switch. It'd be less trouble to invest the $20 or so for a cheap gigabit/s-capable Ethernet switch. But...
> o I have turned off DHCP on the NH, so that the Orbi can assign > addresses to the devices.
Reasonable, but insufficient.
> [...] Is there some other setting I need to tweak on the NH [...]
More than a tweak, I'd say.
Visit http://netgear.com/support , put in your model number, and look for Documentation. Get the User Manual. Look for "Use the Router as a Wireless Access Point". (That mode disables the DHCP server implicitly.)
> o I turned off all the wireless radios on the NH, since I don't need > that function. [...]
Even so, "Wireless Access Point" mode is what you want, with or without active radios.
> [...] I want to use my old NightHawk as a cascaded router to give me > enough wired hookups for my various devices.
You don't want another router; you want a network switch. It'd be less trouble to invest the $20 or so for a cheap gigabit/s-capable Ethernet switch. But...
> o I have turned off DHCP on the NH, so that the Orbi can assign > addresses to the devices.
Reasonable, but insufficient.
> [...] Is there some other setting I need to tweak on the NH [...]
More than a tweak, I'd say.
Visit http://netgear.com/support , put in your model number, and look for Documentation. Get the User Manual. Look for "Use the Router as a Wireless Access Point". (That mode disables the DHCP server implicitly.)
> o I turned off all the wireless radios on the NH, since I don't need > that function. [...]
Even so, "Wireless Access Point" mode is what you want, with or without active radios.
BINGO! Set it up as an access point and it seems to do what I want now. If I were starting from scratch, the network switch would definitely be the easier and cheaper way to go, but I figured there must be a way to re-use the old router instead of throwing it on my ever-increasing pile of outdated tech. Many thanks!
