Connect Nighthawk M1 to Orbi RBR50

[Pridal2008]

Hi there guys,
I’m hoping someone may be able to assist.

I have the Nighthawk M1 mobile wifi router and the Orbi RBR50 with an Orbi satellite.

How do I best connect / setup the connection between the M1 and the Orbi?

I do not currently have them setup, I have been using them in separate places but now want to use the M1 4g at home connected to the Orbi system.

Any help / step by step setup info would be great.

Thanks 🙂

[ArodiD · Accepted solution]

Hi @Pridal2008 ,

I had a similar setup at home but have since upgraded to the MR2100.  There are 3 options that I have used in the past.  Option 1 and 2 works best for my setup as Option 3 limits you to 20 connected devices.

Option 1 (Bridge Mode):

- Enable IP Passthrough Mode on the MR1100 (Settings>Setup>Mobile Router Setup).  Steps are also detailed in the User Manual.

- Nothing needs to be done on Orbi router side.

Option 2 (DMZ)

- Set a static IP on the Orbi router (i.e 192.168.1.45) - Advanced Settings>Setup>Internet Setup - https://kb.netgear.com/31140/How-do-I-manually-enter-a-static-IP-address-for-my-Orbi-router

- Set the Orbi's static IP as the IP in M1's DMZ (Settings>Advanced Settings>Other - enter 192.168.1.45 into the IP field).

Option 3 (Enable AP mode on Orbi)

- Enable Access Point mode on Orbi Router - https://kb.netgear.com/31218/How-do-I-configure-my-Orbi-router-to-act-as-an-access-point

I am happy to walk you through it if you are still having issues.  Please send me a PM if you require some assistance.

Regards,

ArodiD

[plemans]

I don't have one of these so can only speak of what going through the manual looks like.  There's a basically 2 different ways to do it.

1. Enable Ip passthrough on the M1 and directly connect the Orbi to it. It leaves the orbi in router mode but makes it more challenging as you'll need to reset the M1 if you travel with it.

2. Place the orbi in AP mode, leave the M1 routing (acting as dhcp), directly connect orbi. Should be the simplest route but you lose the routing function of the orbi. 

Basically depends on what your goals are. Using the orbi as a full blown router and all its functions (circle, Armor, etc) or just using the Orbi as wireless AP. If you search in the communities with "M1 passthrough" or "connect router to M1" you'll get  a bunch of different threads showing how people did it and did their troublsehooting.  Sorry I wasn't more help.  

[Pridal2008]

Thank you for this help, that’s great 🙂

[ArodiD · Accepted solution]

Hi @Pridal2008 ,

I had a similar setup at home but have since upgraded to the MR2100.  There are 3 options that I have used in the past.  Option 1 and 2 works best for my setup as Option 3 limits you to 20 connected devices.

Option 1 (Bridge Mode):

- Enable IP Passthrough Mode on the MR1100 (Settings>Setup>Mobile Router Setup).  Steps are also detailed in the User Manual.

- Nothing needs to be done on Orbi router side.

Option 2 (DMZ)

- Set a static IP on the Orbi router (i.e 192.168.1.45) - Advanced Settings>Setup>Internet Setup - https://kb.netgear.com/31140/How-do-I-manually-enter-a-static-IP-address-for-my-Orbi-router

- Set the Orbi's static IP as the IP in M1's DMZ (Settings>Advanced Settings>Other - enter 192.168.1.45 into the IP field).

Option 3 (Enable AP mode on Orbi)

- Enable Access Point mode on Orbi Router - https://kb.netgear.com/31218/How-do-I-configure-my-Orbi-router-to-act-as-an-access-point

I am happy to walk you through it if you are still having issues.  Please send me a PM if you require some assistance.

Regards,

ArodiD