SO this is a setup a youtuber called John Glasscock recommended in his video "Turn Your ISP Router into a Gaming Router." He recommends this setup which also prevents double NAT. Before you tell me to just put the gateway in bridge mode my gateway doesnt have that option. So I have questions/concerns that I want addressed. If the XR500 is in AP mode that means my geo-filter is disabled would it be possible to put the XR500 in router mode without any problems?
That's right, in AP mode you will not have any of the XR500 features. You would be able to put it in router mode yes. I wouldn't recommend this setup however as you're not able to use QoS effectively to control all devices and therefore limit local congestion. You would still be able to use the Geo-Filter if the device was plugged into the XR in this setup if you wanted to keep it this way.
lets say I have all the devices connected to my xr in router mode. then i would be able to QoS effectively. I think the youtuber recommends i put the router in AP mode because it prevents double NAT issues or something like that im not sure if that's true could you confirm that. Plus my switch has QoS so i wouldnt need the xr QoS in this setup. i would plug in devices to my switch that i would give high priority like my ps4 and my pc and then give my xr low priority.
It would prevent a double NAT but that's not why people use that feature. Using the DMZ would fix it while keeping it in router mode. If the PS4 is connected to the Switch above the XR then you wouldn't be able to use the Geo-Filter either, that's why I'd suggest Gateway > XR > Switch
The guides here will help you understand how to use the DMZ for opening NAT as well as what all the features do. http://support.netduma.com/en/support/solutions/folders/16000090646 What negatives do you think there are to using the Geo-Filter? Router mode = All features available AP mode = Severely limited feature set. It won't really improve your range really, it won't interfere with the devices at all and they'll get their IP from the managed switch.
Geo-filter negatives from my experience. Doesn't always connect me to the closest server and I have open NAT. I live in North America and games tested this on were MW2019 and Apex Legends on PS4. Plus I've tested online games without the geo-filter and they already do a pretty good job connecting me to a server in North America. The Geo-filter from my experience is just not gonna make a difference for a user like me, but hey maybe Ill go ahead and try out the DMZ thing at some point if I'm really have ping issues in game, but to be honest i get a decent ping 99% of the time without the geo-filter and with it really makes no difference.
