This topic has been marked solved and closed to new posts due to inactivity. We hope you'll join the conversation by posting to an open topic or starting a new one.
Bridge Mode or Access Point? What's the difference? Cascade??
Hi,
Just to give you a quick background of my setup right now. I have a 4500 sqft house and currently have Uverse Internet (NVG589, 45 mbps down, 5 mbps up). I bought myself a R7000 hoping to expand the entire network. I also have a Netgear EX6100 that I use to extend the network..
So currently I have the R7000 connected in AP mode, and all my devices connect to it and I have turned WiFi off on the NVG589. I also have the EX6100 connected and its piggybacking the WiFi off the R7000. The issue I'm having is that I'm getting slow service connecting through the R7000 (20 mbs, vs the 45mbps. I was getting around 40 mbps connecting to NVG589). This happens when connecting to both the R7000 and the EX6100.
I was looking at the option of connecting the R7000 in bridge mode and see if that would help. But, from my understanding if you are in bridge mode, then the R7000 does not send out WiFi (or extend the network wirelessly, the only advantage is that you can extend things through LAN (wired)) Is that correct? I need something to extend the WiFi as well throughout the house. I can also use the EX6100 but I don't think that is enough for the whole house.
Any suggestions? I've also looked through the forums and saw some people mention Cascading the router, not sure what that does and even if it would help me but if anyone you fill me, it would be greatly appreciated.
Re: Bridge Mode or Access Point? What's the difference? Cascade??
Apparently you can set up the Ex6100 as an AP. This link shows how. I have never used this device, so, only can go by this doc. Scroll down to around Item 15, in the doc. Good Luck!
Re: Bridge Mode or Access Point? What's the difference? Cascade??
A wireless access point is a device that extends a wired network, into the wireless space - it will have an Ethernet port to connect to the wired network, and radio transceivers to connect to wireless devices.
A wireless bridge is an arrangement of devices (minimum two) that link two wired network segments, wirelessly. The bridge concept can be a little difficult to visualize, so let me do a comparison.
Let's say you have a road network, carrying vehicular traffic and that road network ends on one side of a river. Now imagine a second road network, on the other side of the river. If you wanted to join those networks, one way to do it would be to build a bridge.
A wireless bridge is similar in concept - you would take two wireless access points, connect one to the first wired network, and the other to the second wired network, and then you would put both access points into bridged mode, and tell them only to talk to one another - in bridged mode, the access point would not normally accept connections from client devices.
Cascading routers, also known as daisy chaining, is when you connect the WAN side of one router to the LAN side of the other, so you would have internet into the WAN port of one router, and then the WAN port of the second router connected to one of the first router's LAN ports.
My suggestion is that you avoid cascading routers wherever possible - it's not that it can't be done, but you'll generally find that it causes more grief than it is worth.
I'm inclined to say you have the R7000 misconfigured in some fashion - I can't see it limiting you to a 20 mbps connection when configured as an AP - but - I have no personal experience with them so ...
Re: Bridge Mode or Access Point? What's the difference? Cascade??
Hi,
It is a bit delicate to use several AP because the channels must be chosen sufficiently separated to avoid interferencies.
The right choice depends on the wireless mode used, with 20 or 40 or 80MHz bandwidth.
Several AP plugged on the same network is totally different with AP wirelessly connected (client, client bridge, WDS bridge)...
Re: Bridge Mode or Access Point? What's the difference? Cascade??
I have U-Verse with the NVG589 and a R7000 hooked up to it. What you want to do is put the NVG589 into bridge mode and use your R7000 as a router instead of an AP. Bridge mode is called IP Passthrough on the NVG589 and can be found in the Firewall settings.
You can find detailed instructions for setting things up in this article. Be especially sure to change the LAN subnet on the R7000 to something other than 192.168.1.0/24. 192.168.1.0/24 will continue to be used by other devices directly connected to the NVG589's LAN ports, such as your TV set-top boxes.
You may have to reboot both the NVG589 and the R7000, so don't lose hope if things don't start working immediately.
Re: Bridge Mode or Access Point? What's the difference? Cascade??
I cannot speak to Wi-Fi performance because I have never used my R7000 as an AP.
OTOH, the R7000 is a much more capable router than the NVG589. For example, it can support in excess of 30K connections compared to 8K for the NVG589. It should also have a faster processor and, hence, better NAT capabilities.
The final reason to use the R7000 as your router is security. The NVG589 is remotely managed by AT&T. While it is extremely unlikely that they would ever access your home network, there's nothing like peace of mind.
Re: Bridge Mode or Access Point? What's the difference? Cascade??
I use the R7000 in AP mode, with the latest FW from Netgear. I have a CAT6 RJ45 between R7000 and ISP modem. The modem is in Gateway mode, and handling DHCP, an that is all. Everything else disabled on ISP router. Works great.
If I was living in a home your size, I would deploy two R7000's running in AP mode.. Two R7000's should give you great coverage in your home if properly placed. OR, one running in router mode with WIFI on, and the other R7000 running in AP mode. If getting cabling back to connect everything together, try powerline devices to complete your set up. Use CAT6 for cabling everything together..
ISP router (gateway mode) ----------------------- R7000-1 AP DHCP Server ---------------------------------------------R7000-2 AP
or
ISP router (bridged mode) ----------------------- R7000-1 - as router and DHCP | | |----------R7000-2 AP mode
Use different channels 2.ghz and 5ghz on the R7000's. You can use the same SSID's on the two R7000's. Just make sure your SSID's identify what 2.4ghz and what's 5ghz. You "should" be able to roam with this setup.
Re: Bridge Mode or Access Point? What's the difference? Cascade??
Sigghh.. FYI.. Second crude diagram above.. R7000-2 AP should show connecting to R7000-1. Not connecting to ISP router (bridged mode). It shifted when I posted to the forum page..
Re: Bridge Mode or Access Point? What's the difference? Cascade??
netwrks wrote:
Sigghh.. FYI.. Second crude diagram above.. R7000-2 AP should show connecting to R7000-1. Not connecting to ISP router (bridged mode). It shifted when I posted to the forum page..
Appreciate the feedback! I don't know if I can go pick up another one... expenses... but maybe I could try something with the EX6100??
Re: Bridge Mode or Access Point? What's the difference? Cascade??
Apparently you can set up the Ex6100 as an AP. This link shows how. I have never used this device, so, only can go by this doc. Scroll down to around Item 15, in the doc. Good Luck!
