Got a newbie question. For me routers and modems are magical devices. I set them up, they go and I don't think of them any more till they stop working.
Short: Have I done the wrong thing by having the R8000 setup as an AP behind my modem/router?
I got the R8000 to replace an existing router that was setup behind my ADSL modem/router as an AP. When I got the R8000 I flipped the AP switch, set security etc and dropped it in where the old AP was. Everything is working fine.
But it won't stop bugging me that I've done the wrong thing? I vaguely recall that I can put my modem into bridge mode and have the new router control it. Is that what I should be doing? Does the newer R8000 hardware have superior support for what my modem/router is currently doing, (dhcp, firewall etc), that it would be worth rejigging my home network for? Or should I just not touch what is currently working.
First - I'm a subscriber to the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" approach - if it's working and you're happy why change anything?
Having said that, the R8000 is probably a newer product than the modem router, with a better feature set - however - the advancements are primarily in the WiFi area and you are already receiving those benefits simply having it as an access point.
Here's what I would consider the defining test - if you do an internet speed test, do you receive the maximum bandwidth you are paying for? If you are, changing the way things are setup is unlikely to make a significant improvement, and not worth the headache of doing so.
Give a man a fish, feed him for a day Teach a man to fish, feed him for life.
Short: Have I done the wrong thing by having the R8000 setup as an AP behind my modem/router?
No you are have not done the wrong thing ... Assuming that your modem/roter dose not include built in wireless radios and if they do that you've turn of the integrated radios.
On the other and putting your modem/router in bridge mode is the far better choice as the R8000 is far superior as a router.
As I had a bit of time today I did have a stab at putting the modem into bridge mode.
I did get it to work. But I seemed to lose the ability to modify some of the advanced modem settings, like SNR, normally done through the modem. Plus I also lost the wireless network on the modem that I use to host all my junk devices that I like to keep away from my 'real' networks. (I have no neighbours nearby so I don't have to worry about sharing the spectrum)
Someone who knows what they are doing could probably get it working. But as I'm more of a quick set and forget kind of guy it was beyond me.
One thing I did find when I was putting it all back together was that the R8000 wasn't quite the drop in replacement that I initially thought it was.
In my original setup those junk devices on the modem wifi could see my computers on the netgear routers wifi. Now they can't see the same computers on the R8000 wifi. They can still see the internet, so it's not a problem. I'm just curious why.
In my original setup those junk devices on the modem wifi could see my computers on the netgear routers wifi. Now they can't see the same computers on the R8000 wifi. They can still see the internet, so it's not a problem. I'm just curious why.
Craig.
You most likely still have the R8000 in router mode, splitting the network into two segments.
Give a man a fish, feed him for a day Teach a man to fish, feed him for life.
You most likely still have the R8000 in router mode, splitting the network into two segments.
I don't think so. That's one thing I like about this one compared to the old one. One big simple checkbox for people like me saying 'enable AP mode'. On my old one I had to look stuff up. Plus the DHCP server on the old router was handing out ip's to things on the new router. So some kind of communication seemed to be going on?
But it's all good now. About an hour after my last post everything started working. Without me touching anything? Why? Who knows. I went and had lunch and when I got back everything was working.
I'm just going to back slowly out of the room and not touch anything.
