Are any U.K. members of the community familiar with the Orbi 960 series working in conjunction with BT Internet. My trusty Orbi RBK53 was damaged by a lightning strike in our road and previous to the strike I was getting 60 mbps, and after I am struggling to get 20 mbps. The BT Engineer says he is getting 77mbps in to my house so it’s not the line in. I am looking to replace it with the Orbi 960 series and I would like to know if I just need to plug it in to the modem side of the master socket, or do I need a modem as well? The BT Engineer says not, but I’m not so sure! Any help, advice and guidance would therefore be greatly appreciated.
The ISP should know if a modem or ONT connection is needed to a external router and IF there is any special configurations needed like PPPoE configurations needed on the router.
The new 960 series would be mostly similar to the 50 series on the WAN port so if the RBR50 worked as configured up to it's failure, try putting the 960 RBR online using same configuration as before. I would power OFF the ISP hard ware for 1 minute then back on after connecting the 960 RBR router then power ON the RBR. Check for internet services on the RBR web page and thru the RBR with a ethernet connected PC.
Have the ISP online with you while you try this if needed.
Many thanks for the prompt response. So I guess the nub of my question is, do I actually need a modem, or will the 960 plug directly into the ‘internet’ socket on the master socket?
@MikeG63 wrote: I just need to plug it in to the modem side of the master socket, or do I need a modem as well? The BT Engineer says not, but I’m not so sure! Any help, advice and guidance would therefore be greatly appreciated.
All customer WiFi routers connect the same way. Whatever replaces the RBR50 will plug into the same socket the RBR50 was connected to.
Just as an 'aside', it is unusual for a lightning strike to reduce performance speed rather than kill the router. Do you have a device that can be connected directly to the BT connection to measure speed?
Hi thanks for the reply, you wrote, “ All customer WiFi routers connect the same way. Whatever replaces the RBR50 will plug into the same socket the RBR50 was connected to.” I totally agree with what you say, currently the RBR50 is plugged into an old VDSL modem which the engineer says was obsolete now and that most new routers don’t require and should plug directly into the internet socket of the BT Master Socket. When we tried that with my old RBR50 router it didn’t work. He wasn’t able to test the current VDSL modem and didn’t has a new one on the van. He said in all likelihood the router had been damaged as several other routers in our road had also been taken out.
I have ordered a replacement VDSL router from eBay to check that side of things.
In answer to your other question he was able to run diagnostics tests on the line in and he was seeing 77 mbps. So somewhere between the VDSL modem and the router using Fast.com I’m loosing 40 mbps.
Thus the question as to whether the newer generation of Orbi routers can plug directly into the internet port and bypass the VDSL modem?
If you had a modem prior working with the RBR50, then I presume a modem maybe needed. For a ANY router to work with out the modem, something needs asking with the ISP.
That was the debate I had with the BT Engineer, however as I previously stated, and the reason for my reaching out the Forum, he said the VDSL modem I have is obsolete and modern routers should just plug into the internet socket on the master socket. I am in doubt that this will work, and before I spend £1699.99 on a new router I wanted to be sure as I am still not convinced that it’s not the modem at fault.
Have you ever had a sensible conversation with a BT Support Engineer off shore!!!!
Yes I have, and it doesn’t work. So I’m left wondering a) is it the modem, b) is it the router because it’s an older unit, or do I need a new BT modem that works with the new master socket and I turn the wireless off!!!
Anyway I’ve bought a replacement modem for £22.00 off eBay to hopefully eliminate that possibility. If that doesn’t improve matters I’ll buy a refurbished / replacement RBR50 from eBay and see if that’s the route cause and go from there!
