How do I Reset Orbi as Access Point

[blasmazzeo]

The root issue is that I have not been able to connect to my wireless printer from my windows 10 desktop for a several weeks.  My destop is having connection issues with the devices attached to the Orbi.  I can log directly into the Orbi through the app and see the devices but they don't seem to be visible from the desktop or the ATT router.   The devices attached to the Orbi can interact with each other and are able to access the internet.

I just replaced the ATT router thinking that was the problem.  My configuration is an ATT router is connected to the internet withare 4 ethernet connections to it including one to the desktop and one to the Orbi.  The desktop and the Orbi are connected to the same the home network.

What makes me think the desktop can't see the Orbi is that it can't detect the wireless printer attached to the Orbi and if I type the Orbi addess (http://192.168.1.1 or 10.etc)  into a browser, it times out.

I tried following the directions on the netgear site to resetup the Orbi as a access point.  The netgear site instructs you to go to advance settings in the app but I don't see that option in the netgear orbi app.  Obviously I can't change it from the desktop since it can't see the Orbi in its browsers.

Do I have any options others than to reset the orbi back to factory settings?

By the way, its disappointing that I can't log a online support case.  Netgear used to let you do that even if the inital support period ended.

[blasmazzeo · Accepted solution]

I reset the Orbi to be  an access point.  I temporarily lost access to the printer and music server but restarting the Orbi and the PC fixed that.

(It looked like the Orbi automatically restarted when the change was made, but apparently that was not the case.)

We will see if the issue with internet access re-occurs again.  Maybe this has solved the problem.  Thanks for all your advice.  (This is better than waiting days for a response from Netgear.)  I will let you know tomorrow if this solution worked.

[plemans]

Orbi can't be changed to access point mode from the app. It needs to be done from the browser. 

If the orbi isn't in AP mode right now, simply disconnect the orbi from the att router, leave the pc connected to orbi, and simple reboot both. The pc should pull an ip address from orbi and you should be able to log into it using that. then switch it to AP mode and reconnect it to the att device. 

[plemans]

https://kb.netgear.com/31218/How-do-I-configure-my-Orbi-router-to-act-as-an-access-point

[blasmazzeo]

I tried rewiring the ethernet cables as you suggested and that did the trick.  I plugged the desktop into the Orbi and left the Orbi connected into the wired router and was then able to access both the Orbi wireless devices and the internet with the desktop.

For some reason, the devices connected to the back of the ATT router can acess the internet but not each other.  There must be either a firewall preventing that or a network needs to be setup in windows.  Good luck trying to get that information from AT&T.  If the automated answering system does not hang up on you (it uses covid-19 as the excuse) you end up speaking to a tech after waiting an hour that does not know what to do because it's not in his script.  It was an ATT tech that had me move my ethernet connections from an ethernet switch to the back of the router after which I lost the ethernet connection to the Orbi.

It reminds me of the running joke on John Oliver where people in developing countries feel sorry for us because we have ATT.

If any one knows who to get the ethernet devices plugged into the router to talk to each other, it would be helpful.

[plemans]

If you get it setup and wired properly:

ATT modem\router-----orbi (ap mode)---Devices

     |

     |

Devices

then reboot the (not reset) the whole network and devices. This will ensure they're all on the same subnet. 

Also, make sure all your windows devices are setup on a "private" connection and not set to "public"

that should allow them to "see" each other. 

[Mikey94025]

---

@blasmazzeo wrote:

For some reason, the devices connected to the back of the ATT router can acess the internet but not each other.

...

If any one knows who to get the ethernet devices plugged into the router to talk to each other, it would be helpful.

---

Do you really need to connect those devices to the ATT router instead of your Orbi?  Your home network would be much simpler if you just connect everything to the Orbi and only have one device connected to the ATT router, the Orbi.

[blasmazzeo]

My Orbi has two ethernet ports otherwise I would do that.  Before moving the cables to the router,  I had them connected to an netgear ethernet switch.  ATT tech thought that was contributing to the problem of being able to resolve websites when the browser was first lauched.

[blasmazzeo]

That solution would make sense except my Orbi has only 2 ethernet ports.  Would need 4 to hookup all my wired devices.

[plemans]

A cheap gigabit unmanaged switch isn't a bad idea. 

But if the orbi is in AP mode, it shouldn't matter if your devices are connected to the ATT device or the orbi, they should be on the same subnet. Again, do a system wide power off and back on so they pull new IP addresses. 

PS. you put cbr40 in this post signature. The others had the RBR20. Which is it? 

[blasmazzeo]

I'm back to the configuration before my internet issues began.  The Orbi is connected to the ATT router.  My windows 10 desktop and my Vortexbox (Linux computer) music server are connected to a Netgear GS105 ethernet switch which is connected to the second ethernet port on the Orbi.

This has fixed the PC's ability to see the Brother Wireless Printer and the Bluesound music server (connected wireless to the Orbi) in my A/V setup can now see the music files on the PC and the Vortexbox.

But I now have the internet issue again that caused me to swap out the ATT router.  The browser (chrome) on the PC has trouble resolving websites (i.e. yahoo, google, etc) when it is first used in the morning.  Rebooting the PC fixes this.  But I did not have this issue a month ago nor was it a problem when the desktop was connected directly to the router or to the Orbi yesterday.

There is something in having the ethernet switch in the connection that is making it harder for the PC to connect to the internet such as an address that is changed over night.

I have not changed the Orbi to the AP mode.  Would this make a difference?  When I initially set the Orbi up a year ago Netgear Support told me this that this was not required and there were no issues until a month ago.  Also, is there another ethernet switch that would be more transparent?

P.S.  It's an RBR20.  The cbr40 was a typo.

[plemans]

You can get that because of the double nat from running 2x routers in router mode on your network. Its a common problem.

[blasmazzeo · Accepted solution]

I reset the Orbi to be  an access point.  I temporarily lost access to the printer and music server but restarting the Orbi and the PC fixed that.

(It looked like the Orbi automatically restarted when the change was made, but apparently that was not the case.)

We will see if the issue with internet access re-occurs again.  Maybe this has solved the problem.  Thanks for all your advice.  (This is better than waiting days for a response from Netgear.)  I will let you know tomorrow if this solution worked.

[blasmazzeo]

No internet access issues this morning.  Changing the Orbi to the AP mode worked.  I also noticed that when I logged into the ATT router last night that all the wireless devices on the Orbi are now listed.  I could probably move the pc and the Vortexbox from the Ethernet switch to the router but since things are working now, I am going to leave things well enough alone.  Thanks everyone for the useful answers.

[plemans]

Glad to hear you have it up and running properly!