Looking for buy Netear Orbi RBK50 - few questions

[myraid1]

Hi.  I am new to the community but have narrowed down my search for a 'mesh' WiFi system for my house.  A bit of background on my configuration;

• I have a Sagecom modem/router that sits central in the house. 
• Connected to it is a HP 24 port auto switch that controls most of my wired devices throughout.  
• Three access points all with a different SSID.  One of the SSID's is from the Sagecom, the other two are routers set as AP.
• I have three wired Android boxes, three  wired Apple TV boxes (used primarily for Netflix and Music), three wired Dune boxes and about 8 wireless devices being used at different time.  Wireless devices are Ipads, Iphones, laptop connected via VPN when I do work from home, etc.
• Some home automation devices as well like Nest thermostat,  Harmony hub remotes, lighting, etc.

I would like to use the Orbi system as AP's with each one connected by Ethernet.  I will start off with the two and if I need another satellite unit, purchase this down the road.

Based on the reviews I have read and the fact that we are fed up toggling between the three SSID names, these are my primary reasons I am considering the Orbi system.  

Anyone with a similar setup that can give me some advice or recommendations before I pull the trigger?  

Thanks

Shawn

[tsig]

recently installed my orbi system as an AP.  Simply unboxed it, synched up the satellite, went into my existing router and turned off its wifi and changed the ssid and password on the orbi to my old one.  Everything but my HP wireless printer connected no problem.  Had to reset and then connect the printer.  Been completely happy for several weeks now.

[myraid1]

Thanks for the quick reply.  Are you happy with the speed?  Also, is there nothing you need to change in the setup to set the Orbi as an AP?

[Roamabout]

I have a similarly large and complex environment. Given the current instability of the wired backhaul I would not underestimate the speed and stability of the wireless backhaul between the Orbi sats and the Orbi router. I have my Orbi router in the middle of a large-ish house wired into a 24 port switch in the basement but the two sats are wireless in the far extremeties of the upper floor.

I only have 50mpbs service from Verizon but I can max out that connection from any location in the house over wifi using any 5Ghz device.

[tsig]

Speed has been great. It comes set up as a router, so yes you do need to change it to AP mode.

[myraid1]

  

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@Roamaboutwrote:

I have a similarly large and complex environment. Given the current instability of the wired backhaul I would not underestimate the speed and stability of the wireless backhaul between the Orbi sats and the Orbi router. I have my Orbi router in the middle of a large-ish house wired into a 24 port switch in the basement but the two sats are wireless in the far extremeties of the upper floor.

I only have 50mpbs service from Verizon but I can max out that connection from any location in the house over wifi using any 5Ghz device.

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Thanks.  I have read quite a bit about the issue with the wired backhaul which has me reluctant to purchase.  That being said, I too only have wireless 50mbps at the moment so hearing you are maxing out that speed in all corners of your house is promising.   Instead of directly connecting it to my switch however I will hard wire connect it directly to my service provider modem/router and then position the other satellite some place in our finished basement.  I see you have a three box system vs the two box.  I was just considering the two box system for our ~3600 sq ft house.  You think I should consider the three box system for this size?   

[Roamabout]

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@myraid1wrote:

  

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@Roamaboutwrote:

I have a similarly large and complex environment. Given the current instability of the wired backhaul I would not underestimate the speed and stability of the wireless backhaul between the Orbi sats and the Orbi router. I have my Orbi router in the middle of a large-ish house wired into a 24 port switch in the basement but the two sats are wireless in the far extremeties of the upper floor.

I only have 50mpbs service from Verizon but I can max out that connection from any location in the house over wifi using any 5Ghz device.

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Thanks.  I have read quite a bit about the issue with the wired backhaul which has me reluctant to purchase.  That being said, I too only have wireless 50mbps at the moment so hearing you are maxing out that speed in all corners of your house is promising.   Instead of directly connecting it to my switch however I will hard wire connect it directly to my service provider modem/router and then position the other satellite some place in our finished basement.  I see you have a three box system vs the two box.  I was just considering the two box system for our ~3600 sq ft house.  You think I should consider the three box system for this size?   

It probably depends on the shape of your house. Ours is 60 feet long and 20 feet deep with a 20x20 screened porch on the back. I may have been ok with the Orbi router on the firstt floor and one sat in the middle of the uper floor. I paid under $400 for the 3 component kit from Costco so I did not hesitate to get the kit with the two sats. I placed the Orbi router (in AP mode) in the kitchen/fam room on the ground floor so it is pretty much in the center of that floor. The sats went in the two upper corners. One upper corner is an office with a lot of gear including a file/media server. The other corner is the master bederoom with lot of smarthome and entertainment stuff in it.

Here is my wired network. There are around 30 wifi devices connecting to the Orbi system in addition to the one wired printer in the upstairs office.

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[Roamabout]

[myraid1]

Thanks for the picture.  Very similar layout as mine.   I also have a small switch in a room off the kitchen for additional wired control.  I am going to continue with a bit more research between the Orbi and the Google WiFi system.   So far Orbi has a bit of a lead.

Shawn

[myraid1]

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@Roamaboutwrote:

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Ok, I have ordered the three pack as well for slightly more than $400.  Once I receive them,  I will try and replicate your install.   Thanks again for your time in assisting me.  

Shawn

[Roamabout]

You will be spared the potential issues of 2.1.2.18 and hopefully have a good experience whiloe Netgear sorts out the problems and re-releases it. Not an issue for me but a problem for the folks that were depending on the ethernet backhaul.

Being both retired and untrusting I keep a network monitor runnning so if any of the critcal bits goes poof I will hear about it.

Freindy Ping

[dangitzin]

Were you unable to turn off the wifi radio for from your Sagecom gateway?
For a little perspective, I have the RBK50 kit(1 router/1 satellite) for a ~3000 sq ft home. My misfortune is that my satellite is positioned in the complete opposite ends between downstairs and upstairs away from my modem and router. The system still does a great job blanketing the house with wifi coverage but depending on which room of the house I'm in, my wireless devices sometimes connects to the 2.4ghz signal instead of the 5ghz. It's a bit a of a nuisance for me. I would gripe more about this, but it'll just seem like rambling and not make a lot of sense and I plan on buying a 2nd satellite to fix this small issue. Also, be aware that the orbi decides "which is best for you" so you have no control on what frequency your device would be on.
Anyways, since you're good to go for your streaming devices since you're hard wired, depending on your setup and placement of the orbi system and don't mind which frequency your wireless devices are connecting to, you'll like the convenience of having one SSID without worrying about having to manually switch frequencies. I don't think I've notice any hiccups while streaming when my devices get switched frequencies. Personally I think the orbi systems could use some much needed features for a little more networking freedom, it's still a great overall product.
Also be aware others have reported frequent connection loss. I haven't personally experienced this yet(aside from my ISP usually craps out at 3am).

[myraid1]

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@dangitzinwrote:
Were you unable to turn off the wifi radio for from your Sagecom gateway?
For a little perspective, I have the RBK50 kit(1 router/1 satellite) for a ~3000 sq ft home. My misfortune is that my satellite is positioned in the complete opposite ends between downstairs and upstairs away from my modem and router. The system still does a great job blanketing the house with wifi coverage but depending on which room of the house I'm in, my wireless devices sometimes connects to the 2.4ghz signal instead of the 5ghz. It's a bit a of a nuisance for me. I would gripe more about this, but it'll just seem like rambling and not make a lot of sense and I plan on buying a 2nd satellite to fix this small issue. Also, be aware that the orbi decides "which is best for you" so you have no control on what frequency your device would be on.
Anyways, since you're good to go for your streaming devices since you're hard wired, depending on your setup and placement of the orbi system and don't mind which frequency your wireless devices are connecting to, you'll like the convenience of having one SSID without worrying about having to manually switch frequencies. I don't think I've notice any hiccups while streaming when my devices get switched frequencies. Personally I think the orbi systems could use some much needed features for a little more networking freedom, it's still a great overall product.
Also be aware others have reported frequent connection loss. I haven't personally experienced this yet(aside from my ISP usually craps out at 3am).

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Hi.  Thanks for the comments.  I actually have a Sagecom 5250 which is DSL based.   In the next few months, our neighbourhood is finalizing fibre optic into each and every home.  I am ver much looking forward to this as my maximum download speed is 50 mbps.   That being said, this does not seem to be an issue for the amounc of streaming etc my family does.   There is the odd hiccup on my Android streaming boxes but nothing too bad.

[myraid1]

Folks.  So I received my Orbi system today and have been taking baby steps in its setup.  I have the RBR50 and two satellites, RBS50 and RBS40.   I do not have it setup in AP mode as of yet since I am playing around with it ensuring the system can see the satellites, testing WiFI speed, etc.   I have the following firmware for each,

RBR50 - 2.0.1.4

RBS50 - 2.0.1.4

RBS40 - 2.0.0.56

Do I have the latest versions.  When I check connecting to my laptop, it says I am up to date.

Also, I am waiting for a new 24 ports Netgear switch since the one I have (HP 1810) does not have all its ports at 1000mbps. 

Regards,

Shawn

[FURRYe38]

Leave what you have loaded on the system. It's not always recommended to immediately update FW. Run the system and see how it works for you. Let us know if you find any problems before trying to update FW. Not all issues can be correctled by FW updates and can made the problems worse. 

You can use a switch behing the Orbi router for additional LAN ports. I have a 24port switch connected behind mine. 

[myraid1]

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@FURRYe38wrote:

Leave have you have loaded on the system. It's not always recommended to immediately update FW. Run the system and see how it works for you. Let us know if you find any problems before trying to update FW. Not all issues can be correctled by FW updates and can made the problems worse. 

You can use a switch behing the Orbi router for additional LAN ports. I have a 24port switch connected behind mine. 

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Thanks.  Unfortunately I don't have the option of adding a switch behind my Orbi router since most of my hard wire homeruns are in the basement which is where my HP switch at the moment.  I do however have a wire from the basement back up to my cable/modem, Orbi location so all is well. 

Been a few hours and all is well so far.  Will begin the AP process shortly and then begin to dismantle my old WiFi, AP setups

[FURRYe38]

Well you could use the cable going back to the cable modem. 

Ya, let it run for a while and see how it works.

BTW, what is the Mfr and model # of the isp modem? I presume a modem only and not a modem router combo? 

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@myraid1wrote:

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@FURRYe38wrote:

Leave have you have loaded on the system. It's not always recommended to immediately update FW. Run the system and see how it works for you. Let us know if you find any problems before trying to update FW. Not all issues can be correctled by FW updates and can made the problems worse. 

You can use a switch behing the Orbi router for additional LAN ports. I have a 24port switch connected behind mine. 

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Thanks.  Unfortunately I don't have the option of adding a switch behind my Orbi router since most of my hard wire homeruns are in the basement which is where my HP switch at the moment.  I do however have a wire from the basement back up to my cable/modem, Orbi location so all is well. 

Been a few hours and all is well so far.  Will begin the AP process shortly and then begin to dismantle my old WiFi, AP setups

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[myraid1]

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@FURRYe38wrote:

Well you could use the cable going back to the cable modem. 

 

Ya, let it run for a while and see how it works.

 

BTW, what is the Mfr and model # of the isp modem? I presume a modem only and not a modem router combo?

It is a mdoem/router used for internet and television via fibre optic.  It is a Sagecom 5000 something.  I don't recall exactly.  Not in from of it right now.

[FURRYe38]

Ah I see you have a Sagecom 5250. This is a gateway router I believe. I recommend using it in bridge mode. If not, use the DMZ on the modem for the IP address that Orbi router gets from the modem. Helps with double NAT issues that can cause problems. I see you maybe getting Fiber as well. Keep this in mind. 

[myraid1]

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@FURRYe38wrote:

Ah I see you have a Sagecom 5250. This is a gateway router I believe. I recommend using it in bridge mode. If not, use the DMZ on the modem for the IP address that Orbi router gets from the modem. Helps with double NAT issues that can cause problems. I see you maybe getting Fiber as well. Keep this in mind. 

 You are correct, it is a gateway router.  That is a great tip on bridging.  Thanks a lot.  I will give this a try.  Too many folks "stress" testing the system as we speak so will have to hold off for a bit.  Thanks again.

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[FURRYe38]

Yes of course. One think I would do, use the DMZ on the modem for the Orbi router. Do this and will help mitiagate connection issues. 

Enjoy. 

[myraid1]

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@FURRYe38wrote:

Yes of course. One think I would do, use the DMZ on the modem for the Orbi router. Do this and will help mitiagate connection issues. 

Enjoy. 

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Fair enough.  Curious, when using DMZ do you any sort of firewall?  Am I not opening up a risk since I am not assigning a specific port?

[FURRYe38]

DMZ is ok to use since you want the Firewall on the Orbi router handle issues. IN your case, you want DMZ on the modem and not using two firewalls. Just one is needed. The Orbi will handle all firewall problems. 

[myraid1]

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@FURRYe38wrote:

DMZ is ok to use since you want the Firewall on the Orbi router handle issues. IN your case, you want DMZ on the modem and not using two firewalls. Just one is needed. The Orbi will handle all firewall problems. 

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Makes sense.  Will try that setup shortly.  Cheers

[FURRYe38]