Orbi RBK23

[Morikid]

Just a general question, whether the RBK23 suitable for a 500mbps incoming service, or will the RBK50 would be better, its a medium size house with a garden room.
Thanks

[CrimpOn]

---

@Morikid wrote:
Just a general question, whether the RBK23 suitable for a 500mbps incoming service, or will the RBK50 would be better, its a medium size house with a garden room.

---

They are different products. 

• The RBK50 has one router and one satellite.  The RBK23 has one router and two satellites.  In a medium size house, this may not make a significant difference.
• The RBR50 (router in the RBK50) has three ethernet LAN ports. The RBR20 (router in the RBK23) has one ethernet LAN port.
  This is not a significant difference because that port can be connected to a cheap gigabit switch to allow many devices to be connected.
• The RBK50 has separate radios and antennas for the 5G WiFi backhaul channel, which produces a theoretical maximum backhaul rate of 1.3GB.  The RBK23 uses the client radios and antennas for 5G WiFi backhaul and has a theoretical maximum backhaul rate of 833mbs, which is shared with client devices.  If the router and satellite(s) were connected using ethernet cables for backhaul, there would be no significant difference.

I doubt most users would  notice a difference between these products unless they intend to connect a very heavy usage device to the satellite over 5G WiFi and expect to backhaul that traffic over the WiFi link to the router.  There is no chance that such an application will realize 500mbs of actual usage in that scenario.  I don't think the RBK50 would either, but it would do more.

Sorry not to be more help.

[FURRYe38]

What is the Mfr and model# of the ISP modem you currently have? 

---

@Morikid wrote:
Just a general question, whether the RBK23 suitable for a 500mbps incoming service, or will the RBK50 would be better, its a medium size house with a garden room.
Thanks

---

[Morikid]

Thank you for the insight of the product & capability. I am UK VIRGIN MEDIA services on a 500mbps service. Their hub is a smart hub 3, but in my opinion & research that hub has poor wifi ping as soon as you move out of the Room the router is in. Thought that the RBK50 would be ideal but costly !! That why I was looking at the cheaper RBK23.. if that make sense 👍🏼😊

[Morikid]

Virgin Media Smart hub3, at the router using my iphone 10, I get about 400-530mbps on wifi. Brilliant, but everywhere else in the house it ranges from 30-80mbps. Having read about the capability of the Orbi 23, thought that might improve my home wifi generally. As my service is 500mbps, the RBK23 is rated ideal for 200mbps.. thats means although i have 500 at my router, if using RBK23 I would be limited to a 200mbps !! Not sure

[FURRYe38]

Ok having two routers on the same line may cause some problems. This would be a double NAT condition which isn't recommended. https://kb.netgear.com/30186/What-is-Double-NAT
https://kb.netgear.com/30187/How-to-fix-issues-with-Double-NAT
Couple of options,
1. Configure the modem for transparent bridge or modem only mode. Then use the Orbi router in router mode. You'll need to contact the ISP for help and information in regards to the modem being bridged correctly.
2. If you can't bridge the modem, disable ALL wifi radios on the modem, configure the modems DMZ/ExposedHost or IP Pass-Through for the IP address the Orbi router gets from the modem. Then you can use the Orbi router in Router mode.
3. Or disable all wifi radios on the modem and connect the Orbi router to the modem, configure AP mode on the Orbi router. https://kb.netgear.com/31218/How-do-I-configure-my-Orbi-router-to-act-as-an-access-point and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H7LOcJ8GdDo&app=desktop 

I would go for option #3 first. 

[Morikid]

Best option in my opinion would be use Virgin hub in Modem mode only as I am not brilliant about configuring routers & use the Orbi Router & connect the orbi satellites to it . However I will read the links that you have supplied to gain knowledge. Thank you for all the help. Now need to decide Which orbi to buy ....

[FURRYe38]

Yes modem in modem mode only would be best. Contact your ISP for help regarding this. 

https://www.netgear.com/orbi/wifi-systems.aspx
https://kb.netgear.com/000038220/What-are-the-hardware-specifications-of-the-available-Orbi-WiFi-Sys...

Good luck. 

[Morikid]

Thank you for all your help

[FURRYe38]

Good Luck.