I have R6700 Nighthawk already setup as my wifi router. I tied Ethernet 25 ft cable to one of LAN ports on Nighthawk to the new Orbi RBR20 Internet port WAN port. Connection checks. Problem when I setup RBR20 to use AP in advanced settings. (a) I lose WiFi will never reconnect no matter how long I wait. (b) IP address not assigned. I find this after connect it directly to PC. I want both Nighthawk and the Orbi to have WiFi. Netgear suggest to turn off the WiFi on the Nighthawk. I don't want to do that. The Orbi is no where near the other router. So no reason why I should . My question obviously is what do I need to do to setup. Will I need to setup the Nighthawk any differently? Also why is Orbi goes out in the weeds once setup as AP. No Wifi, no access . Only way to do anything at that point was to reset the Orbi router.
It may be useful to provide a few more details about how this configuration was achieved. The Orbi product is designed to provide a "seamless WiFi network" where devices connect automatically to either the router or satellite(s) at either 2.4G or 5G, whichever offers the best connection. Nighthawk has more sophisticated control capabilities than Orbi, but it does not offer this type of WiFi. Nighthawk's 2.4G and 5G WiFi networks typically have different names (SSID's) whereas the Orbi uses the same SSID for both 2.4G and 5G, the router, and all of the satellites.
What Netgear advised is what a lot of people recommend. Use the Nighthawk as the "router" for its more sophisticated router capability and use the Orbi to provide seamless WiFi.
So, the Orbi is plugged into the Nighthawk, turned on, and gets an IP address using DHCP from the Nighthawk. What is this IP address?
How do you connect to the Orbi to change it from the default router mode to AP mode? Is it using a PC connected to an Ethernet port on the Nighthawk? on the Orbi? Is it a device connected to the Nighthawk's WiFi network?
What WiFi network name does the Orbi have? Is it the same as the Nighthawk? (oh, dear)
Something is happening in this setup process that is not obvious. This is likely the key to resolving the problem.
By-the-way, 25 feet would not be considered "nowhere near" by most people. Ordinarily, a WiFi host can provide adequate signal strength farther than that. Netgear recommends placing Orbi satellites 30 away from the router.
The Orbi will work with your NH router in AP mode.
What is the size of your home? Sq Ft? What is the distance between the router and satellite(s)? 30 feet is recommended in between them to begin with depending upon building materials.
What channels are you using? Auto? Try setting manual channel 1, 6 or 11 on 2.4Ghz and any unused channel on 5Ghz. Any Wifi Neighbors near by? If so, how many?
@Sh-SJ2011 wrote: I have R6700 Nighthawk already setup as my wifi router. I tied Ethernet 25 ft cable to one of LAN ports on Nighthawk to the new Orbi RBR20 Internet port WAN port. Connection checks. Problem when I setup RBR20 to use AP in advanced settings. (a) I lose WiFi will never reconnect no matter how long I wait. (b) IP address not assigned. I find this after connect it directly to PC. I want both Nighthawk and the Orbi to have WiFi. Netgear suggest to turn off the WiFi on the Nighthawk. I don't want to do that. The Orbi is no where near the other router. So no reason why I should . My question obviously is what do I need to do to setup. Will I need to setup the Nighthawk any differently? Also why is Orbi goes out in the weeds once setup as AP. No Wifi, no access . Only way to do anything at that point was to reset the Orbi router.
Hi Crimpon and FURRYe38 thank you very much for the detailed response!
My setup Steps:
Modem + NH On, status Good, not changed in anyway.
Connect RBR20 to NH
Connect Android to RBR20 WiFi signal. (If someone needs to know, I have Sams. Note8 with android8.0)
Attempt #1. Setup RBK22 following steps on App. Where everything seems to work fine up to the point where it reported no internet detected.
Attempt #2. I reset RBR20, then connect RBR20 via ethernet cable to PC and change it to AP mode.
Go back to Andoid phone and start system setup.
x- app fails and reports I'm not connected to the WiFi network of RBR20.
x- RBR20 appears to continue to transmit its WiFi signal, I still see it, but when I attempt to connect, it continually fails to connect, it’s not just failing to detect internet, it fails to connect (period), and it would continue to attempt to connect but never does. I hit forget network on several occasions to start fresh, but nothing is different.
x- LED ring color is Magenta (solid), not-blinking
x- All wired ethernet access to RBR20 from PC fail, not accessible until RBR20 is rest again.
** Basic setup items already checked. Wires work, even RBK22 system works fine if directly connected to modem.
- Question about IP address: In 1st attempt after step #4 IP was reported as not assigned all zeros (0.0.0.0)
- Question connection to set Orbi in AP mode: Ethernet (white) jack on Orbi to windows PC
- For the suggestion to set NH as AP and turn off its WiFi (and use as router only);
I will attempt tonight to set the NH as AP, but I don’t want to turn off its WiFi. I would like to keep 2 separate networks (different SSIDs of course between NH and RBK22). otherwise, I have no practical use case that would make me want to keep NH as router only. I think I can get enough coverage with Orbi + 1 Satellite, though optimally would use 2nd Orbi Satellite unit, but Netgear price structure makes this option unreasonable. i.e., too expensive to buy a 2nd sat. unit. But if someone could tell me for sure that AP mode will force WiFi off on NH router, then this solution I’m attempting is not what I’m after.
- Comments about distance: your comments are understood. my point was that NH is next to modem, the Orbi is 25 ft away will still overlap in coverage but will keep on different channels so not a direct source of interference. But 25ft is not absolute, I could place the RBR20 even further away from NH, easily up to 40 ft away. The reason I used 25ft Cat5e cable is that I didn’t know if signal degrades with unshielded cables.
- Comments or questions about WiFi environment: I do detect 2 strong WiFi networks from my neighbors, in addition 5-8 more that are weak. Example (Just for perspective): The 5GHz network from my NH is not detectable at my furthest point at home, the 2.4Ghz is intermittent, while neighbors stronger networks are detected with 2-3 bars in my family room which is where my NH is located. My house is 3x longer than its width, unfortunately modem is one end, and rooms on other end down or upstairs lose connection sporadically. My house is typical SF bay area construction 2700sqft but narrow..with wood-frame/Drywall/carpet floors between 2nd/1st floors. So positioning the Orbi center and satellite at the other end is what I have in mind. Keeping NH WiFi would get me strong signal where I need it on average.
- To be honest, the concept of Access Point (AP) is new to me. the setting is under WiFi (advanced setup) but would have expected it to be under (advanced) general router setup because my assumption is that the router ability to pass / assign IP addresses to downstream routers wouldn’t stop it from allocating IP address to its own WiFi network. Again, if I have this AP concept misunderstood, and AP means WiFi is off then please save me the trouble and let me know it’s not possible to setup AP and WiFi on same router.
x- LED ring color is Magenta (solid), not-blinking
This means the Orbi did not get an IP address assigned to it. The WAN (yellow) port on the Orbi is connected to one of the ports on the Nighthawk, correct? Default behavior is for the Orbi to request an IP address. If the Nighthawk does not provide an IP to the Orbi, that is an issue that must be corrected on the Nighthawk. Until this is remedied, you cannot procede. (Have you tried a different Ethernet cable?)
The reason I used 25ft Cat5e cable is that I didn’t know if signal degrades with unshielded cables.
Ethernet cables are never shielded and can be up to 90m long without impacting performance. (But, this is not relevant to the primary issues.)
but I don’t want to turn off its WiFi. I would like to keep 2 separate networks (different SSIDs of course between NH and RBK22).
You are not required to turn off the Nighthawk's WiFi, as long as you understand how WiFi signals interfere and the implications of running two separate WiFi networks. (You seem to be willing to deal with those issues.)
I think my next step would be to connect the PC to the Nighthawk, connect with a web browser (probably to 192.168.1.1) and display the list of "Attached Devices". Then, plug in the Orbi, refresh the Attached Devices page and see what IP has been assigned to the Orbi. You need this IP address.
Using the PC browser, connect to the Orbi at that IP address. (You should not need to disconnect the PC from the Nighthawk.) Set up the Orbi WiFi network name and password. At that point, you can go to the Advanced page and change the Orbi from "router" to "access point" and reboot.
I would remove the NH router temporarily and connect the Orbi router directly to the modem and test to see if this configuration works. Seems like your making things a bit too complex for your self.
The AP mode concept is for use of the Orbi if you already have a NAT router in front of the orbi or you want to use a different router as your main host router and then use the Orbi's wifi MESH system. This also helps in ease of setup of some complex systems. AP mode and configurations has been around for a long time.
Hi Crimpon and FURRYe38 thank you very much for the detailed response!
My setup Steps:
Modem + NH On, status Good, not changed in anyway.
Connect RBR20 to NH
Connect Android to RBR20 WiFi signal. (If someone needs to know, I have Sams. Note8 with android8.0)
Attempt #1. Setup RBK22 following steps on App. Where everything seems to work fine up to the point where it reported no internet detected.
Attempt #2. I reset RBR20, then connect RBR20 via ethernet cable to PC and change it to AP mode.
Go back to Andoid phone and start system setup.
x- app fails and reports I'm not connected to the WiFi network of RBR20.
x- RBR20 appears to continue to transmit its WiFi signal, I still see it, but when I attempt to connect, it continually fails to connect, it’s not just failing to detect internet, it fails to connect (period), and it would continue to attempt to connect but never does. I hit forget network on several occasions to start fresh, but nothing is different.
x- LED ring color is Magenta (solid), not-blinking
x- All wired ethernet access to RBR20 from PC fail, not accessible until RBR20 is rest again.
** Basic setup items already checked. Wires work, even RBK22 system works fine if directly connected to modem.
- Question about IP address: In 1st attempt after step #4 IP was reported as not assigned all zeros (0.0.0.0)
- Question connection to set Orbi in AP mode: Ethernet (white) jack on Orbi to windows PC
- For the suggestion to set NH as AP and turn off its WiFi (and use as router only);
I will attempt tonight to set the NH as AP, but I don’t want to turn off its WiFi. I would like to keep 2 separate networks (different SSIDs of course between NH and RBK22). otherwise, I have no practical use case that would make me want to keep NH as router only. I think I can get enough coverage with Orbi + 1 Satellite, though optimally would use 2nd Orbi Satellite unit, but Netgear price structure makes this option unreasonable. i.e., too expensive to buy a 2nd sat. unit. But if someone could tell me for sure that AP mode will force WiFi off on NH router, then this solution I’m attempting is not what I’m after.
- Comments about distance: your comments are understood. my point was that NH is next to modem, the Orbi is 25 ft away will still overlap in coverage but will keep on different channels so not a direct source of interference. But 25ft is not absolute, I could place the RBR20 even further away from NH, easily up to 40 ft away. The reason I used 25ft Cat5e cable is that I didn’t know if signal degrades with unshielded cables.
- Comments or questions about WiFi environment: I do detect 2 strong WiFi networks from my neighbors, in addition 5-8 more that are weak. Example (Just for perspective): The 5GHz network from my NH is not detectable at my furthest point at home, the 2.4Ghz is intermittent, while neighbors stronger networks are detected with 2-3 bars in my family room which is where my NH is located. My house is 3x longer than its width, unfortunately modem is one end, and rooms on other end down or upstairs lose connection sporadically. My house is typical SF bay area construction 2700sqft but narrow..with wood-frame/Drywall/carpet floors between 2nd/1st floors. So positioning the Orbi center and satellite at the other end is what I have in mind. Keeping NH WiFi would get me strong signal where I need it on average.
- To be honest, the concept of Access Point (AP) is new to me. the setting is under WiFi (advanced setup) but would have expected it to be under (advanced) general router setup because my assumption is that the router ability to pass / assign IP addresses to downstream routers wouldn’t stop it from allocating IP address to its own WiFi network. Again, if I have this AP concept misunderstood, and AP means WiFi is off then please save me the trouble and let me know it’s not possible to setup AP and WiFi on same router.
