Orbi WiFi 7 RBE973
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Can I use a mesh network to provide wired interent?

tjm1962
Aspirant

Can I use a mesh network to provide wired interent?

I'm using wireless internet (T-Mobile). But I live in a rural area and have to place the T-Mobile modem in a barn to get a good signal (barn has a good one of sight view of the cell tower).

 

Is there a way to drive the router ("Internet port") of a mesh system with a wifi signal?

 

I would like to setup the router to use the wifi signal as the "Internet" port and then use one of the ethernet ports to drive my home network, where I would drop satellites of the mesh off the wired network.

 

Thanks!

 

 

Message 1 of 16

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tjm1962
Aspirant

Re: Can I use a mesh network to provide wired interent?

I got my configuration up and running.

 

T-Mobile Home Internet in the barn, with ethernet cable going to RBR, which is placed in front of a single pane window.

 

RBS in line of sight of RBR, about 70 feet away, in front of a dual-pane window.

 

Additional RBS on other side of house.

No wired backhaul.

 

Backhaul status for 2nd satellite listed as poor, but still seems to have good connectivity.

 

I have connected the 1st RBS to my wired network in the house, which goes to a netgear switch (GS316).

 

Attached to the netgear switch is a AC1000 wifi router that devices in my basement use. Not important, I just wanted to point out that the RBS did handle connecting to my switch and the ability for other routers/access points to use (which I confirmed with Netgear support).

 

However, speed tests when connected to the AC1000 were low (20 MB/s), so that would not be a viable method for everyday use. It works for me because the devices down there (water leak detector, energy monitor) are low bandwidth.

 

I connected a single device (laptop) to the 2nd satellite via ethernet and did not see the same speed reduction, the speed seemed appropriate for the backhaul status being reported (around 100 MB/s).

 

It appears that the wifi of the Orbi is much better than that provided by the T-Mobile Home Network device. When measured back to back I got 125 MB/s from the T-Mobile wifi, and 140 from the Orbi wifi.

 

Once I had the Orbi I was able to relocate the T-Mobile device to a better location, and I now get results in the 160-200 MB/s for my network (from an iMac located in the same room as the 1st satellite.

 

Summary: You can connect a satellite to a switch and it will handle multiple connections, but the speed through a router connected to that wired network does not come close to the speed of a direct connection (I only saw about 5 MB/s). 

 

Very happy with my purchase (RBK753), before the rest of the house had very limited bandwidth (could not see the T-Mobile internet device), and now I have excellent bandwidth in the entire house.

 

Thanks for all the help! Much appreciated.

 

 

 

 

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Message 12 of 16

All Replies

Re: Can I use a mesh network to provide wired interent?


@tjm1962 wrote:

 

Is there a way to drive the router ("Internet port") of a mesh system with a wifi signal?

 


In effect, you want a wireless to wireless connection between the first router and another device?

 

Not easy.

 

How far is the barn from where you need the wifi?

 

 

 

 

Message 2 of 16
tjm1962
Aspirant

Re: Can I use a mesh network to provide wired interent?

It's about 70 feet to the barn.

 

House is around 2000 sq. feet, do you think a mesh network would work? It would seem to me that everything would have to go through the satellite that is in line of sight of the barn, I wasn't sure if that would hurt performance or not.

Message 3 of 16
FURRYe38
Guru

Re: Can I use a mesh network to provide wired interent?

Being that short of the distance, one could run a CAT6A STP cable from the home out to the barn. 

Or try something like this:

https://www.netgear.com/business/products/wireless/wireless-airbridge/wbc502.aspx

Message 4 of 16

Re: Can I use a mesh network to provide wired interent?


@tjm1962 wrote:

It's about 70 feet to the barn.

 

House is around 2000 sq. feet, do you think a mesh network would work?

 


Do you need the Internet in the barn, or is that just the best place to connect to the satellite?

 

I would investigate ways of improving satellite reception in the home.

 

 

 

Message 5 of 16
tjm1962
Aspirant

Re: Can I use a mesh network to provide wired interent?

Barn is the best place for the T-Mobile Home Internet device due to the hills around here and tower location.

 

If I went mesh it would be line of sight to my house, do you think the 70' would be a problem for a mesh satellite, and then I would put the other satellite in the far corner of the house? Does the second satellite need to be able to reach the Master unit?

 

If I understand correctly I can plug a wired device into a satellite. Any performance concerns if I connect a wired switch for my home network to it?

 

Would it help or hurt if I connected the two satellites with a wired connection?

 

Burying a cable is not something I want to consider, too many obstacles. It might be possible to move the T-Mobile device to the house but would involve installing an antenna on the roof without any guarantee of connectivity (just too many hills and trees in the way...).

 

I'm thinking of trying out the RBK753 (https://www.netgear.com/home/wifi/mesh/rbk853/), any concerns? 

 

Thanks for the help!

Message 6 of 16
FURRYe38
Guru

Re: Can I use a mesh network to provide wired interent?

Might be on the hairy edge of having the RBR in the home and the RBS in the barn. Depending upon barn materials. Signals would need to be mostly unobstructed. Would be best if you could get a LAN wired out there then the RBS would be wired for backhaul and would work great. 

Message 7 of 16
tjm1962
Aspirant

Re: Can I use a mesh network to provide wired interent?

If the RBR and RBS have a line of sight with the only obstruction being a double pane window in the house and a single pane window in the barn does that make it any more likely to work. I get a fairly good wifi signal today from the T-Mobile unit on my iMac that is in the room I would be putting the RBS.

Message 8 of 16
FURRYe38
Guru

Re: Can I use a mesh network to provide wired interent?

Something to try then and see...

Message 9 of 16
tjm1962
Aspirant

Re: Can I use a mesh network to provide wired interent?

Thanks for all the help so far!

 

Does it make any sense to try to connect the two or three RBSs with wired ethernet for some kind of backhaul?

 

Or does the RBR need to be connected by wired ethernet for any type of backhaul to be possible?

 

Thanks again!

Message 10 of 16

Re: Can I use a mesh network to provide wired interent?


@tjm1962 wrote:

 

Does it make any sense to try to connect the two or three RBSs with wired ethernet for some kind of backhaul?

 


I'd say that the previous answer from @FURRYe38 also applies here. Try it and see.

 

We are talking about a set up that isn't common. So there won't be that much past experience to go on.

 

 

Message 11 of 16
tjm1962
Aspirant

Re: Can I use a mesh network to provide wired interent?

I got my configuration up and running.

 

T-Mobile Home Internet in the barn, with ethernet cable going to RBR, which is placed in front of a single pane window.

 

RBS in line of sight of RBR, about 70 feet away, in front of a dual-pane window.

 

Additional RBS on other side of house.

No wired backhaul.

 

Backhaul status for 2nd satellite listed as poor, but still seems to have good connectivity.

 

I have connected the 1st RBS to my wired network in the house, which goes to a netgear switch (GS316).

 

Attached to the netgear switch is a AC1000 wifi router that devices in my basement use. Not important, I just wanted to point out that the RBS did handle connecting to my switch and the ability for other routers/access points to use (which I confirmed with Netgear support).

 

However, speed tests when connected to the AC1000 were low (20 MB/s), so that would not be a viable method for everyday use. It works for me because the devices down there (water leak detector, energy monitor) are low bandwidth.

 

I connected a single device (laptop) to the 2nd satellite via ethernet and did not see the same speed reduction, the speed seemed appropriate for the backhaul status being reported (around 100 MB/s).

 

It appears that the wifi of the Orbi is much better than that provided by the T-Mobile Home Network device. When measured back to back I got 125 MB/s from the T-Mobile wifi, and 140 from the Orbi wifi.

 

Once I had the Orbi I was able to relocate the T-Mobile device to a better location, and I now get results in the 160-200 MB/s for my network (from an iMac located in the same room as the 1st satellite.

 

Summary: You can connect a satellite to a switch and it will handle multiple connections, but the speed through a router connected to that wired network does not come close to the speed of a direct connection (I only saw about 5 MB/s). 

 

Very happy with my purchase (RBK753), before the rest of the house had very limited bandwidth (could not see the T-Mobile internet device), and now I have excellent bandwidth in the entire house.

 

Thanks for all the help! Much appreciated.

 

 

 

 

Message 12 of 16
FURRYe38
Guru

Re: Can I use a mesh network to provide wired interent?

Fyi:

https://kb.netgear.com/000051205/What-is-Ethernet-backhaul-and-how-do-I-set-it-up-on-my-Orbi-WiFi-Sy... 📡

 

Glad you got it working. Please mark your thread as solved so others will know. Be sure to save off a back up configuration to file for safe keeping. Saves time if a reset is needed.
https://kb.netgear.com/000062080/How-do-I-back-up-the-configuration-settings-on-my-Orbi-WiFi-System
Enjoy. 📡

Message 13 of 16

Re: Can I use a mesh network to provide wired interent?


@tjm1962 wrote:

 

Attached to the netgear switch is a AC1000 wifi router that devices in my basement use. Not important, I just wanted to point out that the RBS did handle connecting to my switch and the ability for other routers/access points to use (which I confirmed with Netgear support).

 

However, speed tests when connected to the AC1000 were low (20 MB/s), so that would not be a viable method for everyday use. It works for me because the devices down there (water leak detector, energy monitor) are low bandwidth.

 


If this is a router added to another router, you might want to reconfigure it.

 

AC1000 is not a reliable guide to model number. Many devices come with an AC tag, but it is essentially a label that Netgear, and other brands, attach to hardware to describe wifi speeds.

 

Look at the label on the device for the model number.

 

Depending on what you find, and how you have it connected to the network, your description suggests that it is wired, you might like to turn it into a wireless access point (AP).

 

 

Message 14 of 16
tjm1962
Aspirant

Re: Can I use a mesh network to provide wired interent?

Thank you very much, configuration now backed up.

Message 15 of 16
tjm1962
Aspirant

Re: Can I use a mesh network to provide wired interent?

Model number is Netgear R6080.

 

My apologies for not using the correct terms. It is indeed configured as an Access Point, I logged into it today and confirmed.

 

Thanks again for the help.

Message 16 of 16
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