RBK763S - Adding additional Satellites and Routers (AP)
Hi there,
I am hoping someone can help me please.
In my country (the UK) it was not possible to buy individual satellites (RBS760) and it has been this way for some time. Over Black Friday the RBK763S kit went down in price to a point where it was the same price as buying two satellites anyway. As such I now own 3 x RBK763S kits. I have all the 6 Satellites setup now (2 wired and 4 over WiFi as recommended). I however have 2 spare routers. I read that you can set them up in AP mode and wire them back to the main Orbi router. However the info is pretty flaky in regards to a hybrid setup like I am looking for. i ran some CAT7 cables out to my workshop and upstairs, which would be ideal to have a wired router (in AP mode) on the end of it. How can I achieve a setup that would allow for 6 satellites and 3 routers? I know this sounds overkill, but i don't like wasting a perfectly good router and have really think walls/ a lot of ground to cover. Would having 2 routers in AP mode and my current setup work?
Would having 2 routers in AP mode and my current setup work?
The answer is "sort of".
Any WiFi Access Point can be connected to the existing Orbi network using an Ethernet cable. (from any brand).
It can be set to broadcast the same WiFi SSID or to any SSID of your choosing.
In this configuration, these spare Orbi routers will add devices to the existing LAN IP subnet. They will all be able to connect to each other.
The issue is that these additional WiFi access points are not part of the "mesh". Devices will not roam seamlessly between these units and the existing units. Devices connected to either part (primary or add-ons) will tend to "stick" to that access point until it becomes inaccessible, at which point they will look around for a WiFi network to join.
As an example, you could have WiFi systems in two houses miles apart with the same WiFi credentials, which devices can save in order to connect without requiring the user to enter a password. When you go to one house, "aha. here's a WiFi I know how to log onto." When you go to the other house, the same thing happen. It is not surprising that the device loses connection to one house before connecting to the other.
So, walking from the barn to the house may cause the signal to drop so far that a phone disconnects from the barn and "finds" the house system. Or..... it may not.
Re: RBK763S - Adding additional Satellites and Routers (AP)
Thank you very much for your comprehensive answer :-). Don't have the distance to allow for my devices to lose connection to the APs, so it looks like I have some Christmas presents to give now :-).
