New RBR20 - Affecting Ethernet in house?

[QuakerWildcat]

Is there some reason that my new Orbi would interfere with my wired ethernet?

Background: I had decent connectivity in my house, with ethernet throughout, but with the demarc point (and FiOS router) in one corner of the house, WiFi was spotty on the far end. I had a TP-LINK access point on the that far end of the house, but that was dropping a lot, and so I sprung for the Orbi Mesh Router. 

This morning I set up the Orbi in the center of the house, and the satellite directly above it on the 2nd floor. For everybody's convenience, I gave it the same SSID as the FiOS router, and then turned off WiFi on the FiOS router. WiFi now seems to be working great at all corners. 

What's weird: the PCs connected via hard wired ethernet connections throughout the house all say "Unidentified Network: No Internet".

What's weirder: The Orbi itself is connected via ethernet through a switch to the FiOS router, so I know ethernet is working for the Orbi. 

I'm not a networking expert. What am I missing?

[CrimpOn]

The Orbi default mode is as a "router", which means it will respond to DHCP requests. When devices broadcast a DHCP request, any DHCP server on the network can respond and the device talks to the first one that does.  I would switch the Orbi to Access Point (AP) mode.

[FURRYe38]

Is the Orbi system operating in Router or AP mode?

Is your FIOS router bridged or in router mode? 

What is the Mfr and model# of the ethernet switch in the configuration if one is being used?

Is Daisy Chain enabled? If so, disable it on the RBR and check. 

Under Advanced Tab/Advanced Settings/Wireless Settings

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@QuakerWildcat wrote:

Is there some reason that my new Orbi would interfere with my wired ethernet?

Background: I had decent connectivity in my house, with ethernet throughout, but with the demarc point (and FiOS router) in one corner of the house, WiFi was spotty on the far end. I had a TP-LINK access point on the that far end of the house, but that was dropping a lot, and so I sprung for the Orbi Mesh Router. 

This morning I set up the Orbi in the center of the house, and the satellite directly above it on the 2nd floor. For everybody's convenience, I gave it the same SSID as the FiOS router, and then turned off WiFi on the FiOS router. WiFi now seems to be working great at all corners. 

What's weird: the PCs connected via hard wired ethernet connections throughout the house all say "Unidentified Network: No Internet".

What's weirder: The Orbi itself is connected via ethernet through a switch to the FiOS router, so I know ethernet is working for the Orbi. 

I'm not a networking expert. What am I missing?

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[QuakerWildcat]

CrimpOn, thanks for the quick reply. This makes a sense, BUT:

1. About an hour after setting up the Orbi RBR20, all of the devices in the house that were hard-wired via ethernet to the FiOS router started working again, so I'm wondering if I should just leave well-enough alone.
2. I had simply followed the setup instructions and used the Orbi app, and I don't see any settings in the app for router vs. access point. Where/how would I do that?
3. What other nifty features won't I find on the app?

Thanks. This bit is a pain but overall I AM seeing improved WiFi performance and coverage.

[FURRYe38]

You'll find more user features if you use a web browser and log in to the RBRs web page. 

Glad is working now. 

[CrimpOn]

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@QuakerWildcat wrote:

CrimpOn, thanks for the quick reply. This makes a sense, BUT:

1. About an hour after setting up the Orbi RBR20, all of the devices in the house that were hard-wired via ethernet to the FiOS router started working again, so I'm wondering if I should just leave well-enough alone.
2. I had simply followed the setup instructions and used the Orbi app, and I don't see any settings in the app for router vs. access point. Where/how would I do that?
3. What other nifty features won't I find on the app?

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As @FURRYe38 pointed out, most of the "interesting" Orbi settings can be accessed only from the web interface.  i.e. a web browser opening http://orbilogin.net.

One thing to be aware of is complications of having two routers, which is often called a "Double-NAT".  https://kb.netgear.com/30186/What-is-Double-NAT You can get really lucky and never have a problem, but there are myriad situations which "just don't work", such as trying to open ports for servers to be reached from the internet, specific internet gaming issues, trying to use OpenVPN to access the Orbi when away from home, using printers, etc..