×

Introducing the Orbi 970 Series Mesh System with WiFi 7(BE) technology. For more information visit the NETGEAR Press Room.

Orbi WiFi 7 RBE973
Reply

Orbi RBR50 plus Sat’s...I don’t have a Modem Please Help Setup

FrognJeep
Aspirant

Orbi RBR50 plus Sat’s...I don’t have a Modem Please Help Setup

My Internet comes through fiber optic cable and I do not have/use a modem. My NightHawk A1900 was doing a fantastic job, but we have a large house and I wanted better coverage and decided to try the Orbi mesh system. Orbi + Sat & Outdoor Sat.
I plugged the ethernet cable into the Orbi router and I thought everything was going to be OK because the satellites were found and the Orbi app let me continue with setting up my SSID and password. On the Orbi app it shows the Internet is off-line and I do not understand why. All the troubleshooting points towards the battery back up inside the modem, but I do not have/use a modem. I even went outside and disconnected/reconnected the batt backup for my tele/int and nothing changed 😩
PLEASE HELP!!!
Model: RBR50|Orbi AC3000 Tri-band WiFi Router
Message 1 of 20
CrimpOn
Guru

Re: Orbi RBR50 plus Sat’s...I don’t have a Modem Please Help Setup

Sometimes the "fiber nternet box" has learned the ethernet MAC address of the router and it waiting for it to reappear.  Did you (a) turn off both the Orbi and fiber box, (b) turn the fiber box back on, and finally (c) turn the Orbi on?

Message 2 of 20
FrognJeep
Aspirant

Re: Orbi RBR50 plus Sat’s...I don’t have a Modem Please Help Setup

Thank you for responding!
We have a backup battery box outside, a cat 5 port in the wall and a Comtrend ES-7208 switch and router. I wish I could say that there was a fiber internet box or modem, but there just isn’t.
I called my ISP to make sure I wasn’t forgetting anything and they confirmed all should be well!
Many hours ago, I disconnected the backup batt and waited for 30 sec and reconnected it.
I unplugged the switch and waited and reconnected.
I was on a support call with netgear and did all of that again along with using a paper clip to reset the Orbi.
I just plugged my nighthawk back up and it’s working fine.
This is so frustrating!! I’m thinking of taking the Orbi to my parents’ house to try on their network. The only prob is that it’s the same ISP as mine and same equip.
This Orbi system should b plug and play??
I appreciate any other ideas you’ve got...😐
Model: RBR50|Orbi AC3000 Tri-band WiFi Router
Message 3 of 20
FrognJeep
Aspirant

Re: Orbi RBR50 plus Sat’s...I don’t have a Modem Please Help Setup

PER NETGEAR SUPPORT...
You must have a modem in order to use the Orbi Router!
I had to plug the Orbi into my Nighthawk router to use it as a modem!
I can not believe this is the way it has to be, but I only hope that the network speed is better throughout my home...which is why I bought Orbi in the first place! 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻
Model: RBR50|Orbi AC3000 Tri-band WiFi Router
Message 4 of 20
CrimpOn
Guru

Re: Orbi RBR50 plus Sat’s...I don’t have a Modem Please Help Setup

It would help if you can find the model number of the nighthawk.AC1900 is a speed number, not a model number.  For example, the Orbi RBR50 is "AC3000" because when they add up the maximum transmission speed of all the radios it sums to 3,000.

Message 5 of 20
CrimpOn
Guru

Re: Orbi RBR50 plus Sat’s...I don’t have a Modem Please Help Setup

The Nighthawk was connected to that ethernet jack on the wall?

Wonder where the other end of that cable is?

Message 6 of 20
FrognJeep
Aspirant

Re: Orbi RBR50 plus Sat’s...I don’t have a Modem Please Help Setup

Internet port on wall to Nighthawk R7300.
Cable on port 1 of Nighthawk to Orbi RBR50.
Other community talks were about turning off the WiFi radios on Nighthawk. I did that hoping the Orbi would be the only thing drawing from the Nighthawk.
Problem now is that before I hooked up the Orbi to the Nighthawk, the download was 95 and now it’s back to 19. I hope I didn’t do this wrong and not be able to get it back!
I’m not an IT person, just a regular Sally trying to get what I thought would broadcast the great rural internet we pay for. I’m running out of knowledge base and need help to figure it out...short of calling my isp to do it for me at $75/hour 😳
Thx for any help you can give!
Model: RBR50|Orbi AC3000 Tri-band WiFi Router
Message 7 of 20
FrognJeep
Aspirant

Re: Orbi RBR50 plus Sat’s...I don’t have a Modem Please Help Setup

I have no clue.
The fiber optic comes into the telephone box outside and then we have a backup batt on the system, then the port in the wall and a comtrend switch before router.
Model: RBR50|Orbi AC3000 Tri-band WiFi Router
Message 8 of 20
CrimpOn
Guru

Re: Orbi RBR50 plus Sat’s...I don’t have a Modem Please Help Setup

Are you able to open the battery box and see what is inside it?

There has to be some kind of electronics to convert from fiber optics to ethernet.  (My son just got gigabit fiber and he has a box where the fiber plugs in and it has an ethernet jack to connect the router.)

Message 9 of 20
FrognJeep
Aspirant

Re: Orbi RBR50 plus Sat’s...I don’t have a Modem Please Help Setup

I am so sorry that I have been away for a long time.

I tried opening the battery box in there is only a battery inside.

 

I have found other information online, but I am still not sure how to convert my nighthawk router into a modem for the Orbi to work.

 

Can you please help me figure out what to do?

Model: RBR50|Orbi AC3000 Tri-band WiFi Router
Message 10 of 20
Retired_Member
Not applicable

Re: Orbi RBR50 plus Sat’s...I don’t have a Modem Please Help Setup


@FrognJeep wrote:

I am so sorry that I have been away for a long time.

I tried opening the battery box in there is only a battery inside.

 

I have found other information online, but I am still not sure how to convert my nighthawk router into a modem for the Orbi to work.

 

Can you please help me figure out what to do?


At this point I think you'd be better off dumping the nighthawk, buy a real modem and call it a day.

Message 11 of 20
Retired_Member
Not applicable

Re: Orbi RBR50 plus Sat’s...I don’t have a Modem Please Help Setup

One other point of clarification, The Nighthawk AC1900  is a Cable Modem Router.  Therefore you already have a modem.  Perhaps the answer if you don't want to buy a new modem, is to turn off the wifi on the  Nighthawk AC1900.

Message 12 of 20
CrimpOn
Guru

Re: Orbi RBR50 plus Sat’s...I don’t have a Modem Please Help Setup


@Retired_Member wrote:

One other point of clarification, The Nighthawk AC1900  is a Cable Modem Router.  Therefore you already have a modem.  Perhaps the answer if you don't want to buy a new modem, is to turn off the wifi on the  Nighthawk AC1900.


This has been the point of confusion for me since the beginning.  "Where's the modem?"

 

I was not successful in finding information about "Nighthawk R7300".  I did come across "Nighthawk R7300DST" which is a combination of a Nighthawk WiFi router and a range extender.  http://www.downloads.netgear.com/files/GDC/datasheet/en/R7300DST.pdf 

Looking at the picture of the back of the unit, there is the familiar yellow WAN port, LAN ports, etc. etc. but there is NO coax connector.  Nothing in the description says anything about "cable" or "fiber".

 

This situation is about fiber internet service that comes into the house as a fiber and appears on the wall as an RJ45 jack.  I know of no "connector" that can magically transform fiber into RJ45.  There must be *something* that converts from fiber to ethernet.  My son has fiber, and he clearly has a box with fiber in, ethernet out.

Message 13 of 20
Retired_Member
Not applicable

Re: Orbi RBR50 plus Sat’s...I don’t have a Modem Please Help Setup

Yeah....you right...The Nighthawk AC1900 is just a router.  Has the OP called the ISp and asked the question there?  If the The Nighthawk AC1900  is just a router, you would think it's the same setup as a Orbi.  Both need a modem.  So if there is NO modem in the current setup, I would ask the ISP how is that possible.  Never would have bought the Orbi before I had that answer.

Message 14 of 20
CrimpOn
Guru

Re: Orbi RBR50 plus Sat’s...I don’t have a Modem Please Help Setup

Yes, this is what mystifies me.  There has to be "something" that converts from fiber to ethernet, and that "something" requires electrical power.  Tracing things can be a chore.  I know when they ran fiber to my son's house, the "fiber box" was on the side of the house toward the rear.  Since his electronics were at the front, the installer went through the crawl space all the way to the front, drilled a hole, and brought the fiber up through the floor where it goes into the fiber modem.  (Is that the right term, "fiber modem"?)

 

It might help to know the name of the ISP.  Maybe we can find reference on the internet of what devices they install?

Message 15 of 20
FrognJeep
Aspirant

Re: Orbi RBR50 plus Sat’s...I don’t have a Modem Please Help Setup

We live in a rural area and are lucky to have as much Mbps as we do.
Our fiber optic line is also our home telephone line. All things communication run thru it. We use antennas to save $ on cable tv, so it’s just internet and home phone.

I bought the Orbi to use as a mesh system because I have a 2 story house and only had the coverage of nighthawk for my whole house WiFi.

We run a ton of WiFi and Ethernet devices and we were trying to maximize the up to 120 mbps that we pay for.

I didn’t know that the Orbi required a modem to run it.

The only other thing besides the cat 5 cable upstairs that comes out of the wall where the nighthawk resides...is the Comtrend switch that all of our Ethernet cables that run throughout the house and plug into our devices, lives...and then the Comtrend plugged into the nighthawk.

I understand that I can turn off the WiFi on the nighthawk and plug the yellow lan cable into it and then plug the Orbi yellow cable to the nighthawk like a modem.

Then, the Comtrend switch is plugged into the Orbi and the WiFi is produced from it, also.

My question is...how do I make sure that the full bandwidth of my internet is available for us to use without losing some of it with the nighthawk as a modem?? For all I know it won’t, but I don’t and I’m looking for answers.

Would it be better to put the Comtrend switch coming out of the nighthawk and then the cable to the Orbi, so the Orbi only handles the WiFi??
I’m just grasping for the right thing here 😬

I think I’ve read that I can assign ports on the nighthawk to use for the Orbi and the others will not have any way to use our bandwidth.

I just want to optimize the system to the Orbi and get all of the bandwidth I can out of this stuff!

I am doing the best I can with the knowledge I had or have learned.
Thank in advance for your help!

Have a GREAT DAY,
Nikki Davis

On Oct 11, 2019, at 12:17 PM, NETGEAR community <community@netgear.com> wrote:
Model: RBR50|Orbi AC3000 Tri-band WiFi Router
Message 16 of 20
CrimpOn
Guru

Re: Orbi RBR50 plus Sat’s...I don’t have a Modem Please Help Setup

which company provides this service?

Message 17 of 20
CrimpOn
Guru

Re: Orbi RBR50 plus Sat’s...I don’t have a Modem Please Help Setup

and is there a "name" for the service?

I want to look it up on their web site.

Thanks

Message 18 of 20
FrognJeep
Aspirant

Re: Orbi RBR50 plus Sat’s...I don’t have a Modem Please Help Setup

ETEX Communication
Message 19 of 20
CrimpOn
Guru

Re: Orbi RBR50 plus Sat’s...I don’t have a Modem Please Help Setup


@FrognJeep wrote:
ETEX Communication

I found an "ETEX" in Easts Texas that has a fiber backbone.  Cannot find anything on their web site which identifies what equipment they provide to residential users.  There was a post on one of the Netgear forums about something called a Clear Access model AG10W

AG10W.jpg

Maybe as the subscriber, you could call ETEX and ask if this is the model number of the equipment they placed at your house?

 

Message 20 of 20
Top Contributors
Discussion stats
  • 19 replies
  • 2793 views
  • 1 kudo
  • 3 in conversation
Announcements

Orbi WiFi 7