RBR50 - Traffic Separation/Multiple SSIDs

[ljweller]

Hi, two questions:

I have a Netgear Orbi RBR50 AC3000 Tri-Band Router with Satellite.  I'm wondering if there is a way to set up traffic separation/multiple SSIDs so I can put my IOT devices on a separate wifi network to make my home network more secure.  I do not want to use the Guest Network as I have many Amazon devices which link and need to see each other (if you allow them to see each other that on guest network they can also see the rest of the network).

1.  Is there a way with the RBR50 to set up a second or third SSID so I can have effective traffic separation? 

2.  If I'm not able to set up multiple SSID on the RBR50, I'm thinking of getting the Netgear Orbi Pro, but wondering if I can link the current Orbi Satellite to the Pro Router?

[FURRYe38]

NG and Orbi do not support separation of SSIDs. Nor would separation make your network any more secure by doing this since the wifi is on the same LAN side of the router. I don't believe the Pro version would be the same. 

For Pro questions and information I would post in the Orbi Pro forum:

https://community.netgear.com/t5/Orbi-Pro-WiFi-for-Small-Business/bd-p/en-business-orbi-pro

Good Luck. 

[SW_]

If you're comfortable with telnet and fearless, you can tweak Orbi to do what you want.  Check out these posts:

• How to separate Orbi SSIDs 
• How to separate Guest SSIDs 

Good luck!

[CrimpOn]

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@ljweller wrote:

1.  Is there a way with the RBR50 to set up a second or third SSID so I can have effective traffic separation? 

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Multiple SSID's will not achieve the desired result, because with the Orbi product all devices will have IP addresses in the same subnet, and thus be able to communicate with each other.  There is a "hack" for the Orbi product, for example, to "split" the frequency bands, giving one SSID to the 2.4G band and another SSID to the 5G band.  The goal of this hack is to be able to guarantee which frequency a specific device uses for communication.  However, once connected at either band, they all receive IP's from the same subnet.

I believe the Orbi "Pro" line has three device groups: one primary and two Guest.  That might have the capability to put all the Amazon devices into one of the Guest SSID's.  (I have no personal knowledge of the Pro line, and suggest posting in that forum.)

Devices from the different Orbi product lines do not "mix".  i.e. the WiFi5 "residential" devices interoperate, the WiFi5 "Pro" devices interoperate, and the AX devices interoperate.  So, simply getting a new router does not allow creating a "mixed network."