Satelitte w/ ethernet port?

[NickUser]

I currently have an Orbi RBR10 mesh system in my house and it works great.

Recently I have taken a new job with the ability to work from home. However the company provided equipment allows internet connection via ethernet cable only.

In my house I only have a cable outlet in my downstairs living room, which is where I have the modem and router now. My home office is upstairs on the other side of the house. Wifi signal is excellent, but I have to be able to plug in hardwired ethernet. Is there a satellite or some other device that would connect to my system, but also have an ethernet port I could plug into? Thanks for the help.

[CrimpOn · Accepted solution]

@plemans is correct.  There are any number of WiFi extenders which have an Ethernet port on them.

So the connection is: Orbi router ->to->Orbi satellite->to->WiFi extender (@5G)->to computer with Ethernet cable.

For this application, the WiFi extender has only the one WiFi link in operation (I actually disable the "user side" of the extender so there is no competition for WiFi bandwidth.)

My experience has been with WiFi extenders by Netgear and TP-Link. (Have a TP-Link RE220 coming from Amazon tomorrow. When gizmos cost less than $25, I often buy one to see how it works.)

[plemans]

Problem with the RBS10 satellites is that they don't have ethernet ports (as you've found out).

And the 10 series is only compatible with the RBS10's. 

So they won't work. 

what you can do? get a dual band extender and connect it. It won't integrate with the orbi setup but it'll connect and work. Justs as a separate system. 

or you can upgrade. You can find renewed RBK43 systems for pretty cheap and they have quite a bit more performance than the 10 series. 

Up to you if you want to upgrade your system or augment it. 

[NickUser]

@plemans Thank you for the reply - as for the extender, will it connect to my mesh (i.e. one of the satellites) or would it have to have good connection all the way back to the router? They are on opposite ends of the house, but I have a satellite upstairs that provides good signal.

Any recommendation on model number or best extender to purchase?

[plemans]

You could connect it to a satellite but you're going to take a speed hit. 

The reason why is the dual band systems have to use the same chip to go router----satellites and then satellites----devices. and can't do both at once. Same with extenders. 

so if you're connecting to a satellite, its already going to be running at 50% speed of what it receives. You can connect an extender to it and luckily, if you're hardwired into that extender, you don't take the same hit (just distance/interference). so you might be ok if you're starting point from that satellite is decent. If you're going to go with an extender, i'd look for at least the same specs as the orbi satellite. (its an AC1200). 

Again, you should be able to connect it but it won't integrate with your orbi. It'll have to be managed separate and you'll want a separate ssid for it. 

@CrimpOn has attached quite a few different extenders to his system just to see if they'll work and I don't think he's found any that didn't. 

[CrimpOn · Accepted solution]

@plemans is correct.  There are any number of WiFi extenders which have an Ethernet port on them.

So the connection is: Orbi router ->to->Orbi satellite->to->WiFi extender (@5G)->to computer with Ethernet cable.

For this application, the WiFi extender has only the one WiFi link in operation (I actually disable the "user side" of the extender so there is no competition for WiFi bandwidth.)

My experience has been with WiFi extenders by Netgear and TP-Link. (Have a TP-Link RE220 coming from Amazon tomorrow. When gizmos cost less than $25, I often buy one to see how it works.)

[NickUser]

Thank you both @plemans and @CrimpOn very helpful. I'm going to get the Netgear EX6120 and give it a try. I'll come back and let you know how it works for me.

[NickUser]

@plemans @CrimpOn this solution worked great - thank you so much for your help! Everything is working perfectly.

One question. In your reply you said "I actually disable the "user side" of the extender so there is no competition for WiFi bandwidth."

How do I do that? I'm having a little trouble figuring that out.

[plemans]

There really isn't a disabling that. I think maybe @CrimpOn was just talking about disabling the wifi ssid or set it separate so you're not connecting devices to it. The orbi is much better for bandwidth so its best to just use the extender for the hardwired device. 

[CrimpOn]

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@NickUser wrote:

One question. In your reply you said "I actually disable the "user side" of the extender so there is no competition for WiFi bandwidth."

How do I do that? I'm having a little trouble figuring that out.

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It depends on the specific WiFi extender.  The Netgear EX3700, for example, has a specific capability called "Fast Lane Technology" where the 5G WiFi can be used to connect to the router and the 2.4G WiFi radio can be turned off completely. Have to look closely at the User Manual.