Switching ISP gateway to bridge mode

[johnbday]

Comcast/Xfinity is my ISP, and the Gateway they provide is a combination cable modem and router.  The RBR 50 (connected by Cat6A ethernet) is presently set up to work with the Xfinity in its dual role (Advanced settings Setup Wizard did the trick). I am advised I can gat a noticeable network speed improvement by switching the Xfinity unit to Bridge Mode. My two questions are: 1) what if any settings changes do I need to make to the RBR50; and 2) will I have to reconstitute my existing (Orbi) WiFi network (i.e.  have to re-login the almost 40 devices permanently logged into the OrbiWiFi [thermostat, fans, Sonos]? 

Network topology is Xfinity Gateway <connected by Cat 6A> to Orbi RBR50 <connected by Cat 6A> to NetgearXS724EM 10G, 24 port switch <connected by Cat 6A> to 4 Orbi RBS50 satellites and several desktop and other end devices on ethernet network.

Thanks in advance!

[SW_]

Your LAN is already at max speed with Ethernet backhaul.  The only difference you might notice is between ISP and Orbi.  Switching to ISP modem/rouer to bridge mode won't make a difference if Orbi is currently in AP Mode.  Orbi WiFi settings won't be affected with either setup if they're currently connected to Orbi WiFi network.  Everything should continue to work as is.

[johnbday]

Comcast claims - after oserving my subscription speed is 1G, that "the expected speed improvement should be up to 800 MBPS with  up to 1024MBPS for wire connected devices"  

Thoughts?

Also - thanks 

[SW_]

I also have Gigabit Comcast and I am getting ~900Mbps on average with Orbi in AP mode with SB8200 Modem.  If you're not getting anything close to ~900Mbps, you should have them come out and check line signals into your DOSIC 3.1 modem to make sure noise to signal ratio is within range.

What's your current speedtest via Orbi App?

[SW_]

An example of my speedtest result.

[johnbday]

speed test run on Orbi device from ethernet connected desktop:  790.24Mbps 42.07Mbps <Cat 6A cable connecting to Netgear 10G switch (listed) connected by 6A to Orbi connected by 6A to Xfinity Gateway

FYI checked settings resulting from Setup Wizard under Advanced tab and I am not in AP mode, but in Router mode (wtih Xfinity gateway also in rounter mode). 

[SW_]

Ah - you're in double NAT mode (not ideal).  Switch Orbi to AP mode.  This will help reduce the load on CPU on Orbi.  

[gr8sho]

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@johnbday wrote:

Comcast/Xfinity is my ISP, and the Gateway they provide is a combination cable modem and router.  The RBR 50 (connected by Cat6A ethernet) is presently set up to work with the Xfinity in its dual role (Advanced settings Setup Wizard did the trick). I am advised I can gat a noticeable network speed improvement by switching the Xfinity unit to Bridge Mode. My two questions are: 1) what if any settings changes do I need to make to the RBR50; and 2) will I have to reconstitute my existing (Orbi) WiFi network (i.e.  have to re-login the almost 40 devices permanently logged into the OrbiWiFi [thermostat, fans, Sonos]? 

Network topology is Xfinity Gateway <connected by Cat 6A> to Orbi RBR50 <connected by Cat 6A> to NetgearXS724EM 10G, 24 port switch <connected by Cat 6A> to 4 Orbi RBS50 satellites and several desktop and other end devices on ethernet network.

Thanks in advance!

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There's no reason to rent their box if you're just going to bridge it.  Can you not just buy your own modem and be done with it?

If you follow the suggestion of putting Orbi into AP mode, your WiFi devices should be safe, although they may need to be restarted if they don't pickup the new IP address assigned.  

[johnbday]

will switching to AT mode require a system reset or disruption to either WiFi network? I'm trying to avoid having to 'rejoin' a large number of smart home devices to the network.  thanks in advance

[CrimpOn]

The Orbi will restart automatically when changed from 'router' to access point (AP) mode.  Since making this change does not change the WiFi parameters (SSID and password), all devices will continue to connect to the Orbi WiFi network.  However, since the Orbi is no longer assigning IP addresses, every device will get a new IP address.

IF you have deliberately created IP assignments for some reason, this could be a problem.  For example, I gave my printer a specific IP address because it seemed to "get lost" if its IP address changed.   (Probably because of some error on my part, but this "made the problem go away" and I have not revisited the issue since.)  My guess is that thousands of Orbi users have never looked at the Advanced options (where the LAN setup page is) and may not even know what an IP address is.

So, devices connecting again is absolutely no problem.  IP addresses changing could be a problem.

[johnbday]

There are no manually assigned IP addresses in my network. To be clear, though, the re-assignment of IP addresses that will occur will not knock off connected devices <there are enough of them it would be a pain to get them all back on the network, device by device>. Thanks in advance. Very helpful.

[CrimpOn]

They should all be fine.  Devices get new IP's all the time.