@cyberprashant wrote:
I'm using 2 ORBI's- one for a guest & IoT network that is physically separated from a secure private network. Both ORBI's are connected to a border router in a Y-configuration (Seems like way overkill but the rationale behind this can be found here: https://www.pcper.com/reviews/General-Tech/Steve-Gibsons-Three-Router-Solution-IOT-Insecurity
So far seems to be OK, but occasionally I'm having some trouble getting consistent speeds on the newer 2nd set of RBR/RBS50. I will keep u posted here. So far I set One rotuer to channel 1 and the other to channel 11. I'm hoping the backhaul channels auto-steer.
Orbi isn't the best choice for this kind of setup. Orbi uses a lot of channels and provides almost no opportunity to adjust channel usage and power to avoid overlap and interference.
Make sure you select "Enable 20/40 MHz Coexistence" on Orbi, otherwise your Orbis will use 40 Mhz channel width on 2.4 GHz and they will overlap each other.
I'm not sure you can do anything to avoid overlap on 5 GHz. The channels offered in the GUI are 36,40,44,48. These are all part of a single 80 MHz channel, and changing the setting doesn't change the channel usage. So two Orbi systems would overlap and interfere. I don't know whether the backhaul is smart enough to avoid interference, but you can't do anything to adjust that either.
Something like the Unifi APs would work better for this setup, because multiple APs could be adjusted to avoid interference. The Unifi APs also allow one AP to broadcast two SSIDs segregated on two isolated VLANs, reducing the amount of hardware required.
The Steve Gibson article seems like a silly approach, when you can buy a single Edgerouter or Mikrotik with multiple Ethernet ports for ~$50. These routers will do what's described in the article in one box. Each LAN port can have its own subnet, and you can isolate and control access using firewall rules. You could also isolate IOT devices from each other using a switch with port isolation.
