IP Address Issues

[Major T]

I have an Orbi RBK53 and an AT&T Pace Gateway. My gateway has been set to bridge mode but still sends out IP addresses. So a wireless device will show that I’m on my Orbi wireless network, but instead of having an Orbi generated IP address, it will have an IP address from my “disabled” AT&T gateway (i.e., 192.168.1.254). My devices will tell me that they cannot display a web page because I am “not connected to the internet”. I find that I have to manually renew the lease before gaining WiFi (and internet) access.

Neither Netgear’s customer service (terrible BTW) nor AT&T’s customer service seem to have an answer.

 

[mpickard]

What is your network configuration?

If one assumes you only have a single LAN connection to the Pace gateway that goes to the WAN port on the Orbi Router, and also that the radios on the Pace gateway have been turned off, then there would clearly be an issue with the Orbi's routing behaviors.

If the Pace gateway has the radios enabled and the same SSID / passphrase convention was configured in the Orbi, then turn off the Pace gateway radios, or at least change the SSID / Passphrase convention to something not previously used by your client devices.

If the assumptions are wrong, then please indicate how things are configured and how you are expecting them to behave in the configuration you are using.

 

[Major T]

What is your network configuration?

If one assumes you only have a single LAN connection to the Pace gateway that goes to the WAN port on the Orbi Router, and also that the radios on the Pace gateway have been turned off, then there would clearly be an issue with the Orbi's routing behaviors.

If the Pace gateway has the radios enabled and the same SSID / passphrase convention was configured in the Orbi, then turn off the Pace gateway radios, or at least change the SSID / Passphrase convention to something not previously used by your client devices.

If the assumptions are wrong, then please indicate how things are configured and how you are expecting them to behave in the configuration you are using.

The Orbi is connected to Ethernet Port #2 on the Pace 5268AC. The 2.4Ghz and the 5Ghz radios have been disabled on the gateway. The home WiFi network SSID is for the Orbi and the Pace has the default SSID (which has been disabled and would show on my wireless devices if it were broadcasting an SSID). This means that all wireless devices should only join the Orbi SSID (IP address 10.0.0.1). My iPhone will show that it has joined the Orbi SSID, but frequently when looking at the network settings, it will show an IP address from the gateway (192.168.1.254). I must request a renewal of the lease to get an IP address from the Orbi (10.0.0.1) and only then can I access the internet. It happens on all wireless devices, the iMac, iPad, iPhone and AppleTV. I have been on the phone with Netgear's customer service for HOURS!!! I have returned four Orbi systems to Costco and this is my 5th. I first purchased Orbi in January of 2017 and did not have any issues until February of this year. Since that time, as I have stated, I have re-installed an Orbi WiFi network four times. The firmware is up-to-date but with their new app which has a network map, one of the satellites displays an IP address from the gateway.

 

[RogerSC]

If your cable gateway insists on doing dhcp, then I'd suggest that you allow it to do the full routing part, and put the Orbi in AP (access point) mode. That way, the gateway will be the only dhcp supplier on your network, and the Orbi will be doing what it does best...acting only as a wireless AP (with some wired connections as well, of course *smile*). Of course, you will want to turn off the wireless radios on the cable gateway...but it looks like you've already done that.

I've used the Orbi in AP mode much more than I've used it in router mode. I wasn't really happy with the Orbi as router and wireless AP, but it does really well as a wireless AP.

 

[Major T]

If your cable gateway insists on doing dhcp, then I'd suggest that you allow it to do the full routing part, and put the Orbi in AP (access point) mode. That way, the gateway will be the only dhcp supplier on your network, and the Orbi will be doing what it does best...acting only as a wireless AP (with some wired connection as well, of course *smile*). Of course, you will want to turn off the wireless radios on the cable gateway...but it looks like you've already done that.

I've used the Orbi in AP mode much more than I've used it in router mode. I wasn't really happy with the Orbi as router and wireless AP, but it does really well as a wireless AP.

Okay, how do I do that? How do I put the Orbi in AP mode? You mentioned “with some wired connection”; what does that entail? Is Netgear Orbi in AP mode the most efficacious way to get wireless coverage in my home? That is, the Orbi system is not inexpensive and (I’ll sound ignorant here) is AP mode what it’s designed for? Will I still be utilizing the dedicated backhaul to the non-router Orbi router which connects to the gateway that’s not the SSID but is sending out IP addresses? Again, please forgive my ignorance.

 

[RogerSC]

"Some wired connection" was a typo, I meant "some wired connections", and was referring to the wired ports on the back of your Orbis. Just to say that the Orbi wired ports are available to use, of course, as well as the wireless AP when the Orbi is in AP mode.

The Orbi is designed to be in either Router or AP mode, depending on what serves you best...I got the Orbi for it's great wireless coverage, so AP mode is fine with me. It's worth its cost for that, as far as I'm concerned. And yes, the wireless dedicated backhaul is still fully used between the Orbi router unit and the Orbi satellite unit. So you're using the full wireless features of the Orbi in AP mode *smile*.

Here's a Netgear article on how to go from "Router" mode to "AP" mode with the Orbi:

https://kb.netgear.com/31218/How-do-I-configure-my-Orbi-router-to-act-as-an-access-point

First time I switched from Router mode to AP mode, I followed the above article, generally speaking. Just to help with the surprises, when you have the Orbi in router mode with the gateway also in router mode and connected to your cable gateway just before you switch it to AP mode, assuming that the cable gateway takes the IP address 192.168.1.1, which it most likely will, the Orbi will automatically shift its own IP address to somewhere in the 10.0.*.* range to avoid conflicting with the cable gateway IP. You don't really care about that. You'll also be double NAT'ing until you switch the Orbi to AP mode, and you don't care about that, either *smile*. Those are transitional things. When you follow the directions above and switch the Orbi to AP mode, the Orbi router and satellite units will be assigned DHCP addresses by the cable gateway. And DHCP, etc. will be turned off on the Orbi, of course.

If any questions come up along the way, feel free to ask. I have a Netgear R7800 as my "main router" (for wired connections only) where you have your cable gateway...I find the Netgear R7800 quite a capable "main router". And the wireless from the Orbi in AP mode provides better coverage than the R7800 did when I was using that in full wireless router mode. So I'm pretty happy with this arrangement.

 

[Major T]

"Some wired connection" was a typo, I meant "some wired connections", and was referring to the wired ports on the back of your Orbis. Just to say that the Orbi wired ports are available to use, of course, as well as the wireless AP when the Orbi is in AP mode.

The Orbi is designed to be in either Router or AP mode, depending on what serves you best...I got the Orbi for it's great wireless coverage, so AP mode is fine with me. It's worth its cost for that, as far as I'm concerned. And yes, the wireless dedicated backhaul is still fully used between the Orbi router unit and the Orbi satellite unit. So you're using the full wireless features of the Orbi in AP mode *smile*.

Here's a Netgear article on how to go from "Router" mode to "AP" mode with the Orbi:

https://kb.netgear.com/31218/How-do-I-configure-my-Orbi-router-to-act-as-an-access-point

First time I switched from Router mode to AP mode, I followed the above article, generally speaking. Just to help with the surprises, when you have the Orbi in router mode with the gateway also in router mode and connected to your cable gateway just before you switch it to AP mode, assuming that the cable gateway takes the IP address 192.168.1.1, which it most likely will, the Orbi will automatically shift its own IP address to somewhere in the 10.0.*.* range to avoid conflicting with the cable gateway IP. You don't really care about that. You'll also be double NAT'ing until you switch the Orbi to AP mode, and you don't care about that, either *smile*. Those are transitional things. When you follow the directions above and switch the Orbi to AP mode, the Orbi router and satellite units will be assigned DHCP addresses by the cable gateway. And DHCP, etc. will be turned off on the Orbi, of course.

If any questions come up along the way, feel free to ask. I have a Netgear R7800 as my "main router" (for wired connections only) where you have your cable gateway...I find the Netgear R7800 quite a capable "main router". And the wireless from the Orbi in AP mode provides better coverage than the R7800 did when I was using that in full wireless router mode. So I'm pretty happy with this arrangement.

Thank you Roger!!! I’ll follow your advice and switch the Orbi to AP mode. Thanks for the link to how to do it as well. I would replace my AT&T Pace gateway with different modem/router but I don’t think that that’s possible.

Again, thank you for your help.

 

[Major T]

So I have c

"Some wired connection" was a typo, I meant "some wired connections", and was referring to the wired ports on the back of your Orbis. Just to say that the Orbi wired ports are available to use, of course, as well as the wireless AP when the Orbi is in AP mode.

The Orbi is designed to be in either Router or AP mode, depending on what serves you best...I got the Orbi for it's great wireless coverage, so AP mode is fine with me. It's worth its cost for that, as far as I'm concerned. And yes, the wireless dedicated backhaul is still fully used between the Orbi router unit and the Orbi satellite unit. So you're using the full wireless features of the Orbi in AP mode *smile*.

Here's a Netgear article on how to go from "Router" mode to "AP" mode with the Orbi:

https://kb.netgear.com/31218/How-do-I-configure-my-Orbi-router-to-act-as-an-access-point

First time I switched from Router mode to AP mode, I followed the above article, generally speaking. Just to help with the surprises, when you have the Orbi in router mode with the gateway also in router mode and connected to your cable gateway just before you switch it to AP mode, assuming that the cable gateway takes the IP address 192.168.1.1, which it most likely will, the Orbi will automatically shift its own IP address to somewhere in the 10.0.*.* range to avoid conflicting with the cable gateway IP. You don't really care about that. You'll also be double NAT'ing until you switch the Orbi to AP mode, and you don't care about that, either *smile*. Those are transitional things. When you follow the directions above and switch the Orbi to AP mode, the Orbi router and satellite units will be assigned DHCP addresses by the cable gateway. And DHCP, etc. will be turned off on the Orbi, of course.

If any questions come up along the way, feel free to ask. I have a Netgear R7800 as my "main router" (for wired connections only) where you have your cable gateway...I find the Netgear R7800 quite a capable "main router". And the wireless from the Orbi in AP mode provides better coverage than the R7800 did when I was using that in full wireless router mode. So I'm pretty happy with this arrangement.

So I completed your recommendation and things “seem” to be working fine. My iMac is not opening up every website stating that it’s cannot communicate with or has lost the connection with the server; but other devices (iPhone, iPad) seem to be working okay. Alexa and Wink are having hissyfits but I can wait on them. I do have a question that I’d appreciate your expertise on.

So I did as you said and turned the 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz radios off on the AT&T gateway effectively placing it in bridge mode. The Orbi has been put in AP mode. IP addresses are coming from the AT&T gateway (i.e., 192.168.1.254) but who’s performing “router” function if the gateway is in bridge mode and the Orbi is in AP mode? Because the network name is a name that I’ve assigned to the Orbi. So when you join my network, you’re joining the Orbi network SSID but you’re getting assigned an IP address from the AT&T gateway.