Attempt to set up my Netgear R6400 behind ATT BGW3200 may have bricked my Netgear?

The mesh system decides which node to connect to based on signal strength. In my home most of the devices upstairs and below the upstairs node connect to it. Our bedroom is below the second floor node so the nest hub connects to it. Most of downstairs devices connect  to the downstairs node. Smart plugs, doorbell camera, TV, etc. my home has cat6 connections through the house so I connect my upstairs node via cat6. Slower speeds could be due to QOS being on. The orbi is the best Wi-Fi system on the market but it is very expensive. You’ll be happy with the Asus after you’ve used it a while. Be more concerned that every device in the home connects and you don’t notice lag. Experiment with placing the wireless node in different places to optimize signal strength. 

Factory reset the netgear and start over. 

https://kb.netgear.com/20927/How-do-I-change-my-NETGEAR-router-to-AP-mode

I've been trying for a while to reply, but I never got the option to type anything. Now that I can, let me say that I tried the factory reset. I tried a simple one, and also the dd-wrt hard 30-30-30, but neither of them have gotten me back to being able to see the Genie interface. When I had my R6400 v.2 working behind Comcast/Xfinity's Arris coax SURFBoard SB8200 modem, I used it to set up my 2.4 and 5.0 WiFi channels. They worked fine to connect phones in the house, an iPad, 3 MacBook Pros and a MacBookAir M1, also a couple of desktop PCs running Linux and some Raspberry Pis. 

It took me a lot of reading and research over many years to get the R6400 tweaked, and I set up a ReadyCloud usb drive with it. 

The AT&T BGW320 is now the default gateway for my default Windows desktop PC's Ethernet Adapter on 192.168.1.254, (it's showing an IPv4 of 192.168.1.69 and Subnet Mask of 255.255.255.0).

I kind of figure you do the setup for the R6400 on the Home Network -> Subnets & DHCP tab in the BGW. The page looks like this, but I don't know what to input from there.

I don’t think you would have to do anything in the gateway. You may want to check netgear forums or support. 

Thanks. I gave up. Nothing I tried got me to the Netgear interface. I ordered an Orbi, and when I get it, I'll try to see if it plays well with the AT&T BGW. No matter how I read the instructions, I'm not getting the configuration on the BGW. I found out that not only is the home network subnets & dhcp settings boggling me, but there's also the device list on the firewall ip passthrough. I fiddled with the device list and finally the R6400 showed up but at an unexpected IP of 192.168.1.71; and I haven't figured out the subnet mask settings of the requirement that in the cascade settings the network address needs to be a wan side subnet. Videos on YouTube confused me even more because none of them were accessing the downside routers while the AT&T router was running. Thanks for your time and suggestions.

Hey thanks for everything up to now.

I'm trying to experiment so I can learn. I'm not ready to pay the top prices for Orbi Mesh network kits with multiple satellites. I had long used my Netgrear R6400, but I realize it is quite old. It is an AC1750 router. After I got my new 1Gig fiber internet from AT&T set up on their provided Humax BGW320, I did some reading and exploring on its interface and setup options.

I first bought a refurbished Orbi RBR20 and tried connecting it to the BGW320. I noticed that the wifi was being run from the BGW. I tried testing the speed with that setting and then disabling the wifi on the BGW and trying to run with the settings from the Orbi.

I noticed that the BGW defaulted to 192.168.1.254, but when I connected the Orbi, it defaulted to 10.0.0.1. OK, during the connection I followed some instructions that suggested I set the BGW to Passthrough with a fixed DHCPS and selected the Orbi's MAC address for that from the pulldown list. 

After disabling the BGW wifi and setting the wifi on the Orbi, with the Orbi running in Router mode (not as AP), I connected a few devices to the Orbi's wifi - a Nest thermometer, an iPad, and a Pixel 7 phone. I wasn't using access control, and I could see the devices in the Orbi's connected devices list.

Great, that seemed to work nicely. I had connected the Orbi's "Internet" yellow port to one of the BGW's Ethernet line out ports, and also tried connecting the Orbi's second (not yellow) port directly to my PC's Ethernet Adapter. That also worked great. It now showed a wired device connected - the PC. I ran speed tests and was quite satisfied.

I have a 2500 square foot house that is a fortress. All the outer walls are solid concrete with rebar, and that setup gives me acceptable wireless all over the house area. Of course, I'd like also to extend that into my yard outside.

Again, I'm not ready to spend big bucks, so I thought I'd try another experiment. After some studying, I bought a refurbished TP Link Archer AX1800 with wifi 6 and mesh capability. I learned though that Orbi's mesh won't work with the TPL. Suggestions led me to thinking of using the TPL to extend the wifi range outside, setting it next to a window overlooking my backyard. I figured I could also use it to wire in some devices in a network separate from the Orbi's.

At this point things are more complicated than I know how to handle. Am I going down a rabbit hole that will bring me more trouble than I can deal with? Do you have any suggestions? I was reading about setting up a DMZ, but I also read that once I connected the Orbi to the BGW, I lost firewall protection provided by the BGW. It also seems that I can't set up the TPL as a mesh satellite on the Orbi. What if I tossed the Orbi and tried using the TPL as a mesh router. Is that possible or even desirable?

I'd appreciate any suggestions or directions.

One orbi won’t create a mesh network. Return the archer and get another orbi unit. Yours is discontinued so a satellite may not be available. Set it up and you’ll have a mesh system.

Or by a mesh system that has 4 Ethernet ports on each satellite. 

I use ASUS. You can buy sets of 2 for $350 or by less expensive routers and set them up as mesh. Many ASUS routers are mesh capable. You use add different models to create a mesh system. Called aimesh

like 2 of these. 

https://www.amazon.com/ASUS-WiFi-Router-RT-AX68U-Compatible/dp/B08S7CK5T5/ref=mp_s_a_1_19?crid=WVDCU4LB5DN9&keywords=asus+router&qid=1691949717&sprefix=asus%2Caps%2C127&sr=8-19&ufe=app_do%3Aamzn1.fos.f5122f16-c3e8-4386-bf32-63e904010ad0

or one of the above and get a nicer router for the main router 

this one can be bought individually or in pairs. This is what I have for a 2600 square foot 2 story home. 

https://www.amazon.com/ASUS-ZenWiFi-AX-Whole-Home-Tri-Band/dp/B083Q45V1V/ref=mp_s_a_1_12?crid=WVDCU4LB5DN9&keywords=asus+router&qid=1691949717&sprefix=asus%2Caps%2C127&sr=8-12&ufe=app_do%3Aamzn1.fos.c3015c4a-46bb-44b9-81a4-dc28e6d374b3

Wow, thanks. Is the second one the "nicer" router? Would you mix one of the second type with one of the first type, or buy a pair of the second? The price difference between the two matching and one of each is $30 less for the mixed pair. 

With the TPLink and the Orbi, I have the Orbi directly to the AT&T BGW320. I'm using the Orbi's wifi and for example on my MacBookAir M1 I'm getting 300Mbps down and 260Mbps up. The Pixel only gets 178 down and 106 up. I don't think that's all that great. On the wired PC from the TPL (which is also direct wired from the Orbi) I get 820 down and 940 up. Will the aimesh do better than that?

I use the second link. The XT-8. Very happy with it. I have me second unit connected via Ethernet so the third channel is a dedicated wireless Backhaul. My wired pc got 900 ish up and down. Wi-Fi on iPhones was around 500. I was on a 1 gb plan but dropped to 300. Getting close to 300 on Wi-Fi now.