Need some help. Cliff Notes: we have ATT Fiber in our house and our wifi sucks, want to give a mesh network a shot. Saw the Netgear Oorbi at Costco and want to try it (unless there is a reason I need to get another one)

Here is the problem, the ATT issued modem (BGW210) has 4 ethernet ports in the back and they are all currently tied up. I need one of them free to connect the Oorbi router. Can I connect an ethernet switch to one of them and basically have it act like a splitter so I can free one port up for the Oorbi?

Additional notes: 2 story, 4100 sq ft house, office and where the current ATT modem is located is upstairs in one corner of the house. We have a ton of issues with the wifi downstairs in the main living room, when we are streaming. We don't have cable so we stream everything, Netflix, Hulu, Prime, Disney+, Starz, HBO Max, a few others.

To do correctly you need to put the att device in ip passthrough mode and move everything behind your replacement (orbi if that is your choice). You should turn off the wifi in the att gateway and have only the cable from your mesh base plugged into the gateway. You my still need an external Ethernet switch behind your mesh device to have enough ports for your hardwired devices.
There are online gudes in various forums to guide you through the process. Basically you dont want multiple devices doing NAT in your network, and ATT decided not to include bridge mode in their fiber gateway so you have to make do with passthrough.

I can't help you with the tech question but I can tell you we have had an Orbi mesh router for years and it's been great. We have a two story house + basement with a satellite on the floors that didn't have the router and never had any issues with it. We stream everything so it's constantly got the TV's, Ipads, video game systems, security system, etc and it's handled everything like a champ.

The Orbi units also have Ethernet ports in the back. The main unit will likely sit next to your AT&T modem so you would connect up your AT&T modem to it. You can then use the Ethernet ports in the back of the Orbi's main unit. You can choose to hardwire the Orbi main units with the Orbi satellites via Ethernet to create the hardwired back channel. This can improve the WiFi stability on the satellite devices but isn't necessary as the mesh network can create a wireless back channel. It is really up to you and whether you have Ethernet run from where the main unit will sit to where you intend to place the satellites.

If you need more ports at your primary location (where the main Orbi unit resides), then a switch can be used there. Just plug the switch into one of the available ethernet ports in the back of the main Orbi and use the Ethernet ports on the switch for your devices.

It is worth stating that you would want to make sure you don't have both the Orbi and the AT&T modem both handling the IP assignments for your network as noted above. This can be done in one of 2 ways.
1) Disable the IP assignment on the AT&T modem by enabling "pass through" mode on the AT&T device. In this model, the Orbi will manage your network and be responsible for assigning IP addresses.
2) Disable the IP assignment on the Orbi by enabling "bridge mode" on the Orbi. This model will make the AT&T modem manage your network and be responsible for assigning IP address while the Orbi just pushes out the wifi signal.

I prefer option 1 above as I think the Orbi manages your network better than the AT&T device. In both models, disable the wifi signal on the AT&T modem so that it doesn't interfere with the WiFi signal from the primary Orbi (which again will likely be sitting right next to the AT&T modem).

HTH!

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2) Disable the IP assignment on the Orbi by enabling "bridge mode" on the Orbi. This model will make the AT&T modem manage your network and be responsible for assigning IP address while the Orbi just pushes out the wifi signal.

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I have been running my Orbi in bridge mode for many years. No issues at all and on my 2nd Orbi mesh system to get wifi 6.