Deco M9 Plus in AP mode taking over DHCP server and assigning IPs in own subnet
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After installing the M9 in access-mode in my network, I notice some devices cannot be reached anymore.
When examining the situation I notice that the IP the devices get is in the range the M9 uses when in router mode.
When switching to Router-mode, the (internal)M9 IP is: 192.168.78.1 and the DHCP range it uses is from 192.168.78.100 to 192.168.78.200 with a subnet of 255.255.255.0.
Router mode is unusable in my situation, so I'm forced to use the AP-mode.
Some devices (like a "Wemos D1" board, a Thermostat and sometimes my printer when turning it on) get an IP in the 192.168.78.x range while my
cable-modem (Lan Gateway with IP: 192.168.178.1 and subnet 255.255.255.0) is setup to handle the DHCP with a range of 192.168.178.30 - 192.168.178.250 .
The weird thing is that the cable-modem is UP all the time when one of these devices is added, but still doesn't get an IP from my Modem and because of the
different subnet, can't see the device. The device says it's up and running on the SSID from the Deco M9, with the Deco M9 given IP.
From within the Deco App, the device can be seen WITH the wrong IP address....
Because the devices it happened to are headless and no monitor can be attached, looking at the network from the device is not possible.
For some reason the Deco M9 DOES listen AND responds to DHCP requests in certain situations,
making networking a real challenge, even for someone with a good background in networking!
I hope someone will fix this serious flaw in the firmware...
I'm not the only one experiencing problems with DHCP in AP-Mode accordig to several other posters on the community.
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@MarekT "That a new firmware will come out. I was told some beta firmware exists."
Thanks for the updates.
Well, some small glimmer of hope. Did it sound like they got it, and will give us a true means of disabling dhcp permanently in AP mode?
Any word on how to sign up for a beta?
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Honestly, I would not get any hopes up for this. It's over a year since it was reported and nothing was done. I guessing here, but I cannot imagine it is a significant code to add in a UI feature and change the firmware code to allow the full disabling of this rather ridiculous "feature".
They. Just. Don't. Care.
If they do ever get around to fixing it, I still won't change my mind on never buying tp-link junk again and actively telling people to do the same. This whole forum is full of left for dead threads, questions left unanswered, and those that have been "answered" have a large proportion that are marked as such but don't actually help the user.
They. Just. Don't. Care.
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@realjax @SKAL @ZeroBufferBloat @jaffamuffin @Peterson-KE @Noodles
Hello all, apologies for the super late reply.
We have noted this disable the smart DHCP feature on the Deco devices and we have already forwarded this feature request to the developer months ago, we hope our customers be more patient and keep an eye on the Deco app or the official website for the updates in the future.
You would think it would be simple and straight forward when adding the on/off switch but it's not. Disabling the DHCP server completely on the Deco device will lead to a risk that you lose the control of the Deco network when your front-end modem/router fails to do his work, you will need to reset the whole Deco system in order to make it work again.
Again, however, this has been added to the features requests.
Good day.
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Thank you for finally stating it's a design-bug that is a complete NONO for anyone working in this industry!
Disabling the DHCP fallback will ofcourse disable access to your Deco when the DHCP server goes away and the lease needs to be extended or the device is restarting.... That is exactly the point!
If the DHCP server comes back it renews it's lease and everything is as it should be...
If you disable your DHCP server and want to access the Deco, you can reset the deco and it will go in DHCP discovery mode or after a factory reset uses the Router mode(with the built in DHCP server)...
That is how every device is set-up....
No problem in using a factory reset..... you should have configuration backups anyway...
And what about having more patience??
I added this BUG more than a YEAR ago!
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@TP-Link_Deco
Finally a response, but one that tells us nothing other than it's with engineering (for over a year).
You are still wanting to overreach your responsibility on someone else's network. When I choose to put the device in bridge mode I don't want ANY services being randomly turned on from those devices, especially if they are destructive.
It is up to me to deal with a DHCP failure, tp-link have nothing to do once I configure bridge mode. Please give this SIMPLE option with a warning if needed. That really is simple.
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Three scenarios for this, it's not hard to implement. It requires a hard factory reset option and for the user not to be an idiot.
CURRENT 1) User puts Deco in AP mode, cannot turn off "smart" DHCP and provides DHCP server. Deco erroneously steps in as DHCP server in "smart" fallback mode when router is rebooted. User loses access to most clients and router due to DHCP conflicts. Requires all decos to be rebooted at **each** occasion the DHCP server is rebooted. Everyone is unhappy.
2) User puts Deco in AP mode, turns off "smart" DHCP and doesn't provide a DHCP server. User loses access to Deco (due to incompetence) does a **one** off factory reset and learns not to do that again. User is a fool but everyone is happy that the option to disable "smart" DHCP is there.
3) User puts Deco in AP mode, turns off "smart" DHCP and does provide a DHCP server. Everyone is happy. No rebooting issues. The world rejoices.
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Also can you ping your developers? I'm concerned that they are stuck on their own subnet without any wan access... Given the time taken to respond. As you said they were contacted months ago, may be pick up the phone and suggest they turn their Deco off and on again to resolve their DHCP.
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"You would think it would be simple and straight forward when adding the on/off switch but it's not. Disabling the DHCP server completely on the Deco device will lead to a risk that you lose the control of the Deco network when your front-end modem/router fails to do his work, you will need to reset the whole Deco system in order to make it work again."
As a product manager for a networking products company, I assure you, for a competent engineering team, it's a piece of cake to simply do the right thing and suppress DHCP service in AP mode (like all other products).
If there is no DHCP server on the network, well, as expected, no client device that is dependent on DHCP is going to be reachable. Duh. Power up a router with DHCP services first, then boot all clients, and you have a working network where the Decos (and other clients) are reachable. This is networking 101.
No need for resets, just connect the Deco's to a network with a working DHCP server, same as any other AP on the planet.
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@DLMax I can confirm this is not just an issue with the Deco products, but also exists in the Archer C6 in AP mode. Don't mean to hijack the thread but just wanted to highlight that it's a firmware issue with TP-LINK products across the board. My main network is in 192.168.1.x, but if my main router is not available, the Archer C6 starts assigning IPs in the 192.168.0.x range, and all of the devices connected to it are not able to access WAN.
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