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Cannot get TP-Link AC1900v2 setup in bridge mode

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Cannot get TP-Link AC1900v2 setup in bridge mode

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Cannot get TP-Link AC1900v2 setup in bridge mode
Cannot get TP-Link AC1900v2 setup in bridge mode
2022-06-02 20:29:38 - last edited 2022-06-23 09:57:47
Tags: #WDS/Range Extender Mode
Model: Archer C1900  
Hardware Version: V2
Firmware Version: 1.0.0 Build 20161117 rel.77332(5553)

I'm trying to set up a TP-Link AC1900v2 in Bridge Mode. I think I'm getting most of the way there -- I can get WDS status as RUN -- but I can't register the device on the local network or reach the internet. After several hours trying to work out how to do it, I've decided to write out the steps I've taken in hopes that someone will be able to point out where I went wrong.

 

Situation: I'm making sure there is wifi signal in an outbuilding. I've got decent signal in a corner and am putting the AC1900 there to rebroadcast to the rest of the building.

 

Current guide: Official manual, section Q4/Page 90. ( https://static.tp-link.com/1910011993_Archer%20C1900(US)_V2_User%20Guide.pdf )

 

Approach A:

1) Run ethernet/LAN cable to my setup laptop. Plug another cable from a router to a LAN port.

2) Log into TPLinkwifi.net

3) Minor setup

**Note: When going to Advanced>Internet, I get an error message "WAN port is unplugged"

**I've tried leaving this as a dynamic IP, with and without setting DNS. In both cases, it fails to connect.

**I've also tried plugging into the WAN port -- see approach B.

4) Step 2 of manual -- Go to Advanced>Network>LAN and set a static IP for the AC1900.

**I gave it a DHCP reservation in Active Directory. Nobody else is taking that IP address.

5) Step 3 of manual -- Go to Advanced>System Tools>System Parameters, surveyed for a wifi router, and set things up with the credentials.

**I've verified that I have everything correct, accessing the internet through that router with a different device.

**Going to Advanced>Wireless>Statistics let's me see the AC1900 is talking to the router.

6) Turn off DHCP on the AC1900.

7) Reboot the AC1900.

**WDS status listed as "Run"

 

Great, except the AC1900 does not get an IP address from my server or connect to the internet.

With this approach, I've been experimenting with Static IP setups. So far, none have worked,

I can ping the AC1900 from other computers on the network.

 

Approach B

1) This time, I plug a cable from a router into the Internet/WAN port.

2,3) Same

**This time, I get an Dynamic IP just fine.

4) Advanced>Network>LAN

**I cannot set an IP address. I get an error message "WAN ip and LAN ip are in the same subnet".

**I found another person with this problem. I can't seem to make his solution work, though. I'll come back in the morning and try it again.

https://community.tp-link.com/en/home/forum/topic/160963

 

5-7) Same

**Various outcomes. I wind up with an "Assoc" status. I make it so I cannot reach the AC1900 webpage. I stick with an "Off" status.

 

--

Thanks for the help. Hopefully we'll be able to get this working.

Rylen

 

--

PS -- I looked everywhere for a model C1900. I hope I'm not in the wrong place.

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#1
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Re:Cannot get TP-Link AC1900v2 setup in bridge mode-Solution
2022-06-03 20:45:11 - last edited 2022-06-04 20:00:13

  @Rylen 

 

By setting up the C1900 as a WDS bridge the C1900 has essentially become a "dumb" wireless access point. It is not a "router" anymore. Hence a lot of the specific router functions are obsolete.

 

Everything you find under Advanced -> Network -> Internet is for the WAN port, which isn't being used in WDS bridge mode.

 

"The C1900 has no IP address of it's own"

In WDS bridge mode the IP address of the C1900 is the one you've configured under Advanced -> Network -> LAN. (step 4 of the procedure in my previous post)

 

Any client device (configured to obtain IP address from DHCP) that connects to the C1900 should get their IP address, Subnet Mask, DNS addresses, Defaut Gateway address from the router (Windows Server?) that is managing the network.

 

As for the SSIDs the C1900 is broadcasting you should be able to modify them in the menu Advanced -> Network -> Wireless, but make sure that the settings for channel and preferably also channel width match those of the SSID of the network you are rebroadcasting. ... EDIT... This applies only for the one signal (2.4 GHz or 5 GHz) you are rebroadcasting via WDS, the other Wi-Fi radio can be freely configured. 

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Re:Cannot get TP-Link AC1900v2 setup in bridge mode
2022-06-02 23:01:24 - last edited 2022-06-02 23:16:29

  @Rylen 

 

Hi,

 

May I ask a couple of questions?

 

You mention Active Directory. Is the wireless network whose signal you are trying to rebroadcast managed by a computer running Windows Server edition?

 

Regarding Approach A, step 1). What are you trying to achieve by "Plug another cable from a router to a LAN port"?

 

Same question for Approach B, step 1) "This time, I plug a cable from a router into the Internet/WAN port".

 

While you are configuring WDS on the C1900, don't connect anything to the C1900 apart from the laptop you use for accessing the C1900's configuration GUI.

 

To setup WDS I suggest the following procedure.
1) Reset the C1900 to Factory Default Settings in order to have a "clean" configuration
2) connect your laptop via Ethernet cable to a LAN port of the C1900
3) enter the C1900's configuration GUI via http://192.168.0.1
4) in the C1900's configuration GUI go to  Advanced -> Network -> LAN and set an IP address that is not already being used in the network that you are attempting to rebroadcast. That IP address must be within the IP range of the main networks subnet. (also adjust Subnet Mask in case it is different than the default)
5) enter the C1900's configuration GUI again via the new IP address you configured in the previous step (http://x.x.x.x)
6) go to Advanced -> System Tools -> System Parameters and setup the WDS as per user manual
7) disable the C1900's DHCP server
8) reboot the C1900

 

The C1900 will either connect to the main wireless network or not. If the WDS works properly, then your laptop that is connected to the C1900 via Ethernet should have Internet access now. If it doesn't work as expected, then there could be a compatibility issue with the WDS, which is not too uncommon either.

 

By the way, if the WDS connection doesn't work, then in order to be able to load the C1900's configuration GUI again you will probably have to set up a static IP address on your laptop's Ethernet card (same subnet but different IP address than the C1900), due to the C1900's DHCP server being disabled.

 

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Re:Cannot get TP-Link AC1900v2 setup in bridge mode
2022-06-03 19:54:22 - last edited 2022-06-04 20:00:30

@woozle 

 

You mention Active Directory. Is the wireless network whose signal you are trying to rebroadcast managed by a computer running Windows Server edition?

Yes. Windows Server 2019.

 

Regarding Approach A, step 1). What are you trying to achieve by "Plug another cable from a router to a LAN port"?

Same question for Approach B, step 1) "This time, I plug a cable from a router into the Internet/WAN port".

Trying to get the C1900 to acquire a network IP address.

 

Steps 1-8.  Done. Partially worked.

 

I'm able to reach the internet with my attached computer. Giving it a Static IP helped there.

 

I still have some problems:

--The C1900 has no IP address of it's own. -- If told to get an address in Dynamic IP, it stays as 0.0.0.0.

--If I tell it to specifically get DNS from my DNS server (Network>Internet>Advanced), I get told "DNS server IP address and LAN IP address cannot be in the same subnet. Please enter another one."

--I get the same error when I try to set a Static IP.

Getting C1900 to register with my DNS server isn't essential, but it would be nice and would allow me to do things like get time from the internet.

 

Question -- I've been trying to test this over wifi by connecting to the SSID C1900 is broadcasting. Is that right? Or is it also naming itself as the router it attaches to? If the later, I think I'll have to move out of range of the original to test things.

 

Changing the SSID and password of C1900 makes its WDS status fragile. After making those changes and rebooting, WDS is frequently Assoc or Disabled. Sometimes it is Run for a bit before going back to the other two.

 

Thanks. This has been a big help.

 

 

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#3
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Re:Cannot get TP-Link AC1900v2 setup in bridge mode-Solution
2022-06-03 20:45:11 - last edited 2022-06-04 20:00:13

  @Rylen 

 

By setting up the C1900 as a WDS bridge the C1900 has essentially become a "dumb" wireless access point. It is not a "router" anymore. Hence a lot of the specific router functions are obsolete.

 

Everything you find under Advanced -> Network -> Internet is for the WAN port, which isn't being used in WDS bridge mode.

 

"The C1900 has no IP address of it's own"

In WDS bridge mode the IP address of the C1900 is the one you've configured under Advanced -> Network -> LAN. (step 4 of the procedure in my previous post)

 

Any client device (configured to obtain IP address from DHCP) that connects to the C1900 should get their IP address, Subnet Mask, DNS addresses, Defaut Gateway address from the router (Windows Server?) that is managing the network.

 

As for the SSIDs the C1900 is broadcasting you should be able to modify them in the menu Advanced -> Network -> Wireless, but make sure that the settings for channel and preferably also channel width match those of the SSID of the network you are rebroadcasting. ... EDIT... This applies only for the one signal (2.4 GHz or 5 GHz) you are rebroadcasting via WDS, the other Wi-Fi radio can be freely configured. 

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#4
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Re:Cannot get TP-Link AC1900v2 setup in bridge mode
2022-06-04 19:59:55

  @woozle 

Thanks for all the help. Everything is now up and running.

 

I've gone off your script a little -- and hopefully it won't lead to difficulties down the road. One problem with the usual setup is that gadgets like a Kindle, where there is no way to set a static IP, will not work with the configuation. I solved that by turning on the C1900's DHCP server and giving it a small range of addresses to be in exclusively in charge of.

 

Again, thanks.

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