Region : Portugal

Model : TD-W8960N

Hardware Version : V1

Firmware Version : 1.4.0 Build 111108 Rel. 40398n

ISP :

Please excuse this lengthy post. I have tried to give as much information as possible to try and solve my networking problem.

I recently bought a TP-Link TD-W8960N router off eBay with the intention of adding it to my existing network, primarily to extend the wifi coverage in my house. My existing network is as follows:

Edimax 3G-6200N Router
WAN connection to Internet via USB 3G Pen (There are no landlines in our village)
LAN IP Address: 192.168.2.1
Subnet Mask: 255.255.255.0
DHCP Server: Enabled
Start IP: 192.168.2.100
End IP: 192.168.2.200
Wireless: Enabled
Channel: 11
ESSID: aaaaaaa
Encryption: WPA PSK
WPA Unicast Cipher Suite: WPA2(AES)
PSK: ddddddddd

ASUS WL-500G Premium V2 Router (with DD-WRT firmware)
WAN connection: Disabled
WAN IP: Disabled
Connection to Edimax router is via LAN Ethernet connection.
LAN IP Address: 192.168.2.2
Subnet Mask: 255.255.255.0
Gateway: 192.168.2.1
Local DNS: 192.168.2.1
DHCP Server: Disabled
Wireless: Enabled
Channel: 6
ESSID: bbbb
Security Mode: WPA2 Personal
WPA Algorithm: AES
PSK: ddddddddd

My initial attempts to connect the TP-Link router to my network failed. I upgraded the firmware. The router now shows the following:

TP-Link TD-W8960N Router
Model: TD-W8960N Ver 1.6
S/N: 11385002492
MAC: F4EC38CBC4CD
Hardware version: TD-W8960N v3 0x00000002
Firmware version: 1.4.0 Build 111108 Rel. 40398n

I carried out the following in my attempt to install the TP-Link on my network:

1. Laptop connected to router via LAN Port 4
2. Changed Wireless/Basic/Country to UK
3. Changed Wireless/Advanced/Channel to 9
4. Disabled DHCP Server
5. Changed LAN IP Address to 192.168.2.3
6. Saved
7. Unable to log in to router on 192.168.2.3 or 192.168.1.1
8. RESET
9. Logged in again
10. Changed Wireless/Basic/Country to UK
11. Changed Wireless/Advanced/Channel to 9
12. Advanced/LAN - Disabled DHCP server
13. Advanced/LAN Ports – enabled Virtual ports on LAN(1-4)
14. Advanced/ETH Interface – selected eth0.5/LAN1 Default Mode for Ethernet WAN
15. Connected TP-Link to existing network via Netgear Switch – No internet connection shown on laptop.
16. Advanced/WAN Service – removed all ATM entries.
17. Advanced/WAN Service – added eth0.5/LAN as WAN Service Interface - Next
18. Advanced/WAN Service/Configuration – Selected PPPoE (pppoe_eth0.5) – Next
19. Prompted for User Name/Password, which I don’t have – Back
20. Advanced/WAN Service/Configuration – Selected IPoE (ipoe_eth0.5) – Next
21. Advanced/WAN Service/WAN IP Settings – Left as: Obtain an IP address automatically/Option 125 Disable – Next
22. Advanced/WAN Service/NAT Settings – Enabled NAT – Next
23. Advanced/WAN Service/Routing – Default Gateway – Selected WAN Interface: ipoe_etheth0.5 – Next
24. Advanced/WAN Service/DNS Server Config – Use the following Static DNS IP Address: Primary DNS Server: ipoe_eth0.5 – Next
25. Advanced/ Layer2 Interface/ATM Interface – Removed all entries
26. Saved configuration.
27. Internet connection comes up on laptop.
28. Laptop Network Connections shows IP address as 192.168.1.100 – assigned by DHCP.
29. Unabled to see anything other than the laptop on the network.
30. Disconnected Ethernet cable from laptop to TP-Link and enabled laptop wireless.
31. Laptop Network Connections shows wireless connection has limited or no connection. Laptop IPAddress shows as 169.254.39.223

Today I tried configuring the TP-Link as follows:

32. Resetting the router back to factory settings.
33. Advanced/WAN Service - Removing all entries.
34. Advanced Layer 2 Interface – Removing all entries.
35. Setting Wireless for UK and Channel 9. No security.
36. Advanced/LAN – Disabled DHCP Server – Saved.
37. Advanced LAN – Changed IP Address to 192.168.2.3 – Saved.
38. Connected TP-Link LAN Port 1 to Edimax LAN port 2.
39. Obtained an Internet connection with my laptop connected to TP-Link LAN port 4.
40. Disabled my laptop LAN connection and enabled the laptop wireless – got an Internet connection via TP-Link.
41. Reconfigured wireless for a secure connection
42. There appears to be no way to set the Gateway and DNS server to ‘look’ at the Edimax, ie 192.168.2.1.
43. Enabled the TP-Link virtual LAN ports and tried configuring LAN port 1 as an Ethernet WAN connection. Unsuccessful and once again I was unable to log into the router until I reset it back to factory default settings.

I have finally made progress and am now able to connect the TP-Link to my existing network, and get Internet access using Ethernet or radio connection to TP-Link. However, I am not convinced that this is the optimal configuration for what I am trying to achieve and when I now try to configure LAN Port 1 as a WAN port I get locked out of the router.

I would be very grateful for any advice to correctly configure the WD-8960N.