I followed the instruction below and it works. http://www.tp-link.com/en/article/?faqid=227 :)
Any MAC filter rules enabled on WR841ND v7? If MAC/IP binding is disabled, does the laptop connected to the second router get a correct IP? Can you ping root router successfully?

Thank you for the response.

Yes, I followed the exact same guide. The laptop I connected to the "bridged" router got the correct IP, but there was no way I could connect to the internet nor ping the "root" router (192.168.45.1).

My DHCP is set to give 7 IP addresses, but there are no MAC filtering rules, just MAC/IP binding for 3 specific devices whilst the remaining 4 IP addresses are free.

In order to narrow down the probable causes to my connectivity issues I disabled the MAC/IP binding on the "root" side and started from scratch. I got the same problem again. WDS status on the second router shows: RUN, but I cannot connect to the internet from the laptop. I even connected my phone and a tablet to the 2nd router, but they cannot get online either.

I tried other things, such as using the same SSID, security, password, and disabling the SPI firewall on both routers, but no luck. AP Isolation is disabled on both routers, so it cannot be the cause of this mess, could it?

This is my detailed config for the "Root" router (v7):

IP: 192.168.45.1
Subnet mask: 255.255.255.0
DHCP: 192.168.45.100 - 192.168.45.106
Wi-Fi mode: 11bgn / CH 8 / 40MHz / 300 Mbps
WPA2 Security enabled, QSS (WPS) disabled.

Bridged router (v9):

IP: 192.168.45.2
Subnet mask: 255.255.255.0
DHCP: Disabled
Wi-Fi mode: WDS / 11bgn / CH 8 / 40MHz / 300 Mbps
WPA2 Security enabled, WPS disabled.

By the way, I tested the v9 router separately and it worked flawlessly on every single channel, mode, and frequency, so it cannot be a defective unit.

Any ideas? :confused:

Not sure. Can you use V9 as the root router and enable WDS on V7?

Ada wrote

Not sure. Can you use V9 as the root router and enable WDS on V7?

Thank you for the suggestion. I tried to do it as soon as I read your post, but I'm afraid it didn't work. :(

Just when I was about to give up, my friend offered to give me his WR841ND v7 in exchange for my v9. Considering it was a fair deal for both of us, I accepted.
Then, I updated his former v7 to the latest firmware. Guess what? The WDS setup went smoothly and worked on the first attempt. :D

My guess is there's some kind of bug or compatibility issue of v9 with previous router versions as they use "old" Atheros (AR) chipsets whilst v9 uses the new Qualcomm Atheros (QCA) chipsets. Also, v9 is still running on its first (initial) firmware, so hopefully there's still room for improvements in future releases.

Once again, thank you for your help ADA and I hope this issue gets solved in a future firmware version.

Warm regards.