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TL-WR941ND acting as wifi extender/AP keeps disconnecting - common issue

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TL-WR941ND acting as wifi extender/AP keeps disconnecting - common issue

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TL-WR941ND acting as wifi extender/AP keeps disconnecting - common issue
TL-WR941ND acting as wifi extender/AP keeps disconnecting - common issue
2014-11-23 21:50:17

Model : TL-WR941ND

Hardware Version : V5

Firmware Version : 140627

ISP :

My problem is this:
I have a main WRT54GL router, which sits at the end of the house and who's signal all but disappears at the other end of the house.
I've upgraded it's antennas to 9dbi, this helped a bit (now I have some signal everywhere) but not enough, as when I'm far away I have very low speeds and occasional disconnects.
I've decided to add a TL-WR941ND as a wireless AP/extender to increase my wifi strength.
I've configure it to be a WLAN bridge (via this FAQ: http://www.tp-link.com.de/article/?faqid=440)
My network looks like this:
Modem---WRT54GL- wifi-TL-WR941ND- wifi-MyPCs/Smartphones

It all works fine at first, but every couple of hours it disconnects.
I've tried setting both routers on the same SSID, or different ones - same result.
I've tries working on different channels - it doesn't work, and the routers need to interconnect, so they need to be on the same channel.
The DHCP is currently set on WRT54GL (as this is what the procedure recommends), the TL-WR941ND is set with a static IP (outside the DHCP range).
During the disconnects I can connect wirelessly to TL-WR941ND, but cannot access it's management IP.
Neither can I access it from WRT54GL.
I can access it connecting locally (via a network cable), but the settings all look OK.
The only thing that seems to fix the issue is restarting TL-WR941ND, either via the power button or via the "reboot" menu.


I've browsed through the forums here looking for a solution.
I saw many people have had the same issue, unfortunately they either were unable to solve it, or solved it but did not post the solution they found.
There was this thread that seems to have solved it: http://forum.tp-link.com/showthread.php?1960-WR941ND-Intenet-Connection-Loss
But I have no idea what he meant under "While I had put it in at the beginning the separate menu for the DCHP also needed set.", and I'm not even sure he ha exactly the same problem as me.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Alex
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#1
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19 Reply
Re:TL-WR941ND acting as wifi extender/AP keeps disconnecting - common issue
2014-11-24 13:48:32
To try different channels, you should change channel for the root router and reconfigure WR941.
What's the IP address of your root router and WR941?
When disconnects, connecting to WR941, what's the IP address, default gateway obtained? Can you ping default gateway?
Hardware version and firmware version of your WR941?
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#2
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Re:TL-WR941ND acting as wifi extender/AP keeps disconnecting - common issue
2014-11-24 14:23:14

Ada wrote


Hardware version and firmware version of your WR941?

Hi Ada,
Regarding the HW & FW version of my router, I've put them in my original post, but it somehow got garbled. I've fixed it now.

To try different channels, you should change channel for the root router and reconfigure WR941.

Regarding different channels, as I mentioned I've tried both the same and different channels across the 2 routers.
I also tried running them both on Channels 1,11 and 13 (I have an app that shows for each wifi network on what channel it is, so I tried to use the least used channels in my building).
I must say I did not see any difference when running on different channels, and I'm not sure how is that supposed to help.

What's the IP address of your root router and WR941?
The IPs I've set up are:
WRT54GL - 192.168.1.1
DHCP (on WRT54GL): 192.168.1.100 - 199
TL-WR941ND - 192.168.1.200

When disconnects, connecting to WR941, what's the IP address, default gateway obtained? Can you ping default gateway?

When it disconnects, I''m unable to connect to WR941 via WIFI.
If I'm already connected when it happens, I have a 192.168.1.1XX IP and 192.168.1.1 default GW. In such cases I'm also able to connect to the router's UI, and it shows as if everything is ok.

Last night I've tried changing channel with on WR941 to be 20MHz instead of Auto (as WRT54GL only supports 20MHz, so I thought this might be the problem), but this didn't help.


I've seen some places suggest that the WLAN Bridge router should be the DHCP server, do you think this might be the problem here?

Thanks,
Alex
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#3
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Re:TL-WR941ND acting as wifi extender/AP keeps disconnecting - common issue
2014-11-25 09:59:48
Alex, what's the distance between two routers? Any obstacles? Try to shorten the distance and test if the connection will be stable.
"I've seen some places suggest that the WLAN Bridge router should be the DHCP server..."
I don't think it is true. The main router should the DHCP server and the bridge router's DHCP is disabled.
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#4
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Re:TL-WR941ND acting as wifi extender/AP keeps disconnecting - common issue
2014-11-25 17:33:01

Mavis wrote

Alex, what's the distance between two routers? Any obstacles? Try to shorten the distance and test if the connection will be stable.

The distance between the 2 routers is about 2 meters (6.5 feet).
One is under a table, and the other is mounted on the wall, and they are in the same room, so no obstacles.

Also, I am able to use my main router from other places around my apartment (much farther away) without any problems.
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#5
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Re:TL-WR941ND acting as wifi extender/AP keeps disconnecting - common issue
2014-11-25 21:22:04

fotodamaris wrote

don't see a reason to add a second device on 2 meters distance, they are colliding, neither to set extender mode, on that distance cable them, set 941 as AP

It's a long story :)

Basically in Israel (where I live) there is a law that all new apartments are to be built with a safe/secure room (for protection in case of missile attacks), which is a room with walls built from reinforced concrete.
So as you understand, any wireless reception in this room or from it would be quite bad.
In my apartment there are 2 cable output ports built in into the walls, one in the living room, where my TV gets it's tv (cable) signal, and the other in the safe room where I placed my Desktop PC + Modem + Router.
This room is at the edge of my apartment, and the wall socket is located in the farthest wall of the room.
By placing a second wireless router on the doorway to the room (I mounted it on the wall), I am able to increase the WIFI signal significantly, and make it strong enough to cover the entire apartment.
I hope I explained it well enough :)
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#7
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Re:TL-WR941ND acting as wifi extender/AP keeps disconnecting - common issue
2014-11-25 23:09:24

fotodamaris wrote

so this means, you have solved your issue by connecting 941 on AP mode to a ethernet socket

Nope, it's connected wirelessly to my WRT54GL.
If I have no choice, I'll eventually connect the 2 via a cable, but that would look less pretty and will require a lot of work (moving furniture, laying the cable, etc.).
So I prefer to find a wireless solution if I can (especially because WR941 is supposed to be able to handle it out of the box).
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#9
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Re:TL-WR941ND acting as wifi extender/AP keeps disconnecting - common issue
2014-11-26 22:22:14

fotodamaris wrote

Good Luck on that one

I'm not sure why this should be a problem, one of the selling points of this router is that it can act as a WIFI extender.
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#11
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Re:TL-WR941ND acting as wifi extender/AP keeps disconnecting - common issue
2014-12-16 04:24:21
Update:
I have been in contact with TP-Link's support in the past few weeks, and they helped me to pinpoint the problem.
Apparently (as I discovered after an extensive research on-line) Linksys WRT54GL/WRT54G/WRT54GS routers were not originally designed to support WDS.
Although the support was added in later firmware update, WDS is not one of their advertised features, and Linksys pretty much ignores it in this series of routers.
Because of this, the WDS (on stock firmware) in these routers is unreliable and probably buggy (with no intentions by Linksys to fix these bugs).
After I installed a DD-WRT firmware on my linksys (the simplest one), the WDS feature started working properly, and now the 2 routers are connected continuously and without disconnects.

Thanks to everyone who tried to help!
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#13
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Not sure what you mean here...
2014-12-16 18:15:29

fotodamaris wrote

Good you solved your issue, as you post connected continuously and without disconnects
But the title of your thread is TL-WR941ND acting as wifi extender/AP keeps disconnecting - common issue
can you point me in all the thread where does it read you wanted WDS, cause from post #1 to post #12 everything is about the title of
Thread wifi extender its difficult to help you, if you ask for a repeating mode and end up wanting WDS mode, 2 different Worlds

I don't want to sound petty here, but I did point out in the original thread:
I've configure it to be a WLAN bridge (via this FAQ: http://www.tp-link.com.de/article/?faqid=440)

And the link leads to document named "How to Configure WDS Bridging on TP-LINK Dual Band Routers"

I'm not saying I was adamant on using WDS in order to extend my WIFI range, but that's the protocol/method the WR941ND uses to establish a WLAN bridge, so it's not like I had any choice here.

P.S.
I'm not sure what difference you mean between repeater and WDS.
AFAIK, repeater is the general concept while WDS is a specific implementation of this concept.
Also, Wifi range extender is the same as Wifi repeater ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wireless_repeater)

Thanks,
Alex
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#15
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Re:TL-WR941ND acting as wifi extender/AP keeps disconnecting - common issue
2014-12-16 21:07:29

fotodamaris wrote

You are defending yourself on a clear mistake you made on your thread, you post like that cause you solved your issue, now you can edit your posts to make it you where right, but you where not, now you even want to give us classes throughout Wikipedia links, just read the title of your thread, the word EXTENDER is there, today you can post you meant WDS, but that word is not there in the first 12 posts, unless you edit your posts.
Note; that's the protocol/method the WR941ND uses to establish a WLAN bridge, yes it is one, but not the only one or the one you where asking, you wanted EXTENDER and that is equall to Repeating, two dif. Worlds.

I'm not sure what I did to you personally to warrant this attack on myself.
Let me assure you I never edited any of my posts to make it seem I said something I didn't, or didn't say something I did.
The only edits I did to my posts were to fix spelling mistakes, or to add any info I forgot when posting it. In any case, all my edits were done within minutes of the original posts.
I never edit my old posts to make myself look right, when I was wrong.

As I already mentioned, WDS is the only way to define a WLAN bridge (also called WIFI extender or WIFI repeater) in this router is by using the WDS protocol.
In case I'm still not clear enough, I have read lots of different sources on the subject, and they all say the same:
WLAN bridge = WDS = WIFI repeater = WIFI extender

These are all different names of the same concept.
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#17
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