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WR841N ‘static routing’ dialog does not permit ‘default route’?

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WR841N ‘static routing’ dialog does not permit ‘default route’?

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WR841N ‘static routing’ dialog does not permit ‘default route’?
WR841N ‘static routing’ dialog does not permit ‘default route’?
2017-01-20 14:58:33
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Hello tp-link forum. First time poster so please tell me what I am doing wrong gently… please.


So I have just opened and installed my brand new TL-WR841N. It is up working fine and doing what I want. I bought it to be an Access Point. No WAN interface expected to be used in the foreseeable future. The reason for that is simply that searching for a pure access point seemed to hard and this router was so cheap and got such good reviews, I went for it.



So to my problem: My problem is to do with ‘static routes’ and specifically the ‘default route’. I found that the ‘Get GMT’ function on the router failed quickly and without explanation and I soon worked out it was because there was no route to the time servers, or anything else outside my local /24 network.


I wanted to add a standard default route like 0.0.0.0/0.0.0.0 192.168.0.1, but the web dialog says:


The IP address is invalid, please input another one!


Hmmm… How do I add a default route?


I can add a route like: 128.0.0.0/192.0.0.0 and 64.0.0.0/192.0.0.0 but I can’t add a route like 192.0.0.0/192.0.0.0 as I get another error message:



Error code: 4003

Subnet Mask doesn't match the Destination Network address, please enter again.



Well I think (a) the subnet mask most certainly does match the destination address and (b) a destination address only does not match the mask when destination address bits are 1 when the corresponding mask bit is 0.



This error 4003 for this input looks like a bug! Is someone from tp-link reading these forums?



So what I want is one route: 0.0.0.0/0.0.0.0 192.168.0.1



Q1: How can I achieve this route?

Q2: Am I simply not using the web interface correctly? Is there already a way to enter a single simple default route.

Q3: My software version is the one out of the box (Firmware Version: 3.16.9 Build 160325 Rel.62500n Hardware Version:WR841N v11 00000000)



To state the obvious, this route issue does not affect my use of the device as an access point/ethernet switch etc. The problem is only when the WR841N wants to get the time, or send a email or do a traceroute… etc. That is, when the WR841N wants to behave like any other IP host.



I currently have a mess of rules like 128.0.0.0/192.0.0.0, 64.0.0.0/192.0.0.0, 32.0.0.0/224.0.0.0 etc. A real mess! I want to avoid a long list of routes to achieve a simple function that all IP hosts (should) have.



Thanks



Rob Watson

Sydney Australia
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Re:WR841N ‘static routing’ dialog does not permit ‘default route’?
2017-01-22 02:58:51

RobWatson wrote

So I have just opened and installed my brand new TL-WR841N. It is up working fine and doing what I want. I bought it to be an Access Point. No WAN interface expected to be used in the foreseeable future.


So you made an AP out of a router. Fine.

Hmmm… How do I add a default route?


There is no way to add a default route to a WR841 used as an AP. Furthermore, routes make no sense on an AP at all, since they will not be obeyed. An AP is supposed to extend the LAN (just think of it as an unmanaged switch with an additional WiFi card). Therefore, it is a LAN-to-LAN device and routes are not needed at all. You can't use any functionality requiring routing (that's what eventually a router does!) on a LAN-to-LAN device. Routing can only happen between two different networks such as LAN and WAN and it requires a router to do so.

What would one need time-of-day for on a WR841? For parental control, time-scheduled firewalling or similar things. Since you can't use such functionality on a WR841 (ab)used as an AP, setting the time makes no sense.

If you would use a real AP - which for example supports time-scheduled activation and de-activation of the WiFi signal - you could set the default route in LAN settings in order to get time via Network Time Protocol. But not in routers such as the WR841 used as APs (with WAN interface just left unused). TP-Link's APs most often have model names starting with TL-WA (WA = WiFi access point) instead of TL-WR (WR = WiFi router).

I would recommend a TL-WA901 as a cheap AP or an EAP110 if you want a business-class AP with time-scheduled functions. If you insist on a WR841 used as an AP automatically adjusting date and time (but for what purpose?), then you might give the OpenWRT firmware a try.
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