Tapo C320WS can't connect through ethernet
This thread has been locked for further replies. You can start a new thread to share your ideas or ask questions.
Hello everyone, maybe someone encountered this before and can assist in some way.
I recently got a C320WS camera, it connects without issues through Wi-fi, but it will not connect through Ethernet.
The camera is connected directly to the router and the phone is connected through Wi-fi to the same router. I tried 2 different Ethernet cables and both ports on the router. I resetet the camera multiple times, I also restarted the router and reinstalled the app on the phone.
The connection between the camera and router seems fine, port is up and the LED on the camera is on (Orange).
DHCP is enabled on the router and I can see the MAC address from the camera, also the IP assigned to it. Same IP range as the on the phone received.
The camera has the latest firmware.
Any suggestions?
- Copy Link
- Subscribe
- Bookmark
- Report Inappropriate Content
Thank you. So far, it looks like the concern is Not with the Camera or Tapo APP, but more likely there is something to do with the router settings or network topology.
From your ping test, WLAN and LAN are isolated, locals device can not ping each other even they are in the same local network.
You might need to reach router support and check if router has AP Isolation, port isolation or check it's related to the network map or Guest Wi-Fi etc.
Feel free to let us know for any further observations.
- Copy Link
- Report Inappropriate Content
@Solla-topee Thanks, that's what I also suspect. For now I have 3 cameras up and running through ethernet, but all of them connected through a switch first, as planned in my case.
I'll have to take a better look at the router and see what's going on, looks like pings between devices in the same network are not possible with the current settings the router has.
- Copy Link
- Report Inappropriate Content
So, after spending a few more hours testing the camera I finally figured a few things out, hopefully this will help other users.
My initial setup:
- latest firmware, latest app on a Samsung S10
- I configured the camera using Wi-Fi a day earlier, but didn't try to connect it through ethernet until today
- today I mounted the camera to the wall and connected it through an ethernet cable to a switch (also from TP-Link, model SWHLS1008G) and then to the router
The camera worked fine, but because I configured it for Wi-Fi I thought it was using Wi-Fi (which I did not want) and not the ethernet cable, but here's the catch, it was using the cable, automatically. Aparently when you plugin a ethernet cable, the camera turns of its Wi-Fi and starts using the cable connection.
I reseted the camera and started trying to configure it using a ethernet connection, which didn't work at all. The instruction video clearly shows it being configured using the ethernet option.
If the camera is connected to the router, or through the switch and then to the router, the app never finds it, at least in my case. I can see the MAC and IP on the router, but the phone app never sees the camera and I can't set it up. Both the phone and the camera are in the same network.
Here's another catch, if I configure the camera with Wi-Fi and then I connect it directly to the router using an ethernet cable, it doesn't work, even after a restart (reboot, not reset).
It only works if I connect it through the switch, after it has been configured with Wi-Fi. Only then it turns off its Wi-Fi and starts using the ethernet connection automatically.
If the camera is already running and I plug in the ethernet cable from the switch then the camera needs a restart/reboot. If it is already configured using Wi-Fi and it is connected to an ethernet cable to the switch, when I power it on it works from the start, no restart/reboot required. So if the power goes down, the camera will connect through ther ethernet cable when it will start again if the cable is plugged in.
Conclusion (for my case):
- I could not configure the camera using ethernet only, no matter what I tried, the app could never find it
- the camera had to be configured using Wi-Fi
- to be able to use it with a ethernet connection I had to use a switch between it and the router (switch: SWHLS1008G)
I hope this clears things up for other users with similar issues, because I could not find anything related to this online or in the instructions provided for the camera.
- Copy Link
- Report Inappropriate Content
Hello @Cos88
Thank you very much for sharing the workaround! It's good to know setting up via Wi-Fi first then putting a switch between router and camera helps in your case.
From your description, camera's IP & MAC show up in router, this means the connection between router and camera is fine.
If Tapo APP can't find the camera through Ethernet, it could be related to some settings on the phone, here are some tips to try:
- Connect phone to the Wi-Fi network of the same router (Main Network, not Guest wifi network)
- Try a different phone if got one
- Make sure VPN is OFF on the phone
- Turn off security apps like Lookup, AdGuard apps on your phone
- Turn off mobile data on your phone
- Check if the camera gets an IP from router, try to ping camera on the phone
- Check if there is any advanced settings like AP isolation on router
May I know the model of router and network topology,
Is there any AP isolation setting on router, what is IP address on the phone and can you ping the camera on the phone at that time.
- Copy Link
- Report Inappropriate Content
@Solla-topee Hi, thanks for the answer!
THe phone and camera wre connected ot the same network, the camera directly to the router through aport I used for my PC, which worked fine, and the phone through Wi-Fi to the same router.
The IPs assigned to them were 192.168.1.3 and 192.168.1.4, same network.
There is no VPN involved. Mobile data was turned off, no other apps were on to try to restrict its access. The router is a Fiberhome AN5506-02-FG, with 2 ethernet ports (1x1000, 1x100).
When the PC and Camera were connected to the router (PC on the 100M Port and Camera on the 1000M) I could not ping the camera from the PC, but now that it is connected through the switch I can ping it without issues. I did not try to ping it from my phone when it was connected directly to the router.
I will receive another 2 cameras today and I will try again with them, to see if I can set them up using ethernet only. I'll return with an update.
- Copy Link
- Report Inappropriate Content
So, I got the other two, right after my previous post and got to test them. Same situation, the app can't see the camera through ethernet.
I connected the camera directly to the router, and the phone through Wi-Fi, to the same router.
While the ethernet cable is plugged in (into the camera), I can't see the camera's Wi-Fi, so I think it turns off automatically and switches to using ethernet.
I unplugged the cable and configured the camera using Wi-Fi, it connected without any issues, the phone sees it right away.
Once the initial setup is done, I just plug the ethernet cable back in and the camera works through it and no longer through Wi-Fi. However, in my case, it only works with the switch between the camera and router.
I suspect my router has something I'm missing, but I'm not sure why the switch helps after the camera is configured through Wi-Fi, and why the camera still won't work when connected directly to the router after it has been configured through Wi-Fi.
- Copy Link
- Report Inappropriate Content
Hi @cos88
Thank you very much for more case details!If possible, you could try a different smartphone
You could do some ping test as below to help isolate the issue:
-on the smartphone, ping Camera that wire to router
-on the smartphone, ping PC that wired to router
It is also recommended to check if there is any AP isolation or firewall settings that could block the communication the local network.
- Copy Link
- Report Inappropriate Content
At the moment the PC has the IP 192.168.1.2, which I can't ping from the Phone (IP 192.168.1.3). I can only ping the gateway, which is 192.168.1.1
The camera has the IP Address 192.168.1.10, which I can't ping from the phone either. But I see its MAC and IP in the DHCP Client List on the router, so the connection is there.
I've also tried using another phone, a Redmi Note 10s, same situation as on the S10.
- Copy Link
- Report Inappropriate Content
Thank you. So far, it looks like the concern is Not with the Camera or Tapo APP, but more likely there is something to do with the router settings or network topology.
From your ping test, WLAN and LAN are isolated, locals device can not ping each other even they are in the same local network.
You might need to reach router support and check if router has AP Isolation, port isolation or check it's related to the network map or Guest Wi-Fi etc.
Feel free to let us know for any further observations.
- Copy Link
- Report Inappropriate Content
@Solla-topee Thanks, that's what I also suspect. For now I have 3 cameras up and running through ethernet, but all of them connected through a switch first, as planned in my case.
I'll have to take a better look at the router and see what's going on, looks like pings between devices in the same network are not possible with the current settings the router has.
- Copy Link
- Report Inappropriate Content
Information
Helpful: 0
Views: 6262
Replies: 8
Voters 0
No one has voted for it yet.