TP Link Range extender kills the internet in the rest of the network
TP Link Range extender kills the internet in the rest of the network
Hello,
I have a TL-WA850RE v7 wifi extender and when I connect it to my main router (ASUS RT-AC1200), from that moment - if any device tries to register into the network through the main router, it does not have the internet access. The devices accessing the network through the extender work fine.
Initial situation
The main router is running a DHCP server and is responsible for assigning the IP adresses into the home network 192.168.1.X. It is also responsible for the wireless access to the home network througth the SSID called let's say HomeNetwork. There is also one other gateway in the house - the cable modem from the internet provider connected to the main router by the (main router's) WAN socket. The cable modem is running on a different network (192.168.0.x), has the wifi off and is connected to the main router by wire. So the main router has the IP address 192.168.0.10 given by the cable modem on the WAN interface and 192.168.1.1 in the home network. This setup has been running well for years. I just had a very weak signal of the HomeNetwork on the terrace, so wanted to boost it by a range extender.
Range extender installation
I have installed the range extender very easily, set-up a new SSID called HomeNetwork_EXT, left the extender it in the default (range extender) mode and turned the "DHCP Server" option to off (is Auto by default, so just to be sure). The extender connects easily to the main router, it even gets an IP address 192.168.1.200 from the main router (I guess just because of the config interface, otherwise the extender does not need the IP address). I connected the mobile phone from the terrace through the HomeNetwork_EXT and it worked well. I have turned on my laptop a couple of hours later inside the house, it tried to connect to the HomeNetwork, but it said "no internet". I have checked, but the phone connected to the HomeNetwork_EXT had the internet connection. The internet was working. This is where the problems started. I started testing the behaviour in different situations to pinpoint the cause.
Tests
Test 1 - HomeNetwork_EXT always works
If I connect a new device to the network through HomeNetwork_EXT, the connected device works well - it can connect to the internet, sees the devices in the network etc. All good.
Test 2 - Turning off the extender immediately solves the problem
If I turn on my laptop and try to connect it to the HomeNetwork while the extender is on, the laptop says "no internet". The command ipconfig shows the laptop has the IP address assigned by the main router, but I cannot ping the main router (weirdly - like one out of 10 packages pings correctly, the others are lost immediately to "general error". not even a timeout). If I turn off the extender, the problem immediately disappears and the connection through HomeNetwork works perfectly again. ==> so I thought "hmm, it is somehow jamming HomeNetwork".
Test 3 - Wired devices connected to main router have the same issue
To confirm, I have tested this also with the wired devices. The extender is on. If the Smart TV had been turned on before the extender was turned on, it works well. However, if I make it get the new IP address from the main routers' DHCP server, it gets the new IP address, says all is fine, but Youtube/Netflix does not work because it just has no internet connection. If I turn the extender off, again, magically, the internet on the Smart TV starts working.
I have checked the logs in the main router, but there is no error logged, as if all was perfect.
I am running out of ideas what the cause could be. Anyone any thought?
Thank you very much
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Hi @tsaosalt. I wrote about my 'solution' above. After trying everything, I returned the TP extender and bought one from another brand. It's been working well since. However, the issue itself was never resolved; I couldn't get the TP-Link extender to work.
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@buxter Hi, I have the same issue, but I fixed it by disabling the DHCP for the extender, this let the router managing IPs with no issue.
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@AhmedSaeed I also did that and it worked for a day or so then the problems came back as before
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I had the same issue with a TL-WA850RE. Drove me nuts. I followed the clues provided by @jesperk2 and this resolved the situation.
- Turned off DCHP Server on the Extender
- Left the main router DCHP Pool as set
- Left the main router IP as set
- Set the IP adress of Extender to not pick up IP address automatically and then set the IP address of Extender to be one digit at the end different to the main router.
Everything now working fine.
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Hmm...I was premature. Less than five minutes after changing the settings and there seeming to be no conflict between the main router (TP-Link VX220-G2v2) and the TL-WA850RE Extender, the problem resurfaced. Although initially being able to connect to either device, depending where I was in the house, within minutes after I disconnected from the WA850RE, I could not connect to the main router while the Extender was switched on. As soon as I turned it off, I was able to connect immediately to the main router.
I won't spend any more time on the WA850RE device. I've concluded it is cheap for a reason and I'll get something else.
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Hello Gents,
I had exactly the same problems with TL-WA860RE. After exhausting all the advices here on the forum I'm returning the repeater (luckily I'm still in 14 days returning period no questions asked). But then I remembered that I have an older TL-WA860RE somewhere. I think I bought it like 10 years ago. It doesn't have the strenght settings and few others functions and there is a on/off button on the cover. But wierdly enough it is not killing the network at all. So I presume only the newer versions of TL-WA860RE are somewhat faulty.
Have a nice day
Kamil
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I have the similar issue with TL-WA850RE. When i connect RE to main router which is Archer C50, I am unable to connect my laptop WiFi internet through router Archer C50. Where as i am able to connect my laptop WiFi internet through RE. When i diagnose the issue in laptop the errors are , IP is not assigned, IPv6 DNS servers with error message fec0:0:0:ffff::1%1, fec0:0:0:ffff::2%1, fec0:0:0:ffff::3%1, etc. appears in WiFi SSID properties.
The other strage behaviour is i am able to connect my mobile phone WiFi to router but not laptop WiFi, when RE is connected. When RE is removed then i am able to connect my laptop WiFI to router.
I have purchased RE for extending WiFi to some CCTV connectivity purpose which is quite far from my laptop working area and so i cannot use RE WiFu for latptop. I need to have router WiFi to be made available for other users which is killed by adding RE in the network. Pl help to resolve this strange issue
-Gangadhar
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@Gangadhar1 Hi. I was unable to resolve the problem with the extender. I had purchased it through Amazon Australia. I returned it for a refund because there was clearly a problem with it. Instead I purchased a slightly more expensive (only an extra $25) TP Link AC750 MESH WiFi Extender (Dual Band) which has been working just fine and has not caused any of the problems caused by the TL-WA850RE.
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