WIFI connected devices not showing up as WIFI clients
Hello,
I have my device in Access point mode as I have another router handling the DHCP portion of the network.
I have multiple devices connected to the Wifi network and yet only one device shows connected when I log into the management page.
Shouldn't all the devices show up un the WIFI section? I am trying to verify who is connected to the Wifi portion of my network.
I have verified all the devices are on the correct network with the correct subnet masks. I have also verified on my DHCP server that they are active, but again I want to verify this on the TP-link WIFI section.
Any help would be great.
Thanks
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I'd like to add my comments to this topic. I have a VR600 modem/router, and a 3-unit Mesh P9 system. The P9s are running in AP mode and the VR600 is running with WiFi disabled. All firmware is up to date.
I have a Samsung Tab3 tablet that doesn't show up in the Tether app. However it does show up in the Deco app, and I can see it when I log in to the router via a browser. Everything else that's got wifi capability shows up. Admittedly the Tab3 is getting on a bit, if you can call something I purchased in 2014 as 'getting on a bit', but it's still working and talking to the router.
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While the TP-Link AP may be able to see broadcast DHCP Discovery messages being sent in the network, it apparently does not make use of them and this wouldn't provide any additional information anyway beyond the MAC address which the AP should have already. Perhaps TP-LINK AP waits to see DHCP Request messages that would include proposed IP addresses, but then these are not always broadcast, then can also be unicast which would mean TP-Link could remain in the dark.
Regardless, trying to re-discover what clients are directly connect to a TP-LINK AP via WiFi by scanning ARP/DCHP messages doesn't make sense anyway. The TP-Link WiFi AP has authenticated each WiFi client and provides ongoing WiFi connectivity. so it must have a list of connected clients elsewhere beyond attempting to rediscover what it should already know by packet-sniffing DHCP.
I do see that if I take an already-connected wifi device, and attempt to load the web page for the TP-LINK AP, the AP does wake up at that point and add the client on it's WiFi client list. So perhaps if I have a neighbor that might be hijacking my WiFI, I could ask them to also kindly make an attempt to login to my TP-LINK AP any time they do so -- so that I can know they are connected to my WiFi. Maybe that would be the workaround?
Or perhaps TP-LINK could get around to fixing this????
-Craig
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Well the orginal post was made in reference to AP mode. In AP mode as it has been stated its not a bug, but a fact of how some client devices/client NIC adapters are desgined. The client will only show up in the AP's client list if there is an Arp instance. If the Client does not send an Arp request it will not show up. Arp request can be forced by actions such as pinging to the router's default gateway. This infromation is directly from our product test engineers.
For the concerns some users on the thread have had while on routing/routed mode we do not yet have an answer. It was resent to the engineering team this morning for a status update.
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Hi CyberJew I forwarded your response to our testing team and this is what they said:
DHCP requests are not using ARP, but rather the UDP protocol. It does broadcast, so our router in AP mode will not listen to the request. In addition, the client does not have an IP address until DHCP process is completed, so it is not a good time to collect the client information.
For devices running in Router mode we are looking for an update to the concern.
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For APs, this is a major bug and a major security issue. You cannot wish that devices do something different than they are doing today for your device to work properly. iPhones and iPads don't work this way. Worse, in terms of a security issue -I can't ask my neighbors or another unwanted device that is hijacking my network to please do extra work to identify themselves to the tplink AP by manually pinging the AP. That is not sane.
If the tp-link AP has authorized a WiFi client, it MUST include these clients on the webpage showing connected clients. It can't wish that another approach would be a workaround.
This is a serious problem. Please stop pretending it is by well-planned design. Errors are not by design, the are by design flaw.
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@Carl But the IP does not matter, what matters is knowing what devices are connected to the WiFi network. And that is something the AP knows perfectly because it authenticates them. If the IP is unknown at any point is not a problem, the AP should count the device and display the device and MAC address. IPs change, MACs don't.
I guess most people just want to know there are no unknown devices connected. And you don't need the IP for that, just check the list of authenticated clients.
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Hi Craig. No one is pretending. I have relayed what information I have been given. In AP mode its dependent on the client device and how the request is sent. In those terms is not an issue or bug but how the client device requests infromation. You can see that its client based by seeing that some clients show in the client table while others do not. Also in AP mode the IPs are handed off from the router, so it is quite possible the router has the product based on IP address in its client table. As we have tested compeitors who have found ways to handle these request more effiecently the product team has also begun looking into anything that can be done to improve how client displays while in AP mode,
If you are one of the users who have stated they are using their TP-Link product in router mode that concern (as well as the whole thread) has been forwarded to the engineering team to provide an update as soon as they can.
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I am using the tp-link in AP mode and also need this fixed. For AP mode, regardless of whether the client is using DHCP or has a fixed IP address, the WiFi AP must share it's list of wifi connected clients so as to avoid security risks of unauthorized access and also to allow admins to see the WLAN clients that are connected to the AP for normal healthly monitoring.
Why wouldn't this be fixed for the AP mode?
-Craig
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In AP mode the router is not handling the DHCP request. They are being handed off from the source router. While the AP acts as the man in the middle and the connection point it does facilitate addressing. If the client isn't sending the infromation the router in AP mode can't collect it. That is why we are saying its not a bug. With that said though like with the compatiblity issue some of our Range Extenders have with certain Specturm branded routers even though the issue is not on our device we are looking for a viable work around to improve the infromation recieved. I don't have a time table but have been told they are looking into it. My goal in my previous post was to provide customers with simple facts that its not a bug or flaw in the product but rather part of the communication and handshake infromation sent from the client and how doing a simple ping to the APs IP could resolve the concern.
Also its worth noting that since the router is providing the IP addresses these device may very well show up in its client list.
When we do have an update further replies will be made to this thread.
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@Carl The AP not showing clients connected to the AP is a bug. The AP is the one that authenticates them and allows them or not in the network. IP does not matter, DHCP does not matter.
There is no need to analyze traffic or know the IP to list devices connected to the AP. The AP knows perfectly who is connected and how many devices are authenticated.
So, when the AP does not count a device it has just authenticated, it is a bug.
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