[SOLVED] Router "Disappeared" After Reconfiguration / New IP Address

[gregger77]

I know this is a common problem because I Googled "Can't Access Router After Changing IP Address" and saw lots and lots of different and bewildering answers. But I'm open to any advice I can get.

My primary router is a TP-Link AC1750/Archer C7. It has excellent range, but I decided to expand WiFi reach by repurposing an old TP-Link N600 (WDR 7500) router as a wireless access point using the same SSID.

I very precisely followed the step-by-step instructions from TP-Link, as seen at www.tp-link.com/us/support/faq/417/ on how to set up the router as a WAP, among them:

• Connecting the old router via Ethernet cable between LAN ports
• Turning off DHCP on the old router
• Setting the old router to the same SSID but a different IP address, etc., following exactly this instruction:

If the DHCP of your main router is 192.168.2.100 – 192.168.2.199 then you can set the IP of the TP-Link N router to 192.168.2.X (X should be outside your main router's DHCP range), like 192.168.2.11.

After finishing up and properly restarting the router (a few times in fact), the N600 was operating beautifully as an ethernet switch and WAP on two bands.

The only issue is that, when I connect directly on either of two computers via ethernet to a LAN port and try to hit the router's new IP address (192.168.2.11), neither computer can "see" it. I get Page Not Found.

The main router, a TP-Link AC1750 Archer C7 (v2) resides at 192.168.0.1 with subnet mask of 255.255.255.0.

Is there a simple fix for one of the attached computers that will allow it to find the "new WAP" at its new IP address?

Thanks for any advice.

 

[RealBeast]

And that is exactly what should happen since the new AP router is on a different subnet from the main router.

Do you want everything on the same network, or two separate?

If same, then the AP router needs an address of 192.168.0.x where x is not 1 or an address in the DHCP assignment range of the main router, i.e. a static address.

If different use the WAN port and set a gateway address to 192.168.0.1, set the AP address to 192.168.2.1 and turn on DHCP.

 

[Ralston18]

Regarding:

"The only issue is that, when I connect directly on either of two computers via ethernet to a LAN port"

You mean LAN ports on the N600 - correct?

If I follow correctly, the N600 should have a static IP of 192.168.0.11 with a wired connection of Main router [LAN] to [LAN] N600

The other two computers are getting their IP addresses via the main router.

And 192.168.0.11 should be reserved on the main router via the N600's MAC.

 

[gregger77]

Do you want everything on the same network, or two separate?

If same, then the AP router needs an address of 192.168.0.x where x is not 1 or an address in the DHCP assignment range of the main router, i.e. a static address.

If different use the WAN port and set a gateway address to 192.168.0.1, set the AP address to 192.168.2.1 and turn on DHCP.

The answer is "Yes," I'm happy to keep everything on the same network, assuming that modern devices like my new laptop or iPhone 8 will not have problems roaming between the main router (downstairs) and the new AP router (upstairs).

The main router's DHCP range is 192.168.0.100-199. Sounds like I should do a hard reset on the N600 so that I can access it again using the factory default login, and then set the IP address to 192.168.0.11 (to Ralston's suggestion).

The answer to Ralston's question is "Yes," I meant that the two routers are connected via Ethernet cable LAN to LAN.

Thanks both for the help.

 

[Ralston18]

Try the N600 reset and reconfiguration first to determine if doing so resolves the problem.

Leave everything else alone for the time being.