[SOLVED] TP-Link Passthrough Powerline - Disconnects both PC's when laptop connects to wireless network??

[HuwPrice]

Very strange - I have a work PC, my son has his PC, we have a Samsung TV all connect to our broadband (NOWTV Router/Modem) using TP-Link Passthrough Powerline adapters/Ethernet cables.
All have been working fine, my partner, all our phones connects to the same network wirelessly, no issues....I switch my laptop on, it connects wirelessly to the network and ALL TP-LINK adapters disconnect.

PC's running windows 10, Laptop running windows 10, The laptop connects to the same Microsoft account as my PC (I don't know whether this is relevant?)

The bottom line is I can't use the laptop online!

Any help appreciated.

Huw.

 

[bill001g]

So your pc connects directly to the router wifi. You do not have powerline units with wifi ?

What happens to other devices connected directly to router both via ethernet and wifi.

It does not make a lot of sense since your laptop does not even touch the powerline network and the wifi radio frequencies will not interfere with the powerline.

Normally this would be some kind of IP conflict but I don't thing powerline unit use IP, maybe they do, the ones I used you had to use a special program to access them. Then again it really should not matter even if the powerline units had IP addressses. They are only used to manage the devices. Powerline units act more like a switch than a router so they do not even process the IP information in data packets.

Do the lights change on the poweline units. Are they actually going down or they appear to be function but do not work.

 

[HuwPrice]

So your pc connects directly to the router wifi. You do not have powerline units with wifi ?

The router plugs into a Powerline adapter with an Ethernet cable , right next to it. My PC is upstairs and connects with
an ethernet cable into a Powerline adapter right next to it... My son's PC has the same arrangement in his room.

What happens to other devices connected directly to router both via ethernet and wifi.
I tried connecting the Ethernet to the laptop because the PC wouldn't connect. I disabled the wifi on the laptop
and plugged the ethernet cable from the powerline straight in - It connected ok but with an extremely slow connection; Kb's.

It does not make a lot of sense since your laptop does not even touch the powerline network and the wifi radio frequencies will not interfere with the powerline.

I know, that's what is so puzzling.

Normally this would be some kind of IP conflict but I don't thing powerline unit use IP, maybe they do, the ones I used you had to use a special program to access them. Then again it really should not matter even if the powerline units had IP addressses. They are only used to manage the devices. Powerline units act more like a switch than a router so they do not even process the IP information in data packets.

Ah Ok, I see, thanks for the explanation.

Do the lights change on the poweline units. Are they actually going down or they appear to be function but do not work.

All 3 lights were fine, Just no internet access - The error I get when running the Microsoft diagnostic is "The ethernet doesn't have a valid ip configuration" Which is a common message I've seen when we first set things up and was resolved by re-pairing the TP-LINK with the main hub.

It is so weird, all working fine, l switch the laptop on, connect to the Wi-Fi and the devices connected to the TP-LINKS lose internet access. The standard Ethernet icon switches to the world globe...no internet.

Thanks for looking at this Bill - Thinking outside the box here, could it be a virus/malware on the laptop?

 

[bill001g]

It depends if it is blocking only the powerline connected devices or if it is blocking all devices.

If it also blocks something that is directly connected to the router it could be some software on the laptop. Someone a while back had a similar situation and it was related to how the VPN software on the work laptop was configured. If it only blocks the powerline devices but other devices directly connected are not affected then it is something more mysterious.

 

[HuwPrice]

Hi Bill,

It's only blocking powerline connected devices...I'll wait until everyone's off and look how the laptop is configured/what's running (or lurking!) on there.

I was hoping it would be something obvious but, with your help and explanations here, I'm resigned to having to give the laptop a good going over.

Thanks again,

Huw.

 

[SamirD]

Super strange. I would boot the laptop to a linux live cd/usb and see if it can connect with wifi that way without causing an issue. If so, then there's nothing wrong with the laptop itself, but definitely something wrong with windows on it.

 

[HuwPrice]

Cool. I've got an Ubuntu stick somewhere. Latest news - laptop is off, neither pcs connected to to links have managed to reconnect. Router rebooted, ports changed, to links re-paired, all the usual work arounds but no joy. 3 lights on both to links, both paired easily, neither can get to the internet. I'm going do a factory reset on the router/modem in the morning, can't be anything else.

 

[bill001g]

If it keeps happening I would be thinking some kind of ARP poison. Note arp poison is just the name of the attack it can be caused by misconfigurations also.

Use the ARP -a command and see if you see strangeness in the mapping of IP between when it works and when it does not. Networks are designed to prevent one machine from killing others so it has to be something very unusual.

 

[SamirD]

Is the laptop power supply plugged in right now? Cheap fake ones can cause all sorts of havoc with noise in the power system.

 

[HuwPrice]

Bingo! We may have an answer! Laptop is plugged in, there's an issue with the charger - it's not charging the battery but providing power for the laptop...laptop WiFi switched off/disabled, restart the laptop and tp links drop...connected to a dodgy power supply sourced from the same electric circuits the PC tp-links are plugged into...full boot time scan currently underway on all machines, I'll charge the laptop with the working charger (daughters one) and I hope all is well. Thank you everyone in advance, its been quite a day.

 

[SamirD]

Bingo! We may have an answer! Laptop is plugged in, there's an issue with the charger - it's not charging the battery but providing power for the laptop...laptop WiFi switched off/disabled, restart the laptop and tp links drop...connected to a dodgy power supply sourced from the same electric circuits the PC tp-links are plugged into...full boot time scan currently underway on all machines, I'll charge the laptop with the working charger (daughters one) and I hope all is well. Thank you everyone in advance, its been quite a day.

Awesome! Glad we were able to help! Yeah, besides being fire hazards this is why anything less than a genuine power adapter is a waste of money. You can find genuine ones used a thrift stores all the time.