@privateflyer05 

This issue has been seen before - take a look at this thread. You may try its solution (if it's applicable in AX21 WebGUI).

I thought this has been fixed in the newer AX series devices. It has been solved definitely in Archer C64 though.

  @terziyski 

I dug through the thread you suggest, not sure this will work for me. The laptop I have does not have a wired ethernet port. I do have a USB hub that does have a wired port but only use it when I need a wired connection rather than a WiFi connection. I found the thread of interest in that it appears that without DHCP enabled the connected devices are not shown. This seems to imply a systemic problem with this series routers in AP mode. I do have other devices Cat 5 connected to this AP router, but they are consumer devices without access to the ethernet adapter properties. They don't show as connected devices either. 

I suppose I could configure an additional DHCP pool on the AP node but that defeats the portability of devices around my home, connecting to the AP mode router will change its IP address probably breaking established connections such as a Zoom session, etc. 

I sure hope this issue can be escalated in your engineering group, sounds like you need a different mechanism to identify attached clients ...

Try again please ...

Kevin

  @privateflyer05 

Let me explain in details:

The issue you're describing looks similar to the one I posted, but the device used is different - Archer C6 v2.

That issue is valid for both cabled/wirelessly connected devices.

The OP in the thread in question mitigated the problem by setting the device's DHCP server from OFF to Auto:

If the AX21 doesn't have this option when configured in AP mode then that won't work for you. That's why I posted " (if it's applicable in AX21 WebGUI) ".

In general when in AP mode the device's DHCP server should be OFF - here's the TP-Link official guide for configuring wireless router in AP mode (Case 1), using its WAN port to connect to you main router.

Now on:

"I sure hope this issue can be escalated in your engineering group, sounds like you need a different mechanism to identify attached clients ... "

What you can do further if you want to contact TP-Link tech support is to e-mail them using this form and they should reply regarding your issue.