TL-MR3020 / Problem with WAN interface in WISP mode on access point switch

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TL-MR3020 / Problem with WAN interface in WISP mode on access point switch

This thread has been locked for further replies. You can start a new thread to share your ideas or ask questions.
TL-MR3020 / Problem with WAN interface in WISP mode on access point switch
TL-MR3020 / Problem with WAN interface in WISP mode on access point switch
2023-04-29 15:06:11 - last edited 2023-04-29 18:34:50
Model: TL-MR3020  
Hardware Version: V3
Firmware Version: 1.5.0 0.9.1 v0001.0 Build 211118 Rel.64060n

In a recent installation we've used this model in WISP mode to add wifi support to some ethernet-only devices, configuring the external interface to get the IP address automatically (sorry but I'm not sure about the hardware/firmware version, I don't have access to the actual devices right now).

 

Edit:

Firmware version 1.5.0 0.9.1 v0001.0 Build 211118 Rel.64060n

Hardware version TL-MR3020 v3 00000002

 

The point is that the network is quite big and has multiple access points spreading the same SSID. In some cases we saw some of the devices behind the routers getting offline. We thought there was a problem with them but when we got there and restarted the routers, they came back again, which means the problem was in the router.

 

With this, we asked the network managers to analyse the traffic from these points and they found out the source of the problem. Apparently some of them jump from access point (AP) A to AP B due to the limited signal quality or because the router seems to lose its place in the AP list maybe because by the time it goes to renew the DHCP session, many people around it probably join the network (it's a university and the problem has always been detected in those routers that are close to classes, where there's a relevant amount of devices (phones, laptops, etc.) at certain hours) and, as a result, the router must jump to another AP.

 

Based on their research, the network identifies the packets received through AP B as orphans and they're discarded. We were told that the router should force a DHCP renegotiation every time it changes to another AP and it looks like that's not happening. Is there any way to force this? I don't remember having seen such an option in the configuration interface. Actually we've seen these devices being offline for days, which is quite weird, because I'd expect them to force the DHCP renegotiation at some point way sooner (haven't checked exactly which is the expiration time received in the DHCP responses but I'm sure it won't be "days"). I mean, it feels like the router was in a zombie state and there's no way to restore it but to force a restart.

 

Regards

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Re:TL-MR3020 / Problem with WAN interface in WISP mode on access point switch
2023-05-04 07:07:42

  @Mamonetti 

 

Hi, do you mean the MR3020 will stop working every time when it tries to jump from AP A to AP B with the same SSID?

Please join to AP A first, then try to power off AP A to see if the MR3020 will join AP B automatically, if not, please also try repeater mode after switching the hardware switch to AP mode.

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