Archer AX1500 (hw. AX12 v1.0) periodically drops WiFi connections in AP mode
I have purchased this router a few days ago. Updated the firmware to the latest version. Did a HW reset, reconfigured. I set it up to run in AP mode, as I already have an Internet router which does FW, NAT, Port Forwarding, etc... The GbEth port of hte internet router (LINKSYS WRT1200AC) is plugged into the WAN GbEthernet port of AX1500 operating in AP mode (I have already tried plugging it to the LAN port of AX1500, but the problem still remained.) The problem is that AX1500 randomly drops WiFi connections and clients (eg. SAMSUNG phones and tablets running latest version of Android, and other notebooks) are having difficulties reassociating. For example, Android devices report error when I try to force reconnection.
Any idea what might be wrong?
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Update:
The TP-Link support said that they cannot recreate the problem. Perhaps all of you can also email TP-Link support to let them know that you also have problem with the AX12 in AP mode.
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So if they cannot reproduce it, it means they are not trying, if anybody can return it I suggest to do so and buy an already tested device.
Sad since the device has good specs and a good price
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This is a fairly new device and there's no any emulator available yet to take a look at its web-management interface.
Can someone post web browser screenshots of the following AX12 settings:
Network tab:
LAN
DHCP
Wireless tab:
Wireless settings
You can cover/blur/erase your SSIDs/password for privacy.
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Tschabha wrote
Now I switched back to the original setup, but paralelly I am operating the AX12 with different SSID than the others on different WIFI RF bands. I am testing it with one tablet and smartphone. This way the problem disappeared: these two endpoint can use the AP without problems, there is no dropping off.
This worked for me. If I use the same SSID as other Access Points then the problem occurs.
@terziyski
Here you go
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Thanks for the screenshots.
So far to summarize - the issue comes only when the AX12 SSIDs are the same as in the other APs in the LAN - that seems to be important for recreating the issue in a lab environment.
When AX12 is switched to AP mode the connection should be: main router LAN port => AX12 WAN port
Set the SSIDs the same as other APs again but for:
Wireless settings
Security: can you try setting a WPA2-AES (can't see the available options from the drop-down menu), i.e. excluding WPA3 security.
Channel: can you try to use "Auto" for channel selection on both AX12 radios, i.e. excluding explicit Band4 (UNII-3) channel on the 5Ghz radio.
Test the AX12 behavior after making these changes and check if there's any improvement.
The OP has mentioned that he has an issue with the DHCP response messages from the main router.
What are your system log messages ?
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Thank you for the suggestions. After following it, unfortunately I still experience connection drops and clients unable to obtain IP addresses. My archer a8 in the network works properly. Do you think this is the problem of AX12 firmware?
Yes the connection is to lan port to AX12 wan port.
Regarding the system log messages of my main router (ER-605), I don't see any errors that may be relevant to the problem.
Regarding the system log messages of the AX12, I see logs that the router is requesting an IP address from the server.
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It could be a FW issue since several people reported the same problem, when the AX12 is in AP mode and with the same SSIDs as in the main router.
One last thing to try just to be sure that everything's tested - set the AX12 DHCP Server from "Off" to "Auto" and test again if there's any difference.
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@terziyski
Unfortunately, it is still the same.
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@terziyski Thank you so much for helping others and providing reasonable suggestions.
It seems the issue has been reported to the support engineers and you're followed up with our engineers. I will make sure to remind them to look into this issue further and help provide a solution as soon as we can.
Hello @Tschabha @utk787 @cimonroyb @DanielSP,
Thank you all very much for bringing this to our attention and apologies for not responding timely. I hope it's not too late to look into this issue further. Next time if there is something urgent or important, please make sure you are tagging me or @Sunshine for a timely response. Unless we are tagged we do not see that new responses have been added. We do not subscribe to every thread so rely on Tagging to ensure responses.
For the issue you're reporting here, can I confirm some more details, which would help us investigate it further and provide a solution efficiently?
1. How many APs or access points in the network that the AX12 connects to? In other words, are there any other APs in the same network except for this AX12?
2. Please check and make sure the DHCP Server on the AX12 is off or disabled as suggested by Liverpool20 here below:
https://community.tp-link.com/en/home/forum/topic/617510?replyId=1234988
3. Try terziyski's suggestion to modify the SSID of the AX12 to be different if there are multiple APs in the network.
If none of the above works, please tell me the model number of the host router that the AX12 connects to and the specific firmware version of the AX12. Thank you very much.
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Thanks for the reply! See my comments below...
First to clarify the model, make, type, SW, etc...:
About the model: both model numbers are present on the box: AX1500 and Archer AX12. On te administration webpage, on the top left part it says "tp-link AX1500 Gigabit Wi-Fi 6 Router", while on the Firmware Update menu it reports "Hardware Version: Archer AX12 v1.0". Also the firmware version reported is: "1.0.20 Build 20230616 Rel. 40941(4555)"
Q1:
There were originally 3 AP-s in the building I have to cover with WiFI infrastructure, to obtain a reasonable signal strength everywhere. One of them is the Internet router (LINKSYS WRT1200AC) the other one is a TP-Link Wireless N Access Point WA801N, and the third one was a TP-Link Archer C20 AC750 Dual Band router used as an AP. The plan was to replace the latter with an AP with GbEthernet LAN port (the AX1500) as the internal LAN infrastructure is now pure GbE and the Internet bandwith was also upgraded to 300Mbps/300Mbps. Originally all the AP-s were set to use the same SSID and password, and were operating on different 2.4/5GHz bands, configured and controlled manually. Everything worked fine, as the WIFI endpoints would roam automatically between these AP-s. After I switched the Archer C20 to Archer AX1500, the problems began to appear: the clients connecting to the AX1500 periodically dropped connection for seome strange reason, which I began to investigate further. I switched back to the original setup, but paralelly I was operating the AX12 with different SSID than the other APs on different WIFI RF bands, connected to the same LAN (I triedLAN poert and WAN port as well but it made nodifference). So now i have 3 AP with [SSID1] and the AX1500 with [SSID2] on the same LAN, with one working DHCP server (a LINUX machine). I began testing it with one tablet and smartphone set to automatically connect only to the AX1500 AP. The problem still remained. So I have noticed that endpoints can assiciate with the AP but they can not get IP address from the DHCP server.
Q2:
I have double checked that I have only one DHCP server working on the LAN and the DHCP server on AX1500 is swithed off.
I can confirm, that although the DHCP server is switched off in the AX1500 it somehow interferes with the DHCP protocol. The DHCP server gets the DHCPDISCOVER requests from the wireless clients on the AX1500 - so the clients can associate with the AP (!) - but the DHCPOFFER packets seem to disappear somewhere along the route... So the clients can not negotiate IP address.
There are some other wierd log entries in the system log which I do not understand, but it might have nothing to do with this issue....
2023-08-04 00:07:13 Led Controller INFO [1859] Start to run WAN1_OFF
2023-08-04 00:07:13 Led Controller INFO [1859] Start to run WAN0_OFF
2023-08-04 00:07:13 Led Controller ERROR [1859] Config importing failed
2023-08-04 00:07:13 Led Controller DEBUG [1859] Failed to read LAN_ON
2023-08-04 00:07:11 Led Controller INFO [1859] Start to run WAN1_OFF
2023-08-04 00:07:11 Led Controller INFO [1859] Start to run WAN0_ON
2023-08-04 00:07:11 Led Controller ERROR [1859] Config importing failed
2023-08-04 00:07:11 Led Controller DEBUG [1859] Failed to read LAN_ON
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Helpful: 5
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Replies: 99