I've been having the exact same problem! I also have the TL-WA701ND V2.0.0, and my connection doesn't last longer than a day either.

Mine is plugged into an Ethernet switch, which is plugged into the modem. I was thinking that might be the issue, but it seems like a lot of people are having the same problem as us.

Is this product simply defective?

fotodamaris wrote

Rebooting is your ticket

Was that supposed to be sarcasm? It's not reasonable to expect to have to reboot an access point every day or two. That's crazy.

Hello,
I'm encountering a same kind of issue as I need to power cycle my AP every 3 or 4 hours to having my connection back.
It is maybe a fact for you, this is not what most of us are waiting from such device...

Regards,

Laurent

If the Access Point could send a notification that it is down and requires reboot that would be great. The Dogwatch does not seem to be reliable. Is there a third-party firmware that allows to create an alarm? Several people depend on my connection, how can I automate the process of rebooting when the AP is down?

pd. rebooting solves the problem for 24 hours, handling 13 simultaneous wifi connections. The cable modem is not down when the AP fails, so is not the host.

ideas?

I would prefer not to install other firmware, it will, void my guarantee and I have already bricked one router.


I will upgrade to the latest official firmware. And look for a software application that can send me an alarm when it detects that the Access Point is down, I dont think it has to be at the level of firmware. I think it can be a software installed in my monitoring PC. I need a "health connection monitor" i just dont know if such an application exists, bu i will look for it and if i find one i will report it here. Thank you.

Interesting. I'm not exactly renting the AP but offering as an added value service to the people of the building where Im the concierge. I didn't offer 1st quality fast connection, just a reliable way to access the internet fr light use. I got them 30 Mbps and they never use it all, although sometimes the entire upload (1Mbps) is topped. But I use QoS in the cable modem and I think they are fine with the AP. I just updated the firmware to its last release which is supposed to be able to sustain more clients. Since I installed it (10 hours ago) it has been working very fine. I didnt know there were more robust solutions for AP for a building. I dont want to update the firmware because it will void the two years guarantee. I just need to receive an email in case the AP fails, so I can reboot. Expecting such events once a week. If I continue to have constant drops I will have to do something about it yes. But Im not sure that new firmware will fix it, or maybe there are some parameters to correct. Anyway, so far, its working very sweet. I have the live feed of the Throughout Monitor (bandwith use in a graphic) on a screen and so far perfect.

Hello Everyone,

I too suffered this issue. An overnight reboot, using a plug-in timer, kept things running.

However, in the last few months, the number of WiFi devices in the house has increased dramatically - between tablets, phones, chrome-casts, remote controls aside from the older laptops, games consoles etc. It is not uncommon for 20 devices to be connected. The result is that the Access Point decides to stop being an Access Point halfway through the evening.... not so good for streaming video.

Note: This isn't a case of stretching the bandwidth too thinly - all connected devices lose their connection and the TL-WA701ND needs a reboot.

Clearly, this is a software defect. Do TP-Link monitor these forums? Is there likely to be an update?


Regards

“It is not uncommon for 20 devices to be connected”

But WA701 cannot ensure a stable connection if there are 20 device connected.
You should decrease the number of wireless clients to test. Try 8.

But WA701 cannot ensure a stable connection if there are 20 device connected

Why not? Where does it say that in the spec?
The 802.11n spec certainly supports a lot more than this. The TL-WA701ND hardware has the capability.

You should decrease the number of wireless clients to test. Try 8.

Err... no. This is a not a test lab. It is the real world where the device is used by real people with their gadgets. I do not expect to count up the number of gadgets in use manually and tell the users that they cannot utilise their phone/tablet etc.


However, in truth, the Access Point handles that many devices... for a while. I would suggest a memory leak in the data handling software is the issue. More devices just means it goes offline sooner. I suspect your arbitrary 8 devices just means you get (say) 72hours of use before reset.

@fotodamaris Thanks for the nod towards the release notes. However, nothing lists an actual number. Experience derived from a bug is not a specification.

To my mind, putting in an undocumented and very low limit means the device does not conform to spec and is not fit for purpose. It has been falsely advertised. I'm in the UK and here, such action is illegal.

However, the idea that there is a such a low limit doesn't really fit in with a device that supports VLANS and multi-SSID. Having a limit if (say) just two devices per SSID/VLAN is nonsense and that is the potential implication of a limit as low as 8.

I've downloaded the source code and have started having a look around...but initial impressions are that the code is a not a complete build for the device - just the core Linux. The only limit I've found so far is that it cannot track more than 64 access point. But again, if that number is at 64, why limit the client list to 8 or 14 ????

@fotodamaris I acknowledge that these devices are cheap. But that isn't an excuse for it not working. A cheap device that doesn't do what it says is just an unnecessary expense.

You don't buy a cheap car and believ, because it's cheap, that it's OK to stall every 20 miles!

I realise their are alternate firmware, but in all seriousness the latest versions of those are a bit poor. The latest OpenWRT has terrible performance compared to the previous. DD-WRT seems to be getting a reputation for bricking units.

I just use the 701ND as an additional Access Point so didn't need the extras. I just expected it to do what it is advertised to.