Have to try twice to connect to router IP
I invariably connect to my router's admin panel in Firefox using the IP address: e.g. 192.168.100.1 (since I have set '100' in the third grouping).
Invariably, I get an error page the first try - a page that says there may be a problem (It looks like you aren't connected to your TP-Link network.
To access tplinkwifi.net, your device must be connected to TP-Link Router’s network. Please check your network connection and try again.), and I should try to connect using the IP address rather than the tp-link address (http://tplinkwifi.net/). When I try again - using the exact same IP address, I get the login page.
Any thoughts as to what's causing this? I'm not sure why I get the tp-link page at all, given that I start with the IP address.
- Firefox latest
- Windows 11 latest
- I've already cleared Firefox cache and history
I'm not sure that this happens with other browsers. Trying Chrome and Brave now, I go straight to the login page, but perhaps that's because I'm already logged in on Firefox? Or maybe it's something about Firefox causing this?
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This issue is known, and doesn't seem to be unique/isolated to any browser. Others will experience what you see, on any browser (if they haven't linked/bound their router to their TP-Link ID/account, or if they don't have such an account). This is not an issue with Firefox or any browser.
It seems this behavior is intentionally designed by TP-Link, to help non-technical users to easily & reliably access their router's admin page/panel. The router's firmware can't know with certainty where it is on the big giant internet (i.e., on which network, and at what IP address). So it assumes it's at 192.168.0.1 on your browser's "local network." If you changed the router's IP address (as you did), then this will always fail, and so it shows the alert/error page you see. It works only when you manually type the router's actual/changed IP addr.
TLDR: The TP-Link router's firmware is designed to use the hostname "tplinkwifi.net" whenever it wants to connect to you/your browser (or to the TP-Link Tether app on your mobile device), since it doesn't know where "you" are (your browser, your mobile device) on the gigantic internet. So to connect to you, it use the "tplinkwifi.net" address (which by default translates/takes it to 192.168.0.1 on your local subnet). That translation is done differently if you've linked/bound your router to your TP-Link account/ID. For anyone who hasn't done that binding and who also changed their router's default IP address (as you did), the router goes on your network to the default 192.168.0.1 and finds no device at that address, so it pops up that alert/error page you see. Then, when you manually type/go to your router's correct (changed) IP address in your browser, it connects. TP-Link has hard-coded their "tplinkwifi.net" URL into their device firmware/admin panel. This certainly makes it easier for newbies when their browser connection times-out (making it always successfully reconnect to the default 192.168.0.1 address), but this same router behavior makes it harder for anyone who has changed the router's address.
There are two solutions for this.
- You can create a TP-Link ID (an account with them, which you already did since you're able to post here) and also bind (strongly link) your router to that account (you bind your router using the admin management panel: go to Advanced > TP-Link ID). This will ensure it always goes to your router's changed IP address (since TP-Link will remember your IP, as part of your account). This will require that you log into your router with that TP-Link ID always (and not with the router's local admin account that you originally setup). This may not be ideal, for privacy purposes.
- You can edit your "Hosts" file, to tell it to always translate "tplinkwifi.net" into your router's changed IP address. This may cause problems for you in the future if you later decide to create a TP-Link ID/account (since that account relies on the hostname "tplinkwifi.net" translating to their server). If you'll never bind your router and you'll never use the Tether app, then doing this will cause no problem. You can edit your computer's Hosts file (it's a text file): in Windows, type/paste "%windir%\system32\drivers\etc\hosts" into File Manager, and use Notepad to edit it. Be sure to save your edit. Restart your browser (you may also have to reboot your computer if it has other non-standard configs).
TP-Link designed it this way to help non-technical users, since they won't know how to solve connection problems. Technical users will know they can connect using their router's IP address (by typing its actual/changed IP address into any local browser).
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I have seen things change with Firefox as they add new security features. May want to try clearing history, cookies, .... and see if that works.
I use my iPad most the time I sign on to the router and I do not use Firefox.
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This issue is known, and doesn't seem to be unique/isolated to any browser. Others will experience what you see, on any browser (if they haven't linked/bound their router to their TP-Link ID/account, or if they don't have such an account). This is not an issue with Firefox or any browser.
It seems this behavior is intentionally designed by TP-Link, to help non-technical users to easily & reliably access their router's admin page/panel. The router's firmware can't know with certainty where it is on the big giant internet (i.e., on which network, and at what IP address). So it assumes it's at 192.168.0.1 on your browser's "local network." If you changed the router's IP address (as you did), then this will always fail, and so it shows the alert/error page you see. It works only when you manually type the router's actual/changed IP addr.
TLDR: The TP-Link router's firmware is designed to use the hostname "tplinkwifi.net" whenever it wants to connect to you/your browser (or to the TP-Link Tether app on your mobile device), since it doesn't know where "you" are (your browser, your mobile device) on the gigantic internet. So to connect to you, it use the "tplinkwifi.net" address (which by default translates/takes it to 192.168.0.1 on your local subnet). That translation is done differently if you've linked/bound your router to your TP-Link account/ID. For anyone who hasn't done that binding and who also changed their router's default IP address (as you did), the router goes on your network to the default 192.168.0.1 and finds no device at that address, so it pops up that alert/error page you see. Then, when you manually type/go to your router's correct (changed) IP address in your browser, it connects. TP-Link has hard-coded their "tplinkwifi.net" URL into their device firmware/admin panel. This certainly makes it easier for newbies when their browser connection times-out (making it always successfully reconnect to the default 192.168.0.1 address), but this same router behavior makes it harder for anyone who has changed the router's address.
There are two solutions for this.
- You can create a TP-Link ID (an account with them, which you already did since you're able to post here) and also bind (strongly link) your router to that account (you bind your router using the admin management panel: go to Advanced > TP-Link ID). This will ensure it always goes to your router's changed IP address (since TP-Link will remember your IP, as part of your account). This will require that you log into your router with that TP-Link ID always (and not with the router's local admin account that you originally setup). This may not be ideal, for privacy purposes.
- You can edit your "Hosts" file, to tell it to always translate "tplinkwifi.net" into your router's changed IP address. This may cause problems for you in the future if you later decide to create a TP-Link ID/account (since that account relies on the hostname "tplinkwifi.net" translating to their server). If you'll never bind your router and you'll never use the Tether app, then doing this will cause no problem. You can edit your computer's Hosts file (it's a text file): in Windows, type/paste "%windir%\system32\drivers\etc\hosts" into File Manager, and use Notepad to edit it. Be sure to save your edit. Restart your browser (you may also have to reboot your computer if it has other non-standard configs).
TP-Link designed it this way to help non-technical users, since they won't know how to solve connection problems. Technical users will know they can connect using their router's IP address (by typing its actual/changed IP address into any local browser).
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You're probably correctly using your TP-Link ID to log in, but for other users here with similar problems, this info may help them:
- After binding/linking your TP-Link router/device to your TP-Link account, you have to log into that router/device using only the TP-Link ID (and not the previous admin login credentials used earlier, before it was bound).
Specific to you, I'm sorry I can't explain why this isn't working. Some possible reasons & things to try:
- Your browser is setup for "strict" security (in browser's settings, check: Tracking protection, Verification of Security certificates, HTTPS-Only mode, Dangerous Software protection, etc.). Note that TP-Link uses some self-signed security certificates, and their routers use by default HTTP (not HTTPS) connections (though you can set it to use HTTPS only).
- Your computer has very strong firewall protection (e.g., maybe it's setup to blocks all direct access to your computer, from the internet)
- Your computer settings for NAT are non-standard in some way. NAT is often used by routers.
- Your computer is setup to block some types of access from the internet (e.g. it blocks a specific port used by TP-Link's servers, or some other method they use)
- You may be using a VPN or proxy, which makes it difficult to access your device from outside your home network
If this is still a problem for you, you can try to temporarily turn off specific protections (one or two at a time) and checking if the login works with those disabled. When done, be sure to re-enable all other protections.
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