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I'm using a TP Link TL-WR841N wireless router (fairly nice, but sold for home use) to act as a wireless access point and provide additional network ports from an existing LAN.

I've plugged the LAN cable into a LAN port (i.e. not the WAN port), disabled DHCP and set the device to have an address on the correct subnet which I know had been made a static address. It intermittently works (I confirmed that DHCP was being given out by the DHCP server on the LAN and not this device), but most of the time my devices fail to get a DHCP address and use 169.x.x.x instead. In these instances, if I assign a static IP address to my device, I can connect to the access point but cannot connect to the default gateway on the LAN - suggesting a connection issue between the access point and the default gateway (a Cisco switch).

I'm not sure what common problems exist in this setup so don't know what to look for. I've got a Netgear Router set up in exactly the same way and this works perfectly so I'm guessing it's not port security on the LAN ports, but I'm reluctant to just go and buy a different router without knowing the reason. I saw a similar question and one response included the fact that D-Link routers are quite bad at this, so perhaps it's just hit and miss? (Can every wireless broadband router be used as an access point?) Can anyone recommend a list of common problems and methods of testing?

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Watters
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  • I don't know of any if you disable dhcp. Almost all problems posted here are because they do not disable dhcp. – Moab Apr 12 '16 at 18:02
  • This should be closed. You're not asking a direct question. You're asking for theories and opinions. – Outdated Computer Tech Apr 12 '16 at 18:53
  • "most of the time it gives out a 169.x.x.x address" that's **not** given out by the router. That (link local) address is assigned by the OS when it cannot get an IP address from a DHCP server. See [What is the difference between a link local address and an IP address in the private address space?](http://superuser.com/q/342149) – DavidPostill Apr 12 '16 at 20:39
  • Thanks @DavidPostill - that was lazy wording on my part. Any recommendations on where would be a good place to ask, @Sickest? – Watters Apr 12 '16 at 20:55
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    Factory default the router, load latest firmware, and set it up again... Your described setup is fine and I've done it lots of times, there are no known problems with this setup. Potentially you have a bad router. – acejavelin Apr 12 '16 at 21:02
  • @Watters You're asking in the right place. It's just not a very clear question, and there is not a lot of information to go on. – DavidPostill Apr 12 '16 at 21:15

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