[NetfreakBombay]

Originally Posted by rohan_iitr

Actually, my main concern is regarding interference from the kitchen appliances, especially microwave oven.

Microwave impacts 2.4 Ghz radio. It wont interfere with 5 or 6 GHz bands.

If this is an existing flat, highly recommend to turn on the WiFi router and get actual measurements (don't need router to be connected to internet for this).

[gtonsing]

Originally Posted by rjainv

I have been using below for a while, works great.
There are cheaper models as well with lower speeds which would still be suitable for vast majority.


TP-Link TL-WA855RE Wi-Fi Range Extender (White) https://www.amazon.in/dp/B00EYW1U68/..._-UgCEb61QKYC6

I have tataplay broadband and I have recently purchased this extender. I am unable to make it work. On the app, I am unable to find this device. Can anyone help me with setting up?
From what I understand, it isnt really rocket science to set up a repeater. But for whatever reason, I am unable to see the repeater in the set up tool.
I have bought this device before and failed to install it. I returned it thinking the device is not working. Now that I got another device, it still is not connecting and I am beginning to think I am not doing something correctly.
Thanks in advance.

[ajayc123]

I have a similar one, I waa able to set thus up. During the instructions the phone wifi needs to be switched from your existing wifi to the device wifi to compete the settings.

You may try resetting the device by haird pressing using a pin and trying again.

[NetfreakBombay]

Originally Posted by gtonsing

From what I understand, it isnt really rocket science to set up a repeater. But for whatever reason, I am unable to see the repeater in the set up tool..

Configure it old-school way.

1. Turn on extender
2. Connect to Extender's WiFI network. The default network name is TPLink_Extender or TP-Link_Extender_2.4GHz/5GHz.
3. Visit :http://tplinkrepeater.net
4. Follow the steps
5. Not connect to new WiFi network that has been setup

[gtonsing]

Originally Posted by NetfreakBombay

Configure it old-school way.

1. Turn on extender
2. Connect to Extender's WiFI network. The default network name is TPLink_Extender or TP-Link_Extender_2.4GHz/5GHz.
3. Visit :http://tplinkrepeater.net
4. Follow the steps
5. Not connect to new WiFi network that has been setup

I reset the device, go through the setup you mention (except that I used the Tether app to set up instead. I switch to the repeaters wifi, and the screen tells me congratulations but from my screenshot, you can see, it fails to connect to the router. This is the step I cannot proceed. I can reset and try again but it keeps stopping at this point and I can proceed no further.

[NetfreakBombay]

Was it able to scan existing WiFi router ?

Do you have a PC / laptop for troubleshooting ?

[gtonsing]

Originally Posted by NetfreakBombay

Was it able to scan existing WiFi router ?

Do you have a PC / laptop for troubleshooting ?

I used the App first, and yesterday I used my laptop to set up. What I did
1. disconnected from my home wifi
2. connected laptop to the tplink extender and followed through the easy setup steps
3. after all the steps are completed (I got successful message as well) the RE light refused to come on
4. The status remained even after 5 mins of waiting and resetting and following the steps again and again.
End of the day, I think a wifi extender set up should not take this much of time. I am on the verge of giving up.

[NetfreakBombay]

Originally Posted by gtonsing

I think a wifi extender set up should not take this much of time.

Yes, either you got extremely unlucky (two hardware issues in a row) or something is unusual about your setup.

Can you try taking the extender just next to router and turn it on. Does light come up ? Since setup has already been done; you should not have to do it again. This is for troubleshooting.

If it does not work; connect the laptop via LAN cable to the extender and see logs. That should show the error (like Extender could not see the router).

Few things that could go wrong :

1. You might have selected wrong encryption parameters (WPS / TKIP etc)
2. Channel might have too much noise

[gtonsing]

Originally Posted by NetfreakBombay

Yes, either you got extremely unlucky (two hardware issues in a row) or something is unusual about your setup.

Can you try taking the extender just next to router and turn it on. Does light come up ? Since setup has already been done; you should not have to do it again. This is for troubleshooting.

If it does not work; connect the laptop via LAN cable to the extender and see logs. That should show the error (like Extender could not see the router).

Few things that could go wrong :

1. You might have selected wrong encryption parameters (WPS / TKIP etc)
2. Channel might have too much noise

Thanks NetfreakBombay,
I placed the extender right next to the router and still nothing happened. I then did another reset, used a LAN cable and tried the setup again. Same results - connectivity between router and extender is still showing and 'x'.
I did not make any changes in the encryption and my router does not seem to have a "WPS button" - I can see only a power button and a reset button/hole in the router. One of the new error messages I get once I complete the setup (after it says congratulations!) is that the app is telling me there is no internet connection - but I am connected using my 2ghz wifi. The extender seems to get an IP, but the IP is 192.168.0.254 - I am not sure if this is the IP range it should get or it should be something from the router (my wifi IPv4 IP is also 192.168.1.36 - on my laptop).
I even used one of daughter's laptop to try the web setup. Still no joy.
I dont think channel noise will come into play as it is far from the microwave, even though I use blue tooth mouse and headset, I dont think bluetooth and wifi will disturb each other (otherwise my very own connection and my headset functioning also will get impacted)
I think I will get a local person to come a see it over the weekend. Other than that, I guess the gods want my daughters to continue to experience bad/spotty internet

[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by gtonsing

The extender seems to get an IP, but the IP is 192.168.0.254 - I am not sure if this is the IP range it should get or it should be something from the router (my wifi IPv4 IP is also 192.168.1.36 - on my laptop).

Doesn't look right to me.

It looks as if your extender is on a different network (IP address contains network and device-on-that-network).

Yes, one can have different networks/subnets on the same physical/wifi setup. Very rarely would any of us do that --- but if it happens by accident then, sure, stuff doesn't work.

[gtonsing]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

Doesn't look right to me.

It looks as if your extender is on a different network (IP address contains network and device-on-that-network).

Yes, one can have different networks/subnets on the same physical/wifi setup. Very rarely would any of us do that --- but if it happens by accident then, sure, stuff doesn't work.

In that case, I made no changes to the way IPs are assigned, its all automatically assigned. Do you mean hardcode IP perhaps? I am not sure I have the ability to do that (skill). Any idea how to fix this? Reset router and extender? Again, like I said, I feel this is too much time spent on an extender set up

[Poitive]

Originally Posted by gtonsing

... The extender seems to get an IP, but the IP is 192.168.0.254 - I am not sure if this is the IP range it should get or it should be something from the router (my wifi IPv4 IP is also 192.168.1.36 - on my laptop)....

I'm no expert, but in such a situation would try to log in to the main router and give a fixed IP to the extender. One can do this by identifying the device on the network of the main router and binding the MAC Address to the IP. Given your laptop's IP, it could be something like 192.168.1.100
The 100 is just a random example; choose whatever is available and easy to remember. This does not need you to change the IP settings from dynamic to static.

(I've used an old router as an extender in one case, and had to disable dynamic IP on the router used as an extender, to avoid IP conflicts)

[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by gtonsing

In that case, I made no changes to the way IPs are assigned, its all automatically assigned. Do you mean hardcode IP perhaps? I am not sure I have the ability to do that (skill). Any idea how to fix this? Reset router and extender? Again, like I said, I feel this is too much time spent on an extender set up

There is no skill required, although, to get it all right one has to know a small amount, including possible gotchas like Poitive found: having more than one DHCP servers on the same net is a recipe for disaster.

The IP address or the method of getting it will all be on the LAN setup screen of a router. I'm assuming the same thing is true of your extender.

Check the labels on router and extender. They should have out-of-the-box IP addresses (although maybe the extender is DHCP-fed out of the box). a.b.c.nnn --- make sure that a.b.c are the same and nnn is different.

Originally Posted by Poitive

I'm no expert, but in such a situation would try to log in to the main router and give a fixed IP to the extender. One can do this by identifying the device on the network of the main router and binding the MAC Address to the IP. Given your laptop's IP, it could be something like 192.168.1.100
The 100 is just a random example; choose whatever is available and easy to remember. This does not need you to change the IP settings from dynamic to static.

(I've used an old router as an extender in one case, and had to disable dynamic IP on the router used as an extender, to avoid IP conflicts)

Again, this sounds complicated, but in practice is not. Browsing the screens on your router, you will find the DHCP configuration.

There will be a range of IP addresses it can use. Eg 192.168.1.20 - 192.168.1.100

There will be the capacity to create reserved addresses. This is how you make sure that the same device always gets the same address from DHCP.

You may be able to copy the information from a list of already-connected devices. Otherwise you need the MAC address. It will look like "00:1B:44:11:3A:B7" and should also be on the label for routers, etc.

What happens is that a device sends out a network message, "Hello DHCP? I'm 00:1B:44:11:3A:B7. Can I have an IP address please?" DHCP sends it, along with some other vital config information.

I'm very rusty on this. Hello NetfreakBombay!

When I forget or get confused I do this: google free TCP/IP Tutorial.

There are several out there. You will learn all that you ever need to know to configure a home (or office) network in the first three or four lessons.

--- But if you think that is all too much to have to do just to get an extender to work, I guess I sympathise!

[Poitive]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

... Again, this sounds complicated, but in practice is not.
...
There are several out there. You will learn all that you ever need to know to configure a home (or office) network in the first three or four lessons.

--- But if you think that is all too much to have to do just to get an extender to work, I guess I sympathise!

Much agree. If one is familiar with the router interface, it should only be a 5-7 minute job.

[gtonsing]

Thanks for the inputs and advice. It was a busy weekend (daughter's birthday etc) and looks like a busy could of weeks with "india dance party" (aka, we are hosting our CIO and his leadership team in Bangalore) so there are many preparations that need to happen. Therefore I may not have the time to fiddle with the settings. I will attempt once more after sometime - doing something from the router's interface seems like a very logical approach. Hardcoding IPs might also work.
I used to be able to set up small LANs and have even assisted in routing ACDs (automatic call distribution) 20+ years ago and somehow become lazy or forgetful. Somehow, this inability to use the extender and my apparent inability to solve is frustrating.
Thank you and much appreciated.