Problems routing with TP Link Powerline Adaptors
Dalavich
Posts: 45 Forum Member
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I have 2 powerline adaptors in the house, as the BT router is in the worse possible place (and I'm not running a phone line elsewhere....).
This is fine I have wifi in the back room and kitchen now, internet great
I can wander round the house seemlessly and it all works, my phone is the same, wifi everywhere now.
However I cannot print anymore if the laptop and printer aren't on the same Powerline unit.
If I print a document (or even just ping the printer) and I'm in the kitchen, no response from the printer, same as if I'm in the front room with the BT hub. But wander in the back room and watch my TP link utility show I am on that unit, then the printer springs into life and so do the pings.
It seems that you cannot route between the devices. Any ideas? Thanks.
This is fine I have wifi in the back room and kitchen now, internet great
I can wander round the house seemlessly and it all works, my phone is the same, wifi everywhere now.However I cannot print anymore if the laptop and printer aren't on the same Powerline unit.
If I print a document (or even just ping the printer) and I'm in the kitchen, no response from the printer, same as if I'm in the front room with the BT hub. But wander in the back room and watch my TP link utility show I am on that unit, then the printer springs into life and so do the pings.
It seems that you cannot route between the devices. Any ideas? Thanks.
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Comments
The other thing to do is give the printer a fixed IP address, don't use DHCP on it. Most printers should let you enter an IP address manually. You will need to know what range of IP addresses the router doles out for DHCP and set the printer outside that range. Or use the router to fix the IP Address if it lets you. You can often reserve an IP address for devices based on the MAC address of the device.
I've often found that odd printing problems can be sorted by using a fixed IP address for it.
Pinging it by IP address not host name.
I've just tried an experiment, I can't ping any device that's not on the same TP Link adaptor, if it's on the same adaptor, then it's fine I can ping it.
You should be able to, they are basically Ethernet links and anything connected to the powerline WiFi should also pick up a DHCP address lease from your HH.
Seeing as you are using a reserved (rather than static) IP address for the printer you should be able to change the port properties of the driver on the laptop to Standard TCP/IP and use the reserved IP address (192.168.1.x) where x is whatever you reserved.
If you're using W10, unchecking SNMP is advised.
If you want to ping the printer by IP I reckon you should have the printer set to Static IP, although if the printer has a web interface you should be able to browse to it using the printer's page name. This (static IP) will make it invisible to the HH (via the network map), which should have it's address pool adjusted to exclude the static address. (This is pretty much chrisjr's advice!)
I used to have a HH and it was poor with respect to things like this. I think the HH is the problem TBH.
So do I actually.
Anyway, I've moved the printer out of the DHCP range of the HH, and given it a fixed IP (I could also ping it by its host name too)
I can ping it fine again, wander into the other room, watch the PC swap TP link and then "Destination Host unreachable" again. I can ping the HH from either TP link, but not any device not on the same TP Link unit.
What I've done as a stop gap, is turn off the wifi on the HH. So everything in the main house goes through the TP Link 1, so printing is mostly fine. I just need to know not to print from the kitchen!
It might happen if there is something other than the BT hub acting as a DHCP server
Laptop 192.168.1.10
Printer 192.168.1. (80 was) 110 now
HH .254
DHCP range now .10-.99
TP Links .101 and .102
Are the TP-Links using IP aliases or actual IP (not that I think it matters particularly, 90 DHCP addresses should be enough)?
Does this particular plug support WiFi cloning or are you using the homeplug default SSID (I assume the latter or one of your choosing seeing as you have turned the HH WiFi off)?
Plus you say you have the Homeplug monitoring software - are all the plugs running the default network name ('HomePlugAV')?
Also, are they all on the same firmware?
Something else occurs to me - is 'Smart Setup' turned off in the HH? :kitty:
I manually set the TP Links to those IP addresses, so they don't conflict with any DHCP addresses handed out. There doesn't appear to be a DHCP setting on those anyway, and they do appear in the HH list of devices on the ethernet.
They've been wifi cloned, so it's the same wifi throughout the house. The HH wifi is turned off so I can be sure the laptop and printer are using the same TP Link, and the printer doesn't drift over to the HH wifi. I know it must be right, as the printer only knows one SSID.
They're using the default network setup, I haven't touched that.
Yes they're all on the same firmware, I updated that last weekend.
Yes Smart Setup is turned off, definitely the first thing I did after turning the HH on when I got it (as it's a bloody nuisance...)
Set everything back to DHCP including your HH (dont use mac addresses) . turn all off.
Then starting with HH turn it back on then work your way to homepugs - pc -printer.
Why your great miss trust that DHCP can not handle a few items in a house, but is ok in a massive office etc?
Find that hard to believe, what model are they?
Well the only thing assigned an address really is the printer, and that is back to its DHCP fixed setting, so it is technically DHCP, just always assigned the same address. The HH is on its default IP address, that hasn't changed.
The TP Links, I just shoved up there out the way. Everything else is DHCP.
I have a massive mistrust of DHCP, especially printers!
So did I, but there isn't an option.
TL-WPA4220KIT
Interesting forum here about them....
http://forum.tp-link.com/showthread.php?75294-TL-WPA4220KIT-and-wifi-extension-problems-wrong-ip-range
How did you do that, according to this they are just plug and play.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KCD_K1_rtsk
still don't get your huge miss trust of DHCP
Have you actually tried turning everything off and letting the software just do its stuff when you turn it all back on?
It's not a mistrust of DHCP it's shitty printing services that can't find their way to the only device on the network they are designed for.
And it looks like the WiFi on these pieces of kit is shonky. Static IP seems the way to go. The post linked has a workaround - and you should be able to save the config once done, just in case.
The issue is a fault with the TP LINK units. They cannot route traffic properly between units - no matter what you do. So if a device is on one Access Point, and the printer on another, you cannot talk between the devices.
You have to ensure you're on the same AP, or it won't work. It's on many other forums. Same issue.
So this is how I solved it. I have enabled the wifi on the BT HH but as a different SSID. And only connected the printer to it. The house is fully covered by the TP Link units, so they're the network everything else uses. By doing this I can print anywhere and have full access.