ASK4 Support Configuring TP-Link Devices. For Windows 7, Windows 8 & Mac OS X

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Evangeline Gardner
7 years ago
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1 ASK4 Support Configuring TP-Link Devices For Windows 7, Windows 8 & Mac OS X

2 Introduction If you are in student accommodation and are using a TP-Link Router or Wireless Access Point, please follow the instructions below, to ensure it is correctly configured for use on our network. Due to an issue with the software that controls your TP-Link device, it's possible for it to cause issues for other students within your building if it malfunctions. ASK4 have worked with TP-Link to identify the problem in their software, but it is their responsibility to now fix this issue on their products. We require all customers with TP-Link Routers or Wireless Access Points to follow this guide. Not only will it ensure your own connection is safe and reliable, it will stop malfunctions occurring which could affect a large number of students in your building. Instructions 1. Connect the power cable to your router, and connect your router to your PC using an Ethernet cable. If your computer is wireless-only, connect to the wireless network but do not connect the Router to the wall port in your room. The network cable needs to go from one of the LAN ports on the router into the Ethernet port on your PC. Please see the diagram below. We need the router to NOT be connected to the network socket in the wall at this point. It is also important to make sure you are connected into the LAN port on the router, not the WAN, Internet or DSL port. Page 1

3 2. If you are using Windows, press Windows Logo Key+R to open the Run window. Type ncpa.cpl and click OK. Right click on the appropriate icon (Ethernet or Local Area Connection for wired or Wireless) and select Properties. Select Internet Protocol Version 4 from the list and click Properties below. Page 2

4 Select Use the following IP Address then fill in the properties with the following information. Once entered, press OK and close the window below. IP Address: Subnet Mask: Please go to Step 3 to to access the router configuration page. If you are using Mac OS X: Open Network Preferences as shown in the screen shot. If you don't have the wireless icon, click the search icon, enter Network, then choose Network under System Preferences Page 3

5 In the Network Preferences window, select Ethernet and select Advanced from the right of the screen. Select the TCP/IP tab and fill in the details from the screen shot below. Once done, select OK. 3. Now you need to enter your router's configuration page. This can be done by typing the router's IP Address ( ) into the address bar of your web browser. You will be prompted to enter a username and password. The default credentials are: Username: admin Password: admin Page 4

6 4. Once logged in, you should be presented with the page below. (This might be slightly different, depending on the model you own.) 5. Select Network from the left hand side menu and click the LAN. This will allow you to change the LAN IP address. IP Address: X.Y where; X the day you are born on (Eg. If your Date of Birth is 30 th Sep then the value X would be 30) Y - the last two digits of your phone number (Eg. If your phone number is then the value for Y would be 45) The complete Address would be: IP Address: Subnet Mask: Once the IP Address is changed, click Save and reboot the router. You can now connect your TP-Link device to the wall port in your room and use the ASK4 Internet service safely. Technical Information The issue which occurs when a TP-Link device malfunctions is called a Broadcast Storm. This is where a certain type of data packet is sent across a network in very large numbers, where the amount is too large for any equipment to cope with. This causes the network to be too congested, much like a traffic jam. A part of the device's software is set to send a message to all the other devices on the network whenever they see another device using the same IP address. This message is called a Gratuitous ARP and it's the device's way of letting everything else know two devices are trying to use the same IP address. A normal device would only send a small number of these messages out, but due to an issue with the TP-Link devices, we have found they send 7000 of these messages every second. The quickest solution to fixing this is to disconnect your TP-Link device from the wall port as soon as possible. With the TP-Link device disconnected from our Network, you can then connect directly to the device and follow the guide to stop your device from malfunctioning in the future. Changing the IP address of your device to random variables, such as birth dates and phone numbers is a simple way of ensuring a degree of randomness in the IP addresses on our network. It decreases the likelihood of two devices having the same IP address and causing the malfunction. Please note if you factory reset the TP-Link device, you will need to follow this guide again. Page 5

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