TL-WA1201 V2 Access Point

[kev2021]

Hi all,

So i’ve got a TPLink TL-WA1201 access point, it was working fine and not sure how long been playing up but I’m unable to access the web interface, if i reboot it, i can login but after a short time it becomes very very slow and doesn’t always load the right pages, it reverts to the page you were on.

The error log shows lots of LED Controller errors and I’ve looked online and all I found was a forum where someone from tplink I believe said this didn’t affect the overall usage and was a false positive, however lots of people complaining after a day or 2, you have to reboot it to re-gain access.

Anyone here have any solutions?  I’ve updated firmware (was 1 version out when I noticed this and thought I’d update to see if the firmware was indeed a fix but nope, still the same.  I have V2 and there is a V3 out but I’m reluctant to replace it as the errors just keep occurring every few minutes – about a good dozen or so… and I think this is causing it to basically lock up and its trying to do something with the LED controller so I’m leaning towards a hardware issue with the device.

However, I don’t really want to pay a fortune for a AP as it’s not used that much, only used when in that area, rest of the time my main Asus router works fine so its handy and useful to have but realistically it’s not used that much so not worth spending loads on, hence this one was around approx. £40.

Thanks

Kev

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[UK Sentinel]

So you have upgraded to TL-WA1201(EU)_V2_220103

Apart from the LED error log, are there any other log messages which could be a clue ?

Have you have performed a factory reset and configured from scratch, not use a backup after you loaded the latest firmware ?

Hopefully just some corruption as TL-WA1201 was working well ?

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[kev2021]

Hi,

 

So not upgraded to a TL-WA1201 V2, it was an addition to reach an area where the Asus router will not reach (too far) so as I’ve got a network cable to the location, I bought a AP, plugged in the network cable and created a Access Point and it was working ok.

However, as don’t use the area much, I’m unsure when it started to go wrong but when I went to the area the other day, I noticed no internet and when I tried to login to the webpage, it took ages, would give the TPlink blue background colour but no login boxes and would eventually time out.

Thinking nothing of it, I simply rebooted it (its on 24/7) and has been for prob a year or two now and then I could access it but I soon discovered the webpages being slow and hanging and not taking me required sections so another reboot, then went straight to logs, all i can see is the LED Controller error messages, no other errors.  This was all whilst still on the previous original firmware the device came with (200709) and according to online they too were getting errors back in 2020 but I maybe hadn’t noticed.

So i decided well these errors are on same firmware version reported online in 2020 and no real fix/conclusion was mentioned, the thread just seemed to end with no conclusion and I couldn’t find anything else other than people buying something else instead so I thought I’d update the firmware as surely if TPLink were aware back in 2020 of this issue reported, the fix would be in the new firmware, even if not mentioned online but no change.

My config is literally nothing – I’ve given it a static IP, configured the SSID and pswd and obviously set it up to be a Access point, that’s literally all I’ve set and it basically has 1 device connected to it 99% of the time, if I go to the area then it will have another device i.e. my phone connected to it, which is when i noticed it having a issue as my phone showed issue with the WIFI.

I’ve not factory reset it as others had found this online too and done factory resets and even raised tickets with tplink but they don’t want to know about fixing it so most people have returned it and bought something else or have binned it and bought something else as appears no fix hence I’m leaning towards some hardware issue as if it was software, surely it would have been resolved.  It seems like the LED controller is trying to do something presumable access the LEDs on the box, which are showing lit and unlit accordingly but seems the controller isn’t reading the LEDs hence I’m assuming hardware issue.

Shame I suspect mine is out of warranty so wont be able to repair/replace under warranty, shame as it has worked perfectly but I’m not sure i want to buy there V3 version of the same thing as suspect that may do the same thing so might need to move to something else.  Someone bought a Draytek 810AP apparently and works flawlessly but that’s over £100 so seems bit steep in price for what it will be used for.

Kev

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[UK Sentinel]

No problem, your TL-WA1201  was working OK at some point, worth a factory reset and reload latest firmware, no harm in trying before you consider other options.

Does sound like that particular model is troublesome and V3 will be simular, probably

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[Grisu]

Probably hardware issue.

You could try with different power supply, after that I would replace caps inside and at last get a new AP.
Other works are not worth time.

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[kev2021]

Thanks, any suggestions for alternate access points?

Kev

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[kev2021]

Any idea if this is any good? NETGEAR Wireless Access Point (WAX204) Did look at Asus but didn’t see any access points.

Thanks

Kev

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[UK Sentinel]

The Netgear WAX204 Dual Band WiFi 6 AX1800 Wireless Access Point for the price reads very well, been around for a couple of years but reviews seem positive, generally.

Only had a quick look, but could not find what chipset the wifi uses and make sure the power adaptor is included.

Always good to see new products being reviewed at UKTechHub.com

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[UK Sentinel]

Most ASUS RT-AC… and above routers support AP also, so not sure what old ASUS tech you have ?

 

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In a completely sane world, madness is the only freedom (J.G.Ballard).

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[kev2021]

Hi,

I don’t have any other Asus routers, the RT-AX86U was the first one I bought.

According to Amazon:-

AC POWERED: Simplified deployment using the included power adapter

Any others I should consider or just go for this?  Issue is I can’t really mount it anywhere on a ceiling or wall hence looked at this design as opposed to the WAX214 etc.

Kev

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[UK Sentinel]

Whats the budget as a low end ASUS AiMesh (ethernet backhaul) router would be convenient for yourself.

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[kev2021]

Thanks, ideally cheap as possible but no more than £70 quid ideally.

I’ve just bought the Neat WAX204 I liked above so fingers crossed.  I looked at some Asus product but they are all routers and some are same price as the Netgear access point and just AC WIFI, no AX WIFI with WIFI 6 etc so I went with netgear, fingers crossed its ok.

I used to have a Netgear DG834 ADSL router back in the day and that worked pretty good so fingers crossed.  Have a few Netgear switches (standard 8 port/5 port ones) and all been ok, no web interface etc just literally turn on and plug in, no configuration options etc so fingers crossed netgear is still ok.  Not had there products for a while.

It’s hopefully coming tomorrow, fingers crossed.

Kev

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[UK Sentinel]

kev2021 wrote:

I’ve just bought the Neat WAX204 I liked above so fingers crossed.

Let us know how it goes

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[kev2021]

Will do.

Kev

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[kev2021]

Hi,

 

So netgear WAX204 arrived, i plugged it in, found the IP but couldn’t’ connect, it seems it defaults to router mode and as it detected existing network, it changed its IP to something totally different to my existing network so I ended up setting it up via my tablet wirelessly.  After going through the many initials screens of setup and firmware update, I finally got logged into it and was able to change it to AP mode and then it picked up a lan ip and then I was able to assign it a static IP.

Good news is, the existing power adapter is the same volts/amps etc and it fits so I’m able to use the existing power supply that came with the TP Link AP – Bonus as otherwise it meant moving some stuff to be able to route the power cable.

So it’s on at the moment and working ok.  Unfortunately it doesn’t let me turn off all the LEDs, the power LED remains on but not a huge issue.

So will see how it goes.

Only think I’ve noticed so far is that it doesn’t like connecting to a SNTP server.  I went to the page, just left it all at default and ticked a box to say update with daylight savings time and it came back saying unable to connect to SNTP.  I then set a manual IP to try and still no good so I’ve turned the day light saving off and set it back to default and ignoring it for now.

No errors in the logs so far but will check it after a day or two and see how it’s doing.

Kev

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