Difficulties faced when replacing SuperHub with TP-LINK AX50

[pete2122]

Hi everyone,

I recently purchased a TP-LINK AX50 router to use as a replacement for my SuperHub2. I am unable to get it to obtain an IP address dynamically from the SH2 when its in modem mode. Here are the steps I followed:

Starting scenario:

- SH2 in router mode

- Internal IP: 192.168.0.1

- WAN IP: 86.9.x.x (I think this will be important later)

- Service was working

1. Connected a cable from my laptop to port1 of the SH2 and logged in.
2. Put SH2 into modem mode.
3. Configured a static IP on my laptop of 192.168.100.5 and default gateway of 192.168.100.1. (I understood from research that when I put the SH2 into modem mode it would change from 102.168.0.1. to 192.168.100.1). This allowed me to verify that I could still log in to the SH2 from my laptop after it came up in modem mode and that it was indeed now responding on 192.168.100.1.
4.  Moved cable from SH2 to one of the LAN ports on the AX50. Changed my laptop static IP from 192.168.100.x to 192.168.0.x (this is so I could configure the AX50)
5. Configured AX50 with an IP of 192.168.100.2 and set the DHCP pool to be from 192.168.100.3 through 192.168.100.99. AX50 is in router mode.
6. After reboot of the AX50 to apply the IP changes, I changed my laptop back to getting an IP dynamically. This worked, my laptop got an 192.168.100.x IP with a default gateway of 192.168.0.2. So far so good.
7. I then connected a second cable from the WAN port of the AX50, to port 1 of the SH2. I waited for some time, but the light on the AX50 remained amber and from the AX50 management page the IP just showed as 0.0.0.0. (The AX50 is configured to obtain the WAN address by “Dynamic IP”. The MAC settings were set to “Do not clone”).
8. I tried a reboot, one at a time, of both the AX50 and the SH2. No luck.
9. I did some googling (on my phone) and saw someone elsewhere had suggested on the AX50 cloning the MAC address of the SH2. I used the one written on the bottom of the SH2.
10. After doing this, the AX50 then automatically obtained a WAN IP address of 10.138.41.249, and a default gateway of 10.138.40.1. (The light remained amber and browsing was still not possible). This baffled me completely – as I understand it 10.x.x.x is a private range so can’t be used on WAN links. But yet it’s a different private range to the 192.168.x.x range used by the SH2. So where on earth has this 10.x.x.x address come from? Shouldn’t it be the same as the 86.9.x.x IP that the SH2 had before I started the process?

For now, I’ve put the SH2 back into router mode and put the AX50 into access point mode. I’m curious though as to why it’s not working with AX50 in router mode and SH2 in modem mode? Anyone have any ideas what’s going on?

[jem101 · Accepted solution]

Alas, you've done it all wrong.

Firstly the 192.168.100.1 addresses often catches people out, it's actually the web interface address when the hub is in modem mode, it's not really the Hub's IP address as such.

OK, factory reset the AX50 to undo any of the changes you've made to it - especially the MAC cloning stuff, MAC address are meant to be different for a very good reason and having two devices with the same MAC address is really just asking for problems. There should never now be any good reason to do this.

Connect your laptop to one of the AX50's LAN ports but leave the WAN port disconnected, your laptop should get an IP address from the AX50, something like 192.168.1.10 or so, log into the AX50's web interface and configure the WAN port to be DHCP.

Reboot the AX50, just to be sure, once it comes back up, connect your laptop to the VM Hub, log into it and configure it to be in modem mode, allow the hub to reboot. While it is rebooting, disconnect your laptop from it, connect the WAN port on the AX50 to one of the hub ports, making sure that nothing else is connected to the hub. Connect your laptop back to the AX50 and when the hub properly restarts, check to see if you have internet access - the WAN IP address will NOT be the same as you previous ly had in router mode.

If necessary, you should still be able to get to the Hub on 192.168.100.1 from your laptop connected to the AX50, the hub may need another reboot.

Log back into the AX50's web interface and make whatever config changes you need.

[legacy1]

….really everything you could of done wrong you did!

Your router TP-LINK AX50 never set the LAN IP to use 192.168.100.x

As for the MAC cloning the hub were do I start never use the MAC of the hub the MAC clone is meant to be from a PC. I'm not even sure if its normal for you getting a 10. IP with the hubs MAC...

All you had to do was change to modem mode power off hub for 2mins then turn it back on with your router connected maybe unplug replug the Ethernet cable.

[pete2122]

Thanks a lot Jem, your process has resolved the issue. Looks like I was trying to be too clever, please mark this as resolved.

[jem101]

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@pete2122 wrote:

Thanks a lot Jem, your process has resolved the issue. Looks like I was trying to be too clever, please mark this as resolved.

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No worries, glad it worked. 

John

[Tom_W1]

Hi @pete2122 thanks for your post here in the Community although I'm sorry you had issues setting up your Modem with your Superhub 2.

Just a little message here to say that It's great that thanks to @jem101's assistance you managed to get things resolved.

Please don't hesitate to let us know if you need any further help in the future!

Many thanks