WiFi Extender (tp-link WR841N) Setup

Things you’ll need

  1. Your WiFi details (WiFi name, username and password). WiFi needs to be standard 2.4GHz frequency (not 5 GHz) with standard WPA2 security.

  2. A phone or laptop that can connect to WiFi networks

What do the lights mean?

On the black strip on the top it has three icons that can light up:

  1. Left hand side, rectangle icon, means LAN. It will come on green if the unit is plugged in to a wired network

  2. Middle, circle icon, means Internet. When connected to the internet it will be solid green. If no internet connection it is orange. It flashes orange when it's in setup mode.

  3. Right hand side, signal icon, means WiFi. When WiFi is turned on, this is green. Just because the unit's WiFi is working, doesn't mean the internet is working, they are separate things.

Setup

1. First, test the existing WiFi on your phone, make sure you can connect. Make sure the signal strength is decent in the location where the extender will be positioned. When connected to the existing WiFi, make sure you can visit https://my.msx.nz.

2. Turn on the extender by plugging it in (they don’t have a power button). Push and hold the black reset button on the back until all the lights go off (takes about 10 seconds). You should see the “Internet” light flashing orange as it’s in setup mode now.

3. On the bottom of the extender is the default details for connecting. On the example above, on the right hand side you can see the WiFi name will be “TP-Link_B948” and the password is “34986981”. You can also see the “Default Access” details on the left, which we’ll be using later.

4. Go into your phone’s available WiFi networks - connect to “TP-Link_XXXX” with the password on the bottom.

5. Once connected, open up the internet app on your phone and type tplinkwifi.net into the address bar. You will be prompted for a username and password, both are admin (lower case - no capitals). If tplinkwifi.net doesn’t work, you can use the IP address 192.168.0.1 instead.

 
 

6. Follow the screenshots below to configure the extender

 

7. Once the extender reboots, you should see the middle “internet” light change from orange to green.

 
 

8. Test that everything is working correctly by connecting to the new “MSX Temperature Monitoring” WiFi, the password will be the same as the original WiFi you are extending. then opening an internet app and test that you can visit https://msc.nz and see the current time on screen.

 
 

9. SECURITY CHANGE: After the test above, you’ll still be connected to “MSX Temperature Monitoring”, go to tplinkwifi.net on your internet app and log in again if necessary (admin for both fields). Using the menu on the left, go to Wireless > WPS. Click the Disable button next to WPS: Enabled. This stops anyone connecting to the WiFi without a password by just pressing the black reset/WPS button on the back of the unit. Once you click the button, you will be disconnected from the WiFi and will see a “Trying to Configure the Range Extender?” message, just ignore this. To confirm the change has been made, connect to the Wifi again and check Wireless > WPS.

 

10. Optional: to change the WiFi password for “MSX Temperature Monitoring”, make sure you are connected to it, then go to tplinkwifi.net and log in. Using the menu on the left, go to Wireless > Extended Network. Change the Extended 2.4GHz Password and then Save.