# ip address conflict when trying to connect through range extender



## psmalhotra (Nov 7, 2013)

i am using an aztech router for one part of my house and in order to extend the range into the other part of my house i set up a tp-link range extender (which i have already configured and is certainly extending the range). when i connect using any device to the aztech router it works perfectly but whenever i enter a region where the range extender is supposed to work, either an ip address conflict occurs, or the internet connection is not stable. Please Help!

My range extender model is TL-WA830RE
My aztech router model is HW550-3G
I will be using a Windows 7 laptop to fix the problem

the devices that will be connecting to the internet will be a mac, an iphone, a ps3, and note 2.


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## Wand3r3r (Sep 17, 2010)

Welcome to TSF!

"an ip address conflict occurs"

Most likely you failed to exclude the range extenders ip address from the routers dhcp scope. Make sure the ip address for the extender is static and no within the range of dhcp addresses.


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## psmalhotra (Nov 7, 2013)

ya, i figured out that i needed to set a static ip address for the range extender, and so i did... but i dont know what you mean "outside the scope of your router". what i did was that i set the range extender's ip as 192.168.2.254, while my routers ip address is 192.168.2.1. however, there is still some problem as the internet connection is not stable on my mobile devices, and my mac. for my note 2, it keeps saying "obtaining ip address..." therefore, i chose to set a static ip address for all the devices... that worked perfectly for my windows 7 laptop which i set at (192.168.2.5), but for my mobile devices and my mac, they connect to the network but then their is no internet access (ie. any webpage will just not load)


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## Wand3r3r (Sep 17, 2010)

What is your dhcp scope [range of ip addresses] set to?


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## psmalhotra (Nov 7, 2013)

im sorry but im not sure abt that... if yu can guide me on how to find it out, i will be able to tell yu. i know that my default gateway is 192.168.2.1, and my preferred DNS is 8.8.8.8, and subnet mask 255.255.255.0.

I really appreciate you helping me out and replying so quickly. thanks a lot!!


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## Wand3r3r (Sep 17, 2010)

You would logon to your router, go to the dhcp server page/tab and see what the range/scope/pool is set to. Report what you find.


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## psmalhotra (Nov 7, 2013)

could you please guide me further on how to obtain the "scope". i log onto my router but can't see such a tab anywhere. my route is aztech, model no. HW550-3G. the closest thing that i found was a tick box for dchp enabled, and tht was ticked.


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## Wand3r3r (Sep 17, 2010)

Usually on the same screen where you ticked the box it has the scope.

This is what the start address and end address values are about. 

page 38 in your manual

ftp://ftp.aztech.com/support/singapore/3G Broadband Router/HW550-3G User Manual.pdf


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## psmalhotra (Nov 7, 2013)

cool... great! i found that, and the range is 

Start ip address: 192.168.2.2
End ip address: 192.168.2.254


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## Wand3r3r (Sep 17, 2010)

i set the range extender's ip as 192.168.2.*254*
and
End ip address: 192.168.2.*254* 

There is your ip address conflict. That dhcp scope is too large anyway. It should only be as large as the amount of devices you expect to be on your network. Usually for home 15-20 are plenty.

That would give you more of a range of 192.168.2.2 [start] to 192.168.2.22 [end]


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## psmalhotra (Nov 7, 2013)

ok... so firstly i should change my routers dchp range? 
i will set the range from 
192.168.2.2 to 192.168.2.22

then i will set a static ip on my range extender to 192.168.2.21.
and give my other devices a static ip from 3-20 inclusive.

can yu just confirm if this is what i should do?

finally, i have just few doubts... are you sure changing the dchp range will not mess up my entire internet connection from my isp, because then it will be a big problem. plus, any new device needs to be added... like say guest comes over, will i have to assign a static ip for each device, or will a temporary dynamic one work.. so that only those devices that are permanently connected to my home network have a static ip? also... will i need to do anything extra for wired connections? and, shall the subnet mask be 255.255.255.0, and dns server be 8.8.4.4, and default gateway 192.168.2.1


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## Wand3r3r (Sep 17, 2010)

"then i will set a static ip on my range extender to 192.168.2.21.
and give my other devices a static ip from 3-20 inclusive."

Why would you do this?

You would do none of this. You would never put a static ip device at the immediate end of the dhcp range because you could NEVER expand your dhcp range if you wanted to.

You set the recommended ip scope of 2-22 and leave the extender at the 254 address.

If using dhcp, as you should be doing, there is no reason to do " give my other devices a static ip from 3-20 inclusive". You only assign static ips to things like routers, managed switches, servers and network equipment like the extender.

And in your case you would start those assignments at .253 and work your wan DOWN the subnet list so your next static entry would be .252. This is what got you into trouble in the first place was having a static assignment that was also in the dhcp scope which will cause a ip conflict.

This configuration changes, as long as you do it as recommended, will have no effect on your internet connection. We are only reconfiguring your LAN connections and not touching the WAN connection settings.


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## psmalhotra (Nov 7, 2013)

okay.. so for the last time i want to go over the steps.... i dont want to do anything without asking that will make matters worse.

First, from where you showed me on that manual, i change the main routers dcph range from 192.168.2.2 to 22. 

Then i leave my range extenders static ip to 192.168.2.254.

and then i set all my devices to use "dcph automatically" and dont enter an ip address manually, or set a static ip.

and, this shall solve the problem? please confirm and i will proceed.

I really cant thank you enough, and dont really know how i could pay yu back!!


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## Wand3r3r (Sep 17, 2010)

You have the steps perfectly. My pleasure to help.


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