NYC Mesh Docs

TP-Link Indoor Router

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Last updated December 3, 2020 by Brian

An indoor router, connected by ethernet cable to the outdoor router, is required for an NYC Mesh member to connect their personal devices to the Internet. For volunteer-led installations, the install team will supply the new member with a TP-Link N300 Router.

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Pre-Configuration Best Practices

For volunteer installers

Before configuring, ask the user member to tell you:

  • Whether they would like to use the TP-Link router we supply or their own router
  • A username and password for the router
  • An SSID and password for the home wireless network

For volunteer installers and DIY installers

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  1. Plug the ethernet cable from the outdoor antenna/router into the TP-Link’s blue WAN port.
  2. Plug the power adapter into the wall and the cable into the power socket of the router. The router will turn on automatically.

  3. Connect the installation laptop to the router by plugging an Ethernet patch cable into the yellow LAN port or via Wifi (see the underside of the router for SSID and pwd)

  4. Navigate to the router dashboard in an Internet browser. The Default IP address is 192.168.0.1

    • Username: admin
    • Password: admin

  5. Set up the guest WiFi to “-NYC Mesh guest-” (including the dashes). Navigate to “Guest Network” and set as follows: alt text

  6. Set up the home WiFi. Navigate to Wireless > Basic Settings to set the home WiFi network SSID you wish to use and navigate to Wireless > Wireless Security to set the password.

  7. Replace the router’s admin/admin login with a more secure username and password. Navigate to System Tools > Password and input a new username and password.

  8. Please read Obligations

For volunteer installers

If you have time you should pre-configure the router as much as possible, including upgrading the firmware to the latest version. To do that the router does not need to be connected to a network. It can be pre-configured following the above steps excluding point 1.

  1. Download the latest firmware file here.
  2. Connect to 192.168.0.1 and log in with the username and password you set for the router.
  3. Go to System Tools > Firmware Upgrade.
  4. Click Choose File to locate the downloaded firmware file, and click Upgrade.
  5. Setting the time is not a necessity but nice to do. Go to System Tools > Time Settings. You can use apple NTP, pool.org and/or Google.

Support

For volunteer installers and DIY installers

A Quick Installation Guide and User Guide for the TP-Link TL-WR841N router can be downloaded here.

This is an unofficial copy of the NYC Mesh Docs website published and maintained by fabacab on GitHub. There are likely differences, possibly many, between this copy and the official Docs site, but the author prefers this version over the official version. This copy remains here so long as there are major differences between the two copies so that you can read the version that you prefer.