Issue Connecting to Apex through TP Link Extender

[uscgbeachbum]

After lots of frustration I've decided to ask for help. I have a TP Link N600 wifi router upstairs. My tank is downstairs. I have 2 TP Link extenders downstairs (AC750 and N300). I have the tank connected to the N300. Each extender has its own SSID. Upon initialization of the N300 I can get the Apex connected just fine. However, at exactly 6pm the next day (18:00:00, at least according to the Apex log), the Apex loses connection and remains off. It will not come back on. I've tried restarting the extender, restarting the wifi router, both, new cat5 cable, restarting Apex; to no avail. The N300 still continues to broadcast wifi. I can also connect a computer to the N300 ethernet and get internet fine. The Apex just doesn't want to connect to it. I also can't connect to the Apex dashboard (apex/). I'm near my wits end and not sure what else I can do.

I know that hard wired is the preferred solution. That is not an option right now. I have a 100 ft cable for updating firmware, but must use wifi for daily use.

 

[uscgbeachbum]

So after more trial and error I've found that it must have to do with the extender. I ran a cat5 cable from Apex to router, reset both the Apex and router, and was able to gain access to fusion. I was not able to access apex/, however. Thoughts? Do powerline adapters work differently (regarding IP, DHCP, etc.)?

 

[BrokenSpoke]

If it goes off at exactly the same time every day it almost sounds like the DHCP lease expires at 6:00 PM and the Apex is not able to renew the lease. I don't have an Apex but can you program it with a static IP address, subnet mask, and default gateway for the SSID you want to connect to? If you can use a static IP then you don't have to worry about an IP lease expiring at 6:00 PM each day.

You may also want to post this in the Neptune Systems forum:

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=368

 

[uscgbeachbum]

So I think I got it working. I had to call my buddy who's got a pretty strong working knowledge of networking. He was able to give me a 5 min crash course on networking and how the Apex works with it. I believe TP Link calls it "IP address reservation" when most people call it "static IP". I learned this when I found out that Time Warner doesn't do static IP for residential accounts. I created a new IP address outside my DHCP start/end, turned off my Apex DHCP and set the IP to that new address. Just plugged the cat5 back into the wireless extender and had a cold beer. I hope this can help someone else who is as frustrated as I was.