May seem a silly question: but why should it be necessary to access a router's settings, log, stats etc. from a browser (excluding using telnet commands and DMT etc.) It would seem more logical to have written a means to access the router from, e.g. with XP, Network Connections > LAN rather than open a browser since I can access another pc or another device from "My Network Places" - or am I missing something obviously fundamental with regard to a LAN?

Putting the router's address into a browser just seems an odd way of doing things somehow...

Browser is OS-agnostic. Whereas if it was done through something in the OS they would have to write the driver/software/specification to work with every OS going. Also, a HTTP server on the router/device does not tax the resources too heavy. It's a very logical place to do it through the browser, alongside ftp and telnet - imho.

And SNMP

In reply to a post by andrewh1973:

What hardware version is it?

Don't know, sorry. It's on a customers site so can't find out easily.

Thanks for the explanation Pipexer - I really appreciate it

It's just that I also have a 3g dongle that is CD formatted and I don't have to open a browser to access it in order to connect to the internet or change any settings - I can open it as if it were a drive/removable storage device from the OS GUI. Obviously a different type of connection but it does sometimes make me think why a router can not be accessed in a similar way.

BTW. My Nero authoring/burning app hates the 3g dongle because it thinks it's a CD drive and can not recognise it properly

In reply to a post by sills:

Nope. You can log in once OK, leave it a few days not accessing it at all and try again and it doesn't work.

I had that problem with my Tp-link WR1043ND, but only when it was connected to my netgear ADSL modem, i could not even get the dialogue box so i could log in. TP-link said it could be because the CPU is at full load. I had to turn the router off and switch it back on so I could get into the control panel.

Strange thing is, since I been using the router with my wireless service, it have been fine, been on for a week and I can still log into it.

just bought a TD-W8951ND on friday. Installed well, worked perfectly until sunday night, now it just keeps dropping all the time. Everything goes dead apart from the power light and the wireless light (not blinking). need to switch off and on again to make it work. it usually fails again straight away. every 5 or 6 goes it decides to work for a while. not happy. Had another tp-link before this, its great and still working at my parents place after 3 years, but not this one

oh and btw ie9 sucks....

upgraded to latest firmware and it has been stable for the last 24 hours. also have router sitting on top of a small block for maximum airflow all round, before this it was just sitting on a flat surface.

I was a bit premature with my last post. Worked fine as a modem, but as soon as I asked the wifi to perform the whole thing just died.

Have eventually resolved the issue by replacing the 0.6A power supply with a 1.2A one. Seems it was just brownout. Someone else also mentioned PS problems in this topic so I suggest to anyone else having problems with this model this is the first thing you try.

Its now behaving like a great little modem/router, I'll post again if it stops behaving itself.

Right well I got a 3rd one from TP-Link directly, under warranty. This one was a v5 and unlike the v4, the admin screens do not lock up after 48 hours. However, I'm sending it back to them tomorrow because it keeps randomly dropping the connection and not reconnecting again until after a reboot! ISP confirm line is not at fault and router is just disconnecting for no reason the ISP is aware of!

What do I have to do get a working router here?!