Mac Connected to TP-Link Wi-Fi but No Internet: Troubleshooting Steps
If your Mac joins a TP-Link wireless network but cannot reach the internet, check DHCP, the router’s WAN connection, and DNS settings in that order. These steps help distinguish an address assignment problem from a line or DNS issue.
What We Know
If your wireless router is configured and your Mac connects to Wi-Fi but cannot access the internet, work through these checks in order.
Check that the computer’s “Wi-Fi” connection uses “Using DHCP” to obtain its IP address and has no manually configured DNS server.
If the address is 169.254.xxx.xxx, select “Renew DHCP Lease” to request another address. If a valid address still is not assigned, confirm that DHCP is enabled on the router. You can connect with an Ethernet cable and log in at http://tplinkwifi.net to check.
Note: An unsupported security key type can make a faulty wireless connection appear functional. Try changing the security type, such as WEP, and entering the key again.
Open the router’s web management page in a browser using the default access address printed on its label; http://tplinkwifi.net is the example here. Enter the login credentials. The default username and password are both “admin.”
On the “Status” page, inspect the “WAN” section. An IP address like the one shown below indicates that the router is configured successfully and connected to the internet.
If no IP address appears, check the physical connection or ask your service provider to check the line.
If the “WAN” section has an IP address, open Terminal on the Mac and test whether you can ping a public IP address, such as 8.8.8.8. If the ping fails, release/renew the WAN IP address.
If the ping succeeds, try opening a website. If websites still fail to load, DNS may be responsible. Open “DHCP->DHCP Settings,” enter 8.8.8.8 for “primary DNS” and 8.8.4.4 for secondary DNS, then click “Save.”
Reboot the router.
Once the router restarts, test internet access again. If it still does not work, contact TP-Link by phone or email.
