I finally figured out why my home network kept dropping after a router update

After a firmware update on my TP-Link Archer router last Tuesday, my smart devices started losing connection every few hours. I spent about 7 hours over two days checking cables, restarting everything, and even factory resetting the router twice. The fix was simple but hidden: the update had turned on a new 'IoT network isolation' feature by default, which was blocking my smart plugs from talking to my phone. I had to dig into the advanced wireless settings to find it and turn it off. Has anyone else run into a default setting change after a router update that broke things?

3 comments

3 Comments

tara_gonzalez201mo ago

Did that update also mess with your guest network settings or was it just the IoT thing?

the_skyler12d ago

Ugh, same exact thing happened here. My guest network was totally fine, no changes at all. But every single smart device on the main network just vanished after that update. I ended up having to forget each device in their own apps and then set them all up again from scratch, which took forever. It was only the IoT stuff that got completely broken for me.

seananderson1mo ago

Actually tara_gonzalez20, the guest network was fine for me. The main problem was all my smart plugs and lights dropping off the main network after the 15.2 firmware push. I had to power cycle the router twice to get them all to reconnect properly. Honestly it was just the IoT stuff that got weird.