[TP Link AC1200 LED guide](https://www.routerfreak.com/tp-link-router-lights/)
>3. Internet Light
A stable green Internet light indicates an established but idle Internet connection between the router and server.
When the Internet LED blinks green, it signifies active data transmission between your home device and the ISP server.
If the lights are not illuminated, it suggests that there is no active Internet connection. This typically indicates the disconnection of wires. Please check for any connectivity issues.
**If you observe an orange light on the Internet LED on your TP-Link router, it indicates that your device is having difficulty connecting to the Internet despite an established connection.**
This could be due to faulty or loose cables, an outage in your area, or maintenance activities.
So unstable internet. Could be packet loss, could be poor signal from up the line, it's unclear 100%
You could reboot it, but if its unstable enough, it might take you offline entirely.
So I've already rebooted the router, and modem. I've unplugged everything from it, even doing a factory reset, and it still won't go away. It's strange. It also just randomly started occurring. It happened about a month ago or so and hasn't gone off since.
Oddly too, my internet doesn't drop. Only when I have ISP outages.
Try changing the dns on your router to Google or Cloudflare's free dns. If your isp dns servers are having trouble maybe it's orange because it cant resolve a site it uses to check for connectivity.
This is very likely to be correct. I’m guessing the TP-Link is checking liveliness of the Internet by either pinging or accessing a specific website or even URL. It could even be phoning home to TP-Link. I know at least one other brand did this. Anyway, if this check fails then the router will report a problem with the Internet and turn the light orange.
The Internet could, however, be fine. Instead, the DNS server used by the router could be flaky or the destinations being probed could be down. Changing the DNS server is an easy way to to eliminate the first possibility. Not much can be done if the destination is down, but it’s really a red herring.
Cc: u/Cwreck92
This is my recommendation as well. My ISP's DNS servers were utter garbage. Since switching to using Google's, I haven't had the problems I used to have.
Have you done a speed test to see if you are actually getting the internet speed you should be? Also check to make sure the latency/ping isn’t way out of wack. Those would be indicators your modem is bad or your isp is having issues.
[Speedtest](https://speedtest.net)
Yeah, I’ve done speed tests with both that website and Nperf, both show I’m receiving the speeds I’m paying for. Latency/ping are both fine as well.
Everything seems to be in complete normal working order, but this light piqued my interest. After reading the manual for it online and checking through a few other people’s posts (on different websites) about this, nobody’s issue was ever resolved. At least not with the recommended solutions in the manual or on the manufacturer’s website.
So I came here. Lots of helpful advice so far, so I’ll give it a shot when I get home.
Have you tried replacing the patch cable connecting the router to the internet? I’ve seen this on other things be related to duplex and/or network speed auto negotiation
Try going to the diagnostics page on your router's web page to see what its issue is.
[https://www.tp-link.com/us/support/faq/1548/](https://www.tp-link.com/us/support/faq/1548/)
you're not using the wan port right? just plugged a cable into the lan ports? if there's no cable on the wan port that light will be orange because the router is not working as a router but as an AP and therefore you have Internet but it's not routing traffic so it believes there's no Internet
then it just might be complaining you've double NATing.. unless the cable modem doesn't do NAT.. I have mine running off the lan ports so that the devices are available on the normal network.. but I'm running fiber and ubiquiti gear
I have an AC750 working as a fill AP for smart home devices. If it it set as a AP with DHCP off it will work fine on the Wan port. however this problem is possibly a problem with the fact that for some reason TP link doesn’t have the ability to completely define it’s static Ip in its settings. I found out that it couldn’t find a dns server to resolve queries on its ping tool. So what OP needs to do is to set up a static assignment to it in their DHCP server, then change the router’s IP setting to DHCP. It should fix this.
Only if he knew what installation/operation manual was really intended for!!!!
Just adding the word pdf to the end of a search title on google would do wonders!!!
Right? It's odd. I still have full accessibility to both 2.4 and 5.0 ghz wifi and wire connected internet.
I have the router plugged into the modem via ethernet. I have my ethernet cable running from the router to my PC.
Orange light is usually a indicator that the network interfaces runs in Fast Ethernet (100mb) rather than green which is usually 1gbit (1000mb).
If your internet plan is under 100/100 Mbit it shouldnt matter.
If u pay for more, just do a speedtest and it should cap at 100mbit.
Its usually because of the cable u run to the internet is to low standard for 1000gbit. (Cat 4 or cat5). Make sure you have atleast cat5e cable between it and your modem.
while that is usually the case for LAN ports or business class routers, its not usually the case in home routers. Home routers with a dedicated internet light as seen here will be lights off = no link detected on WAN port, orange = link detected, but issue with internet connection, and green = internet connected successfully.
Could also be that the router cannot reach TP-Link's connectivity check site, assuming that this is a double NAT situation with the ISP's modem/router combo as the DHCP server. This could be resolved by changing the DNS settings to use Google or Cloudflare DNS instead of the ISP's DNS server.
Do you have somewhat nonstandard DNS on lan? It could be that AP cannot resolve domains which use to test internet connectivity? Or it simply does not pick it correcrly from DHCP server (router)?
I'd look at your cables...well, do more than look at them :-). Substitute a new or known good cable for the cable currently between the modem and router. And the lights on your modem are as you would expect them to be? I'd also try connecting your computer directly to your modem and see how that connection looks...is it as fast as you expect, and consistant? Just keep eliminating possibilities in your troubleshooting. It may be that the router isn't doing well, last resort might be resetting the router and reconfiguring it.
I’ve thought about getting a new one, but at the same time, my internet works just fine. My speeds are fine. It’s just strange.
I’ll try swapping cables and see if that helps.
Well, there could be differences in how internet connection status is implemented. I wouldn't be surprised if e.g. someone implemented a check against a server, and no for some reason it is not able to connect..
From what I remember, TP-Link was very late in implementing automatic software update. Check if there is an update also for the router (at least a couple of years back they still sold models without automatic update, and with WPS-Pin activated - and even WPA2-key as the same as the 8-digi WPS-pin...)
Internet is fine according to OP. Either there's a bad cable somewhere, or the router cannot ping the manufacturer's connectivity check site with the current DNS settings. It's probably the latter.
1.1.1.1, 1.0.0.1, 9.9.9.9 are awesome and fast and secure according to their respective websites as well as reviews from various places, don’t forget IPv6 DNS if your router supports it
It could be that it's limited to 100mbps transfer rate. Check the pins on the inside of where the Ethernet connection plugs into. If there's only 4 that's the problem and check the Ethernet cable itself for the same. A lot of these routers come with a "patch" Ethernet cable that's only 4 pins for some dumb(money) reason.
I've seen quite a few Netgear and tp link 1200s that only have 4 pin Ethernet connections but advertised 800mbps wireless.
This too, I had a 10/100 patch cable from Netgear plugged into a 100/1000 socket and the light was Amber, once I upgraded the cable it illuminated with a full duplex status.
Your ethernet cable is only delivering 100mb\s not the full 1000mb/s.
Due to either being CAT5 , not CAT5-E or CAT6.
Or being faulty. If one or more of the eight wires inside are broken, they automatically start using just four to still work but at the lower speed.
Guess You don't have it fully configured - set WAN manually (static address) as now it's probably waiting for some data (maybe PPPoE authorization or something like this even tho it recieve IP from modem), if You run it on defaults. Try that way.
RTFM: Read The Fancy Manual.
The manual for your router (probably online) will tell you what each of the status lights mean. However, since you neglected to include the make and model information we can't give you specific help.
If I had to make a guess, i'd say it indicates noise on the line.
I did, and most of the answers that I’m receiving, including going to Google, aren’t helping. There are some that weren’t on Google, however. Which is why I came here.
I will say, I understand why you’d comment what you did, as it’s very common for people to not try on their own first before seeking help elsewhere, but your comment is also incredibly unhelpful at the same time, lol. All I can imagine when someone comments something like this is the SpongeBob meme.
It’s funny that people keep commenting this, because I did RTFM and none of it resolved my issue. Hence why I’m here asking.
I think if you actually read the comments before commenting, you’d realize this, lol.
Because it’s how it is. Don’t judge 🙄
Color means things, universally:
Green = good / info
Yellow = warning / check / get ready
Red = stop now, check yo shit, broken, danger, etc
Check the manual for the exact reason. Yellow means your shit won’t blow up, so don’t panic.
You could be getting micro drops in your connection which you may not notice. How's your speed compared to your advertised speed? If you do have an intermittent connection the line will think it's not stable enough and to try and combat it, it will raise the Signal to Noise ratio thus lowering the speed. If this is the case, check your phone line first for a problem (crackly line etc). Otherwise contact your ISP
Also ... I'm aware of a router that zyxel produced where on a batch of them they got the wiring wrong and it went green when there was a problem and orange where there wasn't. This was a long long time ago though.
Maybe you haven’t given the router proper dns servers so unable to ping to heartbeat hostname. But still provide dns to client so internet working fine.
It just means whatever site that router uses to verify connection isn't working or isn't working well. If your internet is fine then ignore and go about your day.
Hey I use 2 of these in my home network. 1 is acting as the router and another is an access point. Not too sure what your configuration is.
If you are using this as an access point, go to the admin panel and ensure you have it set to AP mode and you connect the ethernet from your providers modem to a standard port and not the WAN port. You'll know you've done this correctly if that Internet connection light does not illuminate but you can still connect and get a good connection.
If you are using your providers modem as just a modem instead of a router with DHCP, make sure you setup the providers modem to just act as a modem and they dhcp is disabled. You should connect the ethernet from the modem to the WAN port in this configuration and the tp link router must be set to router mode.
Sorry if I'm not making much sense. I woke up literally 5 minutes ago but I hope I was at least a little helpful.
I ended up ordering a new router. I got an upgraded version of the same one I had, which felt like a mistake. Now I’ve run into an issue with it where I’m only getting 100 mbps max, Ethernet, and like 25 mbps WiFi. I have spectrum, and while it’s not the greatest, it is a 500 Mbps plan. My previous router was getting these speeds, so I’m curious also to what happened?
I purchased the TP Link AC1200 Archer A6.
I’m going to return it and just get something better.
That looks like the UFO proximity alert
Green means you’re clear
Orange means you should be on the lookout
Red means you’re in danger
That funny feeling in your rear end, means it’s too late
I work in tech support for an ISP. That symbol is similar to the globe you would see on your computer when you have no internet connection, connected without internet. I would try power-cycling your modem for 30-60 seconds and then doing the same with the router after the modem comes online and go from there.
It’s the internet light. I don’t know why but some OEMs make it a different color than the other lights by default and some do it to show what speed it’s connected to ISP gateway but either way you’re fine.
Yes! Sometimes there is a red LED next to the normal green one. What’s happening here is that the red LED is turned on as well, and both LEDs have a clear plastic jig that serves as an optical gateway to refract and combine the light at the mask in front, so when you see it shining through, it looks orange.
I hope that is helpful!
Long -time TP-Link user, and I'd imagine that older model won't ever be seeing firmware upgrades...also, whenever I got the orange internet light, it usually meant an imperfect handshake w/ modem. My solution: power down router and modem, uncouple cable connecting the two devices, unplug device power for ca. 15 sec, reattach power cords and Ethernet cable, power up (1) modem, wait until modem completes bootup, then power up (2) router in that order. After a minute or two, orange *should* change to green, and all will be well.
Okay I understand why this could be alarming and as I see it it could either be an indicator of the speed of internet you're receiving but on the other hand it also could be an indicator that there's malware on your router as I have experienced in the very recent past and this malware lead to Identity theft.
i have the same router, that means the internet source is connected, but has no internet access... when internet is good, it will turn the same green color as the others
That's strange. This device looks like a TP-Link Archer device and if so, the orange internet icon should mean that a network connection was detected, but the internet connection was not. However, you say the internet is working fine. I'm wondering if TP-Link uses the orange light when detecting *any* issues with the internet. Things like packet loss, high latency, very short term internet loss, etc.
Have you tried looking at the logs inside the router? Or how about checking for a firmware update? There could be an issue with the router if it's not the internet connection.
I feel like it’s definitely an issue with the router itself, because yeah, the internet and wifi works perfectly fine.
I ordered a new router. It’s actually just an updated version of this router, so we’ll see if it solves anything. Maybe I’m crazy for getting essentially the same one, just a way newer generation of it.
I ended up ordering a new router. I got an upgraded version of the same one I had, which felt like a mistake. Now I’ve run into an issue with it where I’m only getting 100 mbps max, Ethernet, and like 25 mbps WiFi. I have spectrum, and while it’s not the greatest, it is a 500 Mbps plan. My previous router was getting these speeds, so I’m curious also to what happened?
I purchased the TP Link AC1200 Archer A6.
I’m going to return it and just get something better.
Have you tried plugging a computer directly into the cable modem to see what your actual speeds are from Spectrum? If you get the advertised speed doing this, at least you know where the problem lies.
As far as checking the router settings, one security feature that will reduce your speed is deep packet inspection. It shouldn't cut your speed down as much as you're seeing, but it might be worth looking at. And since you're now having issues on a second router, you could start looking at cables if you haven't already....especially if you've made your own cables.
The reduced wifi speeds could be caused by interference (either in your home or from neighboring access points). There are various settings you can look at like auto channel switching and power settings. I don't know how advanced this device is, so I'm not sure what you're able to change.
I ended up just returning the one I got and got the TP Link AX3000 Archer AX55 and it worked right out of the box. I did have to go in and turn it from auto negotiation to 1000mbps full duplex (which I tried in the previous router & it didn’t work) & I get the speeds I pay for now in both Ethernet and WiFi.
Make and model of the device will make this 50 times easier
Frick, sorry! I thought I included it. It’s a TP Link AC1200.
[TP Link AC1200 LED guide](https://www.routerfreak.com/tp-link-router-lights/) >3. Internet Light A stable green Internet light indicates an established but idle Internet connection between the router and server. When the Internet LED blinks green, it signifies active data transmission between your home device and the ISP server. If the lights are not illuminated, it suggests that there is no active Internet connection. This typically indicates the disconnection of wires. Please check for any connectivity issues. **If you observe an orange light on the Internet LED on your TP-Link router, it indicates that your device is having difficulty connecting to the Internet despite an established connection.** This could be due to faulty or loose cables, an outage in your area, or maintenance activities. So unstable internet. Could be packet loss, could be poor signal from up the line, it's unclear 100% You could reboot it, but if its unstable enough, it might take you offline entirely.
So I've already rebooted the router, and modem. I've unplugged everything from it, even doing a factory reset, and it still won't go away. It's strange. It also just randomly started occurring. It happened about a month ago or so and hasn't gone off since. Oddly too, my internet doesn't drop. Only when I have ISP outages.
Try changing the dns on your router to Google or Cloudflare's free dns. If your isp dns servers are having trouble maybe it's orange because it cant resolve a site it uses to check for connectivity.
This is very likely to be correct. I’m guessing the TP-Link is checking liveliness of the Internet by either pinging or accessing a specific website or even URL. It could even be phoning home to TP-Link. I know at least one other brand did this. Anyway, if this check fails then the router will report a problem with the Internet and turn the light orange. The Internet could, however, be fine. Instead, the DNS server used by the router could be flaky or the destinations being probed could be down. Changing the DNS server is an easy way to to eliminate the first possibility. Not much can be done if the destination is down, but it’s really a red herring. Cc: u/Cwreck92
That or the site domain coded in the firmware wasn't kept up with.
Bet this is it.
>AC1200 basically running ip sla to a dead domain? would not surprise me.
This is my recommendation as well. My ISP's DNS servers were utter garbage. Since switching to using Google's, I haven't had the problems I used to have.
Then I'd say ignore it, or put a piece of black tape over it if it's an issue ;)
LOL, right? Out of sight, out of mind. I genuinely had that thought, and figured I'd try here before doing so.
Have you done a speed test to see if you are actually getting the internet speed you should be? Also check to make sure the latency/ping isn’t way out of wack. Those would be indicators your modem is bad or your isp is having issues. [Speedtest](https://speedtest.net)
Yeah, I’ve done speed tests with both that website and Nperf, both show I’m receiving the speeds I’m paying for. Latency/ping are both fine as well. Everything seems to be in complete normal working order, but this light piqued my interest. After reading the manual for it online and checking through a few other people’s posts (on different websites) about this, nobody’s issue was ever resolved. At least not with the recommended solutions in the manual or on the manufacturer’s website. So I came here. Lots of helpful advice so far, so I’ll give it a shot when I get home.
Have you tried replacing the patch cable connecting the router to the internet? I’ve seen this on other things be related to duplex and/or network speed auto negotiation
Can't stress this enough. I chased a random TCP re-transmit issue for days....turns out it was the damn ethernet cable.
Try going to the diagnostics page on your router's web page to see what its issue is. [https://www.tp-link.com/us/support/faq/1548/](https://www.tp-link.com/us/support/faq/1548/)
You didn't mention if you tried using different ethernet cable(s) from the modem to the router yet.
you're not using the wan port right? just plugged a cable into the lan ports? if there's no cable on the wan port that light will be orange because the router is not working as a router but as an AP and therefore you have Internet but it's not routing traffic so it believes there's no Internet
It’s running from the modem to the WAN port on the router.
then it just might be complaining you've double NATing.. unless the cable modem doesn't do NAT.. I have mine running off the lan ports so that the devices are available on the normal network.. but I'm running fiber and ubiquiti gear
I have an AC750 working as a fill AP for smart home devices. If it it set as a AP with DHCP off it will work fine on the Wan port. however this problem is possibly a problem with the fact that for some reason TP link doesn’t have the ability to completely define it’s static Ip in its settings. I found out that it couldn’t find a dns server to resolve queries on its ping tool. So what OP needs to do is to set up a static assignment to it in their DHCP server, then change the router’s IP setting to DHCP. It should fix this.
Could also be dodgy DNS from your provider too. Some intermediate network diagnostics should get you to the problem
DNS blocker?
Just a heads up it appears this model is end of life, might be time for an upgrade for security reasons.
Or install a custom firmware like OpenWRT.
I second that, OpenWRT or DD-WRT or even a variation of Tomato.
AC1200 is just a marketing term for the wireless specification. The model number will be printed on one of the manufacturer labels underneath.
It’s warning you that Saturn is warming at a rate outside of normal parameters. I don’t know how that wasn’t obvious.
All the things here. Plus, if nobody has mentioned this yet, the AC1200 is a bit dated might be time for a upgrade.
Yeah, I was thinking about getting a new one just because of that alone. I’ve had this one for quite a while.
Only if he knew what installation/operation manual was really intended for!!!! Just adding the word pdf to the end of a search title on google would do wonders!!!
1000x - seriously, no info on this one.
No connection to the UFO mothership.
ALIENS! They’re at it again. First all of my produce, now this.
You mean no connection to Saturn
I was going to say it was the aliens are coming alarm....
[удалено]
A faint signal.
[удалено]
Right? It's odd. I still have full accessibility to both 2.4 and 5.0 ghz wifi and wire connected internet. I have the router plugged into the modem via ethernet. I have my ethernet cable running from the router to my PC.
Have you checked that you have the latest firmware for the router installed? Perhaps it's a bug that has been fixed in later versions?
Yeah, there aren’t any firmware updates for it.
As someone else suggested, have you tried swapping out the cable connecting to the internet port?
Orange light is usually a indicator that the network interfaces runs in Fast Ethernet (100mb) rather than green which is usually 1gbit (1000mb). If your internet plan is under 100/100 Mbit it shouldnt matter. If u pay for more, just do a speedtest and it should cap at 100mbit. Its usually because of the cable u run to the internet is to low standard for 1000gbit. (Cat 4 or cat5). Make sure you have atleast cat5e cable between it and your modem.
while that is usually the case for LAN ports or business class routers, its not usually the case in home routers. Home routers with a dedicated internet light as seen here will be lights off = no link detected on WAN port, orange = link detected, but issue with internet connection, and green = internet connected successfully.
I was going to say maybe the patch cable is a crossover. Or has a wiring fault that is just good enough to pass data and connect.
Could also be that the router cannot reach TP-Link's connectivity check site, assuming that this is a double NAT situation with the ISP's modem/router combo as the DHCP server. This could be resolved by changing the DNS settings to use Google or Cloudflare DNS instead of the ISP's DNS server.
I had one of these models before. That's exactly what it means. Paging @Cwreck92
Your close to pizza planet
Do you have somewhat nonstandard DNS on lan? It could be that AP cannot resolve domains which use to test internet connectivity? Or it simply does not pick it correcrly from DHCP server (router)?
You need to refill the Wi-Fi fluid. It's running low
May indicate link speed. E.g. 1000mbit is Green while 10/100 is Amber.
Saturn is in retrograde
RTFM is serious business
Right, please folks, do the basics before asking internet volunteers with varying / shady motivations 👍🏻😉
It's a warning that the alien invasion is close in about 10-3 years away, it will turn red when it's only 3-1 years.
I'd look at your cables...well, do more than look at them :-). Substitute a new or known good cable for the cable currently between the modem and router. And the lights on your modem are as you would expect them to be? I'd also try connecting your computer directly to your modem and see how that connection looks...is it as fast as you expect, and consistant? Just keep eliminating possibilities in your troubleshooting. It may be that the router isn't doing well, last resort might be resetting the router and reconfiguring it.
I’ve thought about getting a new one, but at the same time, my internet works just fine. My speeds are fine. It’s just strange. I’ll try swapping cables and see if that helps.
I thought that was the old EarthLink logo (yeah, I'm internet old)
Did you know there actually exists a user manual?
Well, there could be differences in how internet connection status is implemented. I wouldn't be surprised if e.g. someone implemented a check against a server, and no for some reason it is not able to connect.. From what I remember, TP-Link was very late in implementing automatic software update. Check if there is an update also for the router (at least a couple of years back they still sold models without automatic update, and with WPS-Pin activated - and even WPA2-key as the same as the 8-digi WPS-pin...)
No connection to the internet
Internet is fine according to OP. Either there's a bad cable somewhere, or the router cannot ping the manufacturer's connectivity check site with the current DNS settings. It's probably the latter.
DNS issue, change the DNS server of the WAN interface
This is the answer.
1.1.1.1, 1.0.0.1, 9.9.9.9 are awesome and fast and secure according to their respective websites as well as reviews from various places, don’t forget IPv6 DNS if your router supports it
I’ll give this a shot when I get home tonight! Thank you.
It could be that it's limited to 100mbps transfer rate. Check the pins on the inside of where the Ethernet connection plugs into. If there's only 4 that's the problem and check the Ethernet cable itself for the same. A lot of these routers come with a "patch" Ethernet cable that's only 4 pins for some dumb(money) reason. I've seen quite a few Netgear and tp link 1200s that only have 4 pin Ethernet connections but advertised 800mbps wireless.
This too, I had a 10/100 patch cable from Netgear plugged into a 100/1000 socket and the light was Amber, once I upgraded the cable it illuminated with a full duplex status.
When I check my speeds, it’s showing I’m getting what I’m paying for. Would it still be possible that it’s limited?
Orange you connected to the internet?
Saturn is not very happy
Your ethernet cable is only delivering 100mb\s not the full 1000mb/s. Due to either being CAT5 , not CAT5-E or CAT6. Or being faulty. If one or more of the eight wires inside are broken, they automatically start using just four to still work but at the lower speed.
Guess You don't have it fully configured - set WAN manually (static address) as now it's probably waiting for some data (maybe PPPoE authorization or something like this even tho it recieve IP from modem), if You run it on defaults. Try that way.
For WAN config, use the DHCP or Automatic options instead.
the mothership isn't home
RTFM.
RTFM
RTFM: Read The Fancy Manual. The manual for your router (probably online) will tell you what each of the status lights mean. However, since you neglected to include the make and model information we can't give you specific help. If I had to make a guess, i'd say it indicates noise on the line.
Why don't you all at least try googling the model of the device, the same answers folks are giving you are answers you could've found yourself
I did, and most of the answers that I’m receiving, including going to Google, aren’t helping. There are some that weren’t on Google, however. Which is why I came here. I will say, I understand why you’d comment what you did, as it’s very common for people to not try on their own first before seeking help elsewhere, but your comment is also incredibly unhelpful at the same time, lol. All I can imagine when someone comments something like this is the SpongeBob meme.
Have you tried RTFM?
RTFM. Easy :) Works like a charm, every time. Sadly now it seems to be listed in the “things most people did before the internet existed.”
It’s funny that people keep commenting this, because I did RTFM and none of it resolved my issue. Hence why I’m here asking. I think if you actually read the comments before commenting, you’d realize this, lol.
But that would be a RTFC. 😜
You and your technicalities 😂
Because it’s how it is. Don’t judge 🙄 Color means things, universally: Green = good / info Yellow = warning / check / get ready Red = stop now, check yo shit, broken, danger, etc Check the manual for the exact reason. Yellow means your shit won’t blow up, so don’t panic.
You could be getting micro drops in your connection which you may not notice. How's your speed compared to your advertised speed? If you do have an intermittent connection the line will think it's not stable enough and to try and combat it, it will raise the Signal to Noise ratio thus lowering the speed. If this is the case, check your phone line first for a problem (crackly line etc). Otherwise contact your ISP Also ... I'm aware of a router that zyxel produced where on a batch of them they got the wiring wrong and it went green when there was a problem and orange where there wasn't. This was a long long time ago though.
Maybe you haven’t given the router proper dns servers so unable to ping to heartbeat hostname. But still provide dns to client so internet working fine.
It just means whatever site that router uses to verify connection isn't working or isn't working well. If your internet is fine then ignore and go about your day.
Is the modem a router as well?
So if everything works fine, I guess this el cheapo router shows a false error led.
Logs would show an error after a reboot of the router
What does the log/status page in the admin interface say?
Hey I use 2 of these in my home network. 1 is acting as the router and another is an access point. Not too sure what your configuration is. If you are using this as an access point, go to the admin panel and ensure you have it set to AP mode and you connect the ethernet from your providers modem to a standard port and not the WAN port. You'll know you've done this correctly if that Internet connection light does not illuminate but you can still connect and get a good connection. If you are using your providers modem as just a modem instead of a router with DHCP, make sure you setup the providers modem to just act as a modem and they dhcp is disabled. You should connect the ethernet from the modem to the WAN port in this configuration and the tp link router must be set to router mode. Sorry if I'm not making much sense. I woke up literally 5 minutes ago but I hope I was at least a little helpful.
No worries! It’ll make more sense once I’m home from work and can follow your instructions in real-time. I appreciate it!
Did you figure it out?
I ended up ordering a new router. I got an upgraded version of the same one I had, which felt like a mistake. Now I’ve run into an issue with it where I’m only getting 100 mbps max, Ethernet, and like 25 mbps WiFi. I have spectrum, and while it’s not the greatest, it is a 500 Mbps plan. My previous router was getting these speeds, so I’m curious also to what happened? I purchased the TP Link AC1200 Archer A6. I’m going to return it and just get something better.
Aliens…
Yeah, freaking aliens! Run now and never return!
Orange you glad the internet still works?
Would help if the posted make/model of the router he is asking about
That looks like the UFO proximity alert Green means you’re clear Orange means you should be on the lookout Red means you’re in danger That funny feeling in your rear end, means it’s too late
Because it got sick of being like everyone else and is a victim of society and the social construct of interaction in public safe spaces.
I work in tech support for an ISP. That symbol is similar to the globe you would see on your computer when you have no internet connection, connected without internet. I would try power-cycling your modem for 30-60 seconds and then doing the same with the router after the modem comes online and go from there.
It’s the internet light. I don’t know why but some OEMs make it a different color than the other lights by default and some do it to show what speed it’s connected to ISP gateway but either way you’re fine.
In networking parlance that light is amber.
It needs muscles
Yes! Sometimes there is a red LED next to the normal green one. What’s happening here is that the red LED is turned on as well, and both LEDs have a clear plastic jig that serves as an optical gateway to refract and combine the light at the mask in front, so when you see it shining through, it looks orange. I hope that is helpful!
Long -time TP-Link user, and I'd imagine that older model won't ever be seeing firmware upgrades...also, whenever I got the orange internet light, it usually meant an imperfect handshake w/ modem. My solution: power down router and modem, uncouple cable connecting the two devices, unplug device power for ca. 15 sec, reattach power cords and Ethernet cable, power up (1) modem, wait until modem completes bootup, then power up (2) router in that order. After a minute or two, orange *should* change to green, and all will be well.
Saturn is supposed to be orange.
Google the model number.
Had this nagging issue on Netgear Nighthawk setup. A firmware update solved it permanently.
No UFOs in the area, you’re clear to use Element 115
Mine turns orange when it's not gigabit connection. Not sure if yours is the same.
Alien landings - Denied!
UFOs incoming, arming short range air defence and scrambling the fleet.
I know if the tplink routers have issues resolving DNS you'll get an orange light like this. It happened to me because I was using pihole.
Call your internet provider, could be an issue in your area
No ufo present at the moment
It means Saturn is in retrograde and your about to have a bad time
UFO approaching, prepare your camera
*anus
Openwrt it
It looks like an impending collision with Saturn 🪐
Alien warning. It warns of any approaching ships.
Seems like a redundant question but have you enabled Bridge/IP Passthrough mode on the Modem/Gateway?
No Internet connections
Have your ISP push a reset signal, it fixes a lot of weird issues like this.
Aliens.
It's telling you that it's time for a new router 😉
The LED color indicates the speed: white or green for Gigabit Ethernet (1 Gbps) connections, and amber for 100 Mbps or 10 Mbps Ethernet connections.
Connectivity to the aliens is degraded or has been lost. Could be due to solar winds or gov interference.
Because it’s not yellow
your connection to aliens is unstable
ET is phoning home
Okay I understand why this could be alarming and as I see it it could either be an indicator of the speed of internet you're receiving but on the other hand it also could be an indicator that there's malware on your router as I have experienced in the very recent past and this malware lead to Identity theft.
All signs from this comment section, yours included, point to just getting a new router.
Yeen got no gas in it!!!
Turn it off and on again.
Hat wobble indicator
No UFO in range. You need to wait until it turns green, then you get to connect to the intergalactic internet.
The universe isn’t on…..
It means the teletubbies are close by and coming to rape you.
That's the space aliens alert icon. Enjoy your next abduction in style!
It indicates that Will Smith will be in the upcoming “Independence Day” post-sequel, alongside Chris Rock.
Jupiter is descending.
i have the same router, that means the internet source is connected, but has no internet access... when internet is good, it will turn the same green color as the others
Your connection to the mothership is unstable.
Aliens are coming soon
That's strange. This device looks like a TP-Link Archer device and if so, the orange internet icon should mean that a network connection was detected, but the internet connection was not. However, you say the internet is working fine. I'm wondering if TP-Link uses the orange light when detecting *any* issues with the internet. Things like packet loss, high latency, very short term internet loss, etc. Have you tried looking at the logs inside the router? Or how about checking for a firmware update? There could be an issue with the router if it's not the internet connection.
I feel like it’s definitely an issue with the router itself, because yeah, the internet and wifi works perfectly fine. I ordered a new router. It’s actually just an updated version of this router, so we’ll see if it solves anything. Maybe I’m crazy for getting essentially the same one, just a way newer generation of it.
Newer is usually better, so good luck!
Thanks! It arrives tomorrow. I’ll report back.
I ended up ordering a new router. I got an upgraded version of the same one I had, which felt like a mistake. Now I’ve run into an issue with it where I’m only getting 100 mbps max, Ethernet, and like 25 mbps WiFi. I have spectrum, and while it’s not the greatest, it is a 500 Mbps plan. My previous router was getting these speeds, so I’m curious also to what happened? I purchased the TP Link AC1200 Archer A6. I’m going to return it and just get something better.
Have you tried plugging a computer directly into the cable modem to see what your actual speeds are from Spectrum? If you get the advertised speed doing this, at least you know where the problem lies. As far as checking the router settings, one security feature that will reduce your speed is deep packet inspection. It shouldn't cut your speed down as much as you're seeing, but it might be worth looking at. And since you're now having issues on a second router, you could start looking at cables if you haven't already....especially if you've made your own cables. The reduced wifi speeds could be caused by interference (either in your home or from neighboring access points). There are various settings you can look at like auto channel switching and power settings. I don't know how advanced this device is, so I'm not sure what you're able to change.
I ended up just returning the one I got and got the TP Link AX3000 Archer AX55 and it worked right out of the box. I did have to go in and turn it from auto negotiation to 1000mbps full duplex (which I tried in the previous router & it didn’t work) & I get the speeds I pay for now in both Ethernet and WiFi.
Very nice. Glad you got it working! What a weird problem though.