Readers often turn to me for help and advice in setting up WiFi, and one of the popular questions is what does it mean if there is no Internet and at the same time the router is lit with an orange light opposite the WAN icon? On TP-Link routers, the orange indicator is additionally made in the form of a highlighted icon-symbol of the Internet connection, which means that the problem is with it.
Possible Causes of the Orange WAN Light On
In earlier models, the LED could also be green, but when a connection break occurs, it does not stay on all the time, but blinks.
The solution to the problem discussed in this article will only apply to the case when the router lights up orange (or red, or blinks) after inserting the cable from the provider into - normally it should be constantly lit green, which indicates that there is no connection to the Internet. If the router, after connecting the cable, does not light any “lights” at all, then this is a completely different problem.
So, there can be several reasons for the lack of connection.
Let's take a look at each of them in detail. We cannot influence the first one in any way - breakdowns in the provider's equipment, or line breaks occur regularly even with the most stable Internet service providers. Therefore, in case you did nothing, and the orange light on the router itself turned on, the first thing I recommend is calling the support service and finding out if there are any breakdowns or if they are engineering works.
Orange indicator due to incorrect settings of the TP Link router
The second reason is that the configurations for connecting the TP Link router to the Internet have gone astray. In general, when you first turn on the orange indicator is on until you insert the cable into the WAN port and enter all the settings for connecting to the Internet. If you didn’t know, then after installing the router, the Internet will not work by itself (unless the type of connection to your provider is dynamic IP) - for it you need to enter the data that is specified in the service agreement. After they are entered correctly, the color changes to green.
Orange signal on the router due to binding by MAC address
If this did not happen, but you are sure that you did everything right, then there is such an option that the provider binds the MAC address of the computer to your account. That is, you bought a new router, and now, instead of the network card of the computer, another device “communicates” with the equipment of the service provider, which has a different physical (MAC) address. More responsible providers report this to users - for example, when I change the router, when I try to open any site, a message appears that I need to restart it for a new binding.
There are two options for solving the problem:
- Call support and say that your computer has changed
- Make the PC the built-in tools of the router.
The second option is preferable. I describe in detail how to do this in separate articles for each manufacturer - select your company from the menu of our website and read.
The orange light is on due to a program failure or a broken WAN port
If the orange indicator suddenly lights up - yesterday the Internet worked, but today it doesn’t, and at the same time the provider says that everything is OK with him, then you need to think why this happened. The first thing that comes to mind is that due to a power surge, all the settings on the router went wrong. For the future, to avoid this, connect it only through a voltage stabilizer.
In order to return everything to its original state, the easiest way is to use the “Reset” button on the router case. Then go back to the admin panel using the login and password indicated on the label on the bottom of the router case, and set everything up again.
Finally, no one excludes breakdowns inside the WAN connector or on the router chip. Here are my thoughts on fixing the problem of a burning orange indicator on the router - I didn’t seem to miss anything, but if you have something to add, then write in the comments, we will figure it out together.
Every laptop owner knows that this laptop is equipped with an indicator light option. The charging light and other indicators are set as small LED lights that indicate the state of the battery, hard drive or processor. The health of the laptop battery and its performance depends on how the battery charging lamp is lit. It is important to learn how to properly understand these signals - often the color can change its meaning depending on the laptop model.
Flashing charging light
The general signals given by the light indicator responsible for information about the state of the battery look about the same. The differences in color and its meanings for different laptops will be discussed a little later.
Typically, the light flashes in the following colors, and each of them has the following designation:
- Flashing red- don't worry, it's all right. But accumulator battery The laptop is almost dead, and it needs to be charged urgently. Otherwise, the laptop will simply shut down. In this case, the operating system installed on your computer will definitely display a message that you need to connect the charger.
- Flashing green/blue - also everything is fine, it means nothing more than a standby mode. It is observed when the laptop lid is in the closed position.
- Lights up light green / blue, does not go out, burns steadily - means that the battery is fully charged, or the computer takes electricity not from the battery, but from the mains supply.
- The light on the laptop flashes when the charger is connected to the computer, red or orange. Sometimes it starts to blink, and then it goes out. This is a wake-up call that can mean anything from serious problems with the charger to battery failure. AT this case it is recommended to contact the service center, or try to fix the problem yourself - by accessing the operating system of your laptop.
Is it possible to fix the problem
The main thing - do not skip messages issued by the operating system , which monitors battery life as well. When there are problems with the battery, the OS sends a message about its damage - as a rule, it "creeps out" on the right. If the system does not display such a message and “thinks” that everything is fine with the battery pack, most likely there are problems in the charger itself.
It is important to keep in mind that if the battery is damaged, it is no longer possible to repair it. In the best case, it will either have to be completely changed, or a partial replacement of the elements will be carried out.
Charging can simply be disassembled into parts and make a dial with a multimeter. Most likely, the wiring has frayed, or the contacts have come off - this problem can be fixed with your own hands. However, if the capacitor burns out, you will have to look for a new, suitable charger.
Indicator signals of popular laptop models
In order for users to be able to at least partially navigate the “language” of indicator lamps, you can familiarize yourself with the most common colors that light up the battery charging lamp of a laptop:
- Asus. If the light turns solid green, the battery is approximately 100 percent charged. If its color changes to orange, the battery charge level gradually becomes lower. If the computer is running on battery power but is about 10 percent charged, the light may turn off. If the battery reaches a critical level, the indicator flashes orange.
- Acer. If the light turns green, the computer is on mains power. When the color changes to yellow, it means that the battery is currently being charged.
- Dell. Green color indicates the battery is charging. If the green flashes, this means that the charging process is complete. Flashing orange light - the charge level is decreasing, and if it is lit in a steady orange tone - the battery charge is critically low.
- Sony. The steady burning of the orange indicator indicates the process of charging the battery, the flashing of the same light indicates the completion of charging. Rapid flashing of the orange indicator indicates a faulty battery or that it is incorrectly installed in the battery pack.
- Samsung. A steady green glow of the indicator indicates a fully charged battery, yellow indicates that charging is in progress. If the indicator flashes quickly, the battery is bad.
In some cases, the red color of the indicator remains on after the laptop has been connected to the network. It changes to green only when the battery reaches certain level charging value. When the light is flashing, but there is no charging progress, always pay attention to the icons on the panel of your operating system. When the battery is discharged below 60 percent, the battery icon will be supplemented with an exclamation mark placed in a yellow triangle. If the battery discharge is critical, wait for the appearance of a cross enclosed in a red circle.
Thus, the simple signals of the indicator light will help you navigate the current operating state of the laptop battery, and in the event of alarms, you can decide in advance whether to repair the battery or its possible complete replacement.
More than once, in the comments to various articles, I answered questions related to the Internet connection indicator (WAN) on TP-Link routers. For many, it burns orange, and, accordingly, the Internet through the router does not work. Let me tell you right now that this is not a bug. The problem is that the router simply cannot connect to the Internet. (to ISP). And informs you about this error with an orange WAN indicator (planet icon).
Previously, all TP-Link routers did not have this orange indicator. All burned in the same color, they just blinked in case of an error, or something else. Such a chip appeared recently, and now, if there are problems with the connection and the Internet, the indicator lights up orange (or red). As I understand it, such changes on all router models: TP-link TL-WR841N, TL-WR740N, TL-WR941ND, TL-WR842ND, etc.
It doesn't matter what router you have, the problem itself looks something like this:
Orange (red) Internet indicator on TP-Link: problem solving
We have already found out that the problem is that the router cannot connect to the Internet. When configuring routers, this is probably the most popular problem that I wrote about in an article.
As practice shows, there are two main reasons:
- ISP problems. Something on the line, problems with the equipment, you did not pay for the Internet, etc. You need to make sure that the Internet is working. The easiest way is to connect the Internet directly to your computer and check. You can call the provider and find out if there are any problems on their side. If the Internet does not work, then it is clear that the router cannot connect, and the WAN indicator is lit in orange.
- Incorrect router configuration. This is the main reason. It's just that in the router settings you incorrectly set the parameters for connecting to the Internet provider, or did not set them at all. Also, the problem may still be in binding to the MAC address. If your provider makes such a binding.
Since the problem is mainly in the settings, let's look into this in more detail.
Important! After purchasing and installing a router, it must be configured to connect to an Internet provider. Select the type of connection in the settings, and set the necessary parameters. Only after that, the router will be able to connect to the Internet, and the WAN indicator will turn green.
Only in the case when the provider uses the Dynamic IP connection type and does not use MAC address binding, you do not need to configure the Internet on the router, it should work immediately after connecting the cable to the router. Provided that the router is at factory settings.
Let's point by point:
1 First of all, you need to find out what type of connection your Internet provider uses. And if it's not a Dynamic IP, then you need to know additional data (password, username, server address). Also, you need to find out if the provider uses MAC address binding. (there are not many such providers, but they exist). All necessary information, as a rule, is indicated in the contract for connecting to the Internet. 2 If you have already tried to configure the router, then it is better. Next, and on the "Network" (Network) - "WAN" tab, select the type of connection, and set the necessary parameters.
If you have a new control panel:
After correct setting, your router should connect to the internet and the WAN LED should turn green instead of orange.
3 Forgot about binding by MAC address. If your provider still does it, then you need to clone the MAC address to the router from the computer (to which the Internet was connected), more details in the article. Or, register the MAC address of the router with the provider (it is indicated on the sticker, on the device itself).A lot of detailed instructions for configuring TP-Link routers of different models you will find in the section.
If these tips did not help you, then describe your problem in the comments, I will try to help with advice.