Tether – the Application for Configuring a TP-Link Router With a Smartphone
Tags: beginners, testing, test, tutorial
Published: 2022-03-31 11:55:49

Read this article to find out how to configure Wi-Fi routers by TP-Link with your smartphone or tablet PC and a specialized application, TP-Link Tether. We’ll have a look at basic capabilities of TP-LINK Tether, and I’ll also show you how to quickly modify main router settings using this tool.

## TP-LINK Tether Application

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The standard web interface of the router menu is not very comfortable to use from a mobile device. The letters and symbols are too small so you have to zoom in and out all the time.

However, TP-Link has been thinking about their customers and finally released TP-LINK Tether – a very good application for smartphones and tablet PCs to make router configuration easier. You can use it to view the device information and connection settings, manage your Wi-Fi router, and modify the settings.

The application is available for the two most popular platforms – iOS and Android. It supports iOS from version 7 and higher, and Android from version 4. In this article, we will see how Tether works with Android 8.1.

![Image description](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/tk8h4khutr0s9hvprdf6.jpg)

Below, we’ll have a look at basic capabilities of TP-LINK Tether, and I’ll also show you how to quickly modify main router settings using this tool.

The application supports almost all popular router models by this manufacturer. I’ll illustrate its work with the example of TP-LINK TL-WR841N.

To begin with, download the app from AppStore or PlayMarket depending on your particular mobile device and install it.

The link to the app:

* AppStore
* Google Play Market

![Image description](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/bpt23vexm66rizhlafr1.png)

## Getting Connected to the Router with Tether
To make the application see your router, you should connect to the router by Wi-Fi. If you’ve been using the router for some time, it means you are likely to be already connected. If you want to configure a new router, find the standard name and password for connecting on a sticker attached to the bottom side of the device.

![Image description](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/ahashwwlzjunf0kf9ccf.jpg)

When the application starts for the first time, you’ll see a summary of its capabilities. Scroll it away and tap Let’s Get Started.

![Image description](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/yvltgf2eqp1i42k69eei.jpg)

Agree to the Terms of Use… To get to the main screen and manage your router, enter the name and password combination. By default, these are admin and admin. If you have already changed them, give the new data.

![Image description](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/a5xujhkaw8ryh3gc1vwq.jpg)
## Main Screen
After entering the router settings, you will see the main screen. The screen shows the control panel with the information about your Wi-Fi connection and the network in real time.

![Image description](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/8jrx24fr1e07b40ymz6p.jpg)

By tapping on the router symbol, you will see its name, model, firmware and hardware versions.

![Image description](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/g6k0zdp7hjzxaneekg2u.jpg)

## Clients Menu
In the Clients tab (or by tapping on the icon showing the number of clients in the main screen), the application shows all devices connected to this network, their connection types and IP addresses.

![Image description](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/4wlt5wmvvqqm8hvyn5zs.jpg)