Verified home-lab project · October 2026
pfSense Kea DHCP Migration & TP-Link Archer BE230 Recovery
Restored wireless access-point management and modernized DHCP services in an isolated cybersecurity lab—without a factory reset.
192.168.10.10; AP mode preserved; DHCP centralized on pfSense Kea; Wi-Fi, Internet, and DNS verified; configuration backed up.The challenge
Archer BE230 V1 continued serving two wireless networks, but its Internet LED was red and management requests timed out. ARP, Wi-Fi association and DHCP logs showed partial connectivity while ping, browser access and TCP management ports failed.
Investigation & root cause
Windows PowerShell and Nmap checks helped rule out browser cache, an incorrect Wi-Fi SSID and routing. A direct isolated Ethernet session exposed the Archer's actual static management address of 192.168.0.2, rather than the lab's expected 192.168.10.10. Gateway and DNS pointed to 192.168.0.254, and the AP's DHCP setting was Auto. The mismatch explained why normal lab-side management failed.
Recovery
- Identified the alternate management IP with
ipconfig /allandarp -a, then logged in over an isolated Ethernet connection. - Confirmed Access Point mode and disabled Archer DHCP.
- Updated the static management address to
192.168.10.10/24, gateway and primary DNS to192.168.10.1. - Reconnected the AP to pfSense, reopened its management page, confirmed the Internet LED turned white, and verified external connectivity and DNS.
- Exported a new configuration backup.
pfSense DHCP modernization
Separately migrated pfSense CE 2.9.0 from deprecated ISC DHCP to Kea after inspecting unsupported or advanced feature dependencies and saving configuration. Checked Kea service and DHCP allocation/reuse logs, validated connectivity to Wazuh, Windows Server and Proxmox, and cleaned up retired-device reservations.