TP-Link Deco X55 AX3000 Whole Home AI-Driven Mesh Wi-Fi 6
TP-Link Deco X55 AX3000 Whole Home AI-Driven Mesh Wi-Fi 6 System, Three Gigabit Ports, Coverage up to 6,500 ft2, Connect up to 150 devices, HomeShield Security, Pack of 3, Amazon Exclusive
Whole-Home Coverage: Wi-Fi Dead Zone Killer
With clearer and stronger signals enhanced by BSS Colour and Beamforming, Deco X55 boosts broader whole home Wi-Fi coverage with great performance. Wireless connections and optional Ethernet backhaul work together to link Deco units. Want more coverage? Simply add another Deco.
Deco app will take care of the rest, getting your network up and running in minutes.
Deco X55 with a delicate body case makes it perfect to blend into various home decorations.
 Deco X55(3-pack) |  Deco X60(3-pack) |  Deco X20(3-pack) |  Deco P9(3-pack) |  Deco M5(3-pack) |  Halo H50G(3-pack) | |
| Wi-Fi Speed | Dual-Band AX3000 | Dual-Band AX3000 | Dual Band AX1800 | Dual-Band AC1200+AV1000 | Dual-Band AC1300 | Dual-Band AC1900 |
| Ethernet Ports | 3× Gigabit Ports Per Unit | 2× Gigabit Ports Per Unit | 2× Gigabit Ports Per Unit | 2× Gigabit Ports Per Unit | 2× Gigabit Ports Per Unit | 3× Gigabit Ports Per Unit |
| Coverage | up to 6,500sq.ft(603Sq.meter) | up to 7,000Sq.ft(650Sq.meter) | up to 5,800sq.ft(539Sq.meter) | up to 6,000sq.ft(560Sq.meter) | up to 5,500sq.ft(511Sq.meter) | up to 6,000sq.ft(550Sq.meter) |
| Wi-Fi 6 System | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✘ | ✘ | ✔ |
| Processor | 1 GHz Dual-Core CPU | 1 GHz Quad-Core CPU | 1 GHz Quad-Core CPU | Qualcomm CPU | Qualcomm717 MHz Quad-core CPU | 1 GHz Dual-Core CPU |
| Antenna | 2× Antennas (Internal) | 4× Antennas (Internal) | 2× Antennas (Internal) | 2× Antennas (Internal) | 4× Antennas (Internal) | 3× Antennas (Internal) |
| Supports connection | up to 150 devices | up to 150 devices | up to 150 devices | up to 100 devices | up to 100 devices | up to 100 devices |
| Mesh Wi-Fi System | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Signal through the wall | Excellent | Excellent | Excellent | Outstanding | Very good | Very good |
| AI-Driven Mesh | ✔ | ✘ | ✘ | ✘ | ✘ | ✔ |
| Weight: | 2.48 kg |
| Dimensions: | 11 x 11 x 11.4 cm; 2.48 Kilograms |
| Brand: | TP-Link |
| Model: | TOMPOL-LJ-1116-1611-414 |
| Manufacture: | TP-Link |
| Dimensions: | 11 x 11 x 11.4 cm; 2.48 Kilograms |
We live in the middle of no where
Internet was terrible for dropping out but since purchasing these we have had great internet with no problems
Easy to install
Highly recommend
I’ve tried a couple of other Mesh networks and the problem they have all seem to share is that once one node looses a connection, it struggles to get itself back on to the network. The TP-Link Deco doesn’t seem to have this issue, it just works. Great connectivity all over the house!
I ordered this product as I needed a solution to extend my WiFi (Virgin) to our Summer house, which us about 40 metres away from where the router is positioned at the front of the house. Ive tried extenders and Virgins own pods but nothing even got close. It was highly recommended on a number of sites and as I didn’t want to run a cable from the house, I went with this system.
It was incredibly easy to set up, and in a few minutes the WiFi network was set up and I can confirm the quality of the WiFi signal to the summer house and around the house is excellent. As devices are also on a network, you can move anywhere on the property and it doesn’t need to reconnect.
It’s not cheap but we’ll worth the investment.
I upgraded to 1,000 mbps Internet from Zen having previously been with Sky’s 150 mbps offer and the WiFi has been a nightmare, completely unrealiable and intermittent (From both providers).
I’ve spent hours per week, every week for 3+ months with Zen going through endless settings on the router they supplied to no avail.
What the Internet Service Providers don’t tell you is that they give you Ultrafast Fibre Broadband to your wall socket, but then give you the cheapest basic router to project the WiFi around the house.
I’ve purchased this and it’s been an absolute game changer, I live in a large 4x bed detached house with a huge garden and I’m yet to find somewhere that I can’t get a signal.
Plus all the additional features the app gives you like being able to prioritise my & my Wife’s work Laptops over the kids Playstations, Smart TV’s, Alexa’s etc. and the additional security features.
I wish I had bought this years ago.
Easy to setup using the app. I’ve connected directly into my internet and provided the unit the ISP credentials. Plugged other two units in and all connected perfectly. Removed my old router and this is also used to provide other devices an IP address when plugged into the few ports on the back of each unit. Great improvement and noticeable that there is no lag or black spots around the house and even garden. Highly recommend.
My decision abut buying this mesh was too fast. I’m bit disappointed comparing to i.e. ASUS.
Here there are so many limitations, IoT are not isolated, interface of app is very simple… probably will keep 1-2y and then will change.
I get full broadband speed (70mbs) throughout the whole house. Much faster than my old Linksys WiFi 5 system. It is also much more reliable than the Linksys. It has a great app where you can view connections, prioritise devices, block devices, manage family settings etc. I am using this with wired backhaul which means Ethernet cables connecting the deco devices. One of these is via a powerline adapter. It works great. As I understand it if you’re not able to connect the units via cables then it is still possible to connect them wirelessly, but performance will suffer- you’d be better going for ‘tri-band’ which has a dedicated backhaul channel.
Highly recommended if you can get a discount too.
I have full fibre to the house but as it is large the coverage from the original WiFi was 33% coverage at best. We will be upgrading the house in 3-4 years & will put in a full system then but in the meantime wanted good coverage from a mesh system. This has worked a treat I purchased 2 boxes of 3 so 6 in all & now have great signal throughout. Obviously you do not get the full strength at the furthest box but it is a strong signal. No more buffering or waiting & running potentially 10 seperate devices is no problem. I cheated on the set up as my neighbour is a WiFi installer so knew what he was doing but on my own I would have had to use the helpline but it didn’t seem too bad. Highly recommended.
Set up is easy, the app is good. Three nodes, each with three ethernet ports, cover my 5-bedroom house. In my office I was struggling to get signal beyond 10mbs, now it is >100mbs. Close to the main node which is plugged into the router I am getting the advertised 250+mbs from my virgin super hub 3. I also have an ethernet switch which plugs directly into the main node and once you put system into bridge mode and turn off your router’s wifi signal you get one network covering your whole house.
The app is good too, you can determine which devices connect to which node and set priorities for signals too. You can also name each device on your network which is handy if you like to see what device is connecting to what node and what the signal strength is. Not sure about the AI mesh functionality, but it seems to work in the background and you can run network optimisation to reduce interference and improve performance too. You can have a dedicated IoT network for clumping all your 2.4Ghz devices together such as cameras which is neat.
The units themselves look good and feel more sturdy than what I had before. The only thing you can’t do is wall mount them, which would be nice an option. Overall, really pleased with the performance of these and at the price point I would highly recommend these
Really impressed with these. Had no WIFI in most of my house with my Virgin 3 hub.
Bought the 3 pod system, super simple setup and now I’ve got the full 260Mbps in every room, driveway and back garden.
Exceeded all my expectations.
It is very simple to setup. Once you download the app it will guide you through setting up the first Deco unit (which is connected via ethernet to your router) in a few simple steps. Then you just place the other two in which ever room you want them in and they automatically connect to the network within a couple of minutes.
The app is very simple and informative. You can view clients connected to the network and even prioritise which deco they should connect to. Handy if you have a device, which for some reason, is connecting to the furthest away Deco unit. You can also priority connections amongst Deco units, which is great, as initially, one unit was connecting to a Deco that was further away and had a weaker signal.
Just one Deco unit downstairs was providing the entire upstairs of the house with maximum internet speeds. They provide very strong WiFi.
Highly recommended.
The Deco mesh was installed where there is an existing router. In this setup the first Deco unit must be configured as an ACCESS POINT and I used a different SSID to that of the router.
The other 2 Deco units were just plug and play.
Signal strength is good in all rooms and the garden range extends to 30-40m depending on the device.
I’m hoping to go to fttp soon to get higher speed to the internet.
IMPORTANT NOTE if you have to reboot your router then power off the decos first.
My older 11ac mesh started giving fluctuating connections then would be OK for a week. Replaced with the TP item and now not only have stable mesh but throughput on 11ac and 11g end devices has doubled.
I had the Deco M4’s and for some reason they had gone weird on me so bought new ones, since setting up there has not been any issues, seamless connectivity between pods as well as great signal and speeds.
Works straight out the box and brilliantly as you would hope, easily configurable and expandable. Never loses connection.
I had an Orbi system before and it was hopeless always disconnecting and not pairing.
By default the nodes adopt a star network but if you configure the node connection preference then it can connect to any other node on the network.
We live in a long property with an annex and daisy chaining is the only way to get full coverage without laying Ethernet cables. The included screen shot shows our configuration and proves my statement. Anyone claiming they don’t daisy chain is either on an old firmware or just doesn’t get how to do it.
I’m very pleased with the X55 and have no problems recommending it in this price range as it just works.
Very easy to install and for the first time I get full bandwidth throughout the house and furtherest corner of back garden which is about 20m from being the router.
I’m very pleased with these units which has WiFi 6E which allows the 6 mhz band to be used. It was very easy to setup having used in router and access mode.
@Andrejean Marcito ( Mr ANDRE JEAN P. MARCITO TP-Link Technical Support)
Thank you for your support, appreciated the great and positive experience with your technical knowledge.
Great customer service manner that made the difference and solved the installation with total commitment and guided me through the installation process. and truly appreciated.
Thank you .
It is not ideal for me to run a network cable, which would be my preferred option, to get a network connection into the office in my house so I tried a wifi antennae which did ok but was too much of a speed drop for my liking so decided to get this on prime day and am glad I did.
Using the Ethernet backbone feature I get zero speed drop now and do not have to try running a cable around the house.
Set up was easy and straightforward and am glad that the leds on the devices can be controlled as I have one set up in my bedroom to provide strong signal for all the upstairs bedrooms.
I moved house and decided to get a new mesh system. After some research I choose the Deco system which I’m delighted with after 6 months of using it.
It’s so easy to setup, almost plug and play as are the satellites (the other units that connects to it). I’ve no drops at all and my speeds more than doubled over using the iso supplied router.
I gave the Orbi system to my dad and spent the day trying to set it up for him. In the end I gave up as it’s just too complicated and even then it often makes you go through the setup over and over. Don’t get me started on setting up the Orbi satellites, it’s a total nightmare.
If you are looking for a mesh system, as most people are these day seen as most have too many devices for their isp provided router to handle, then I hight recommend this system.
I used to be a network specialist for Cisco and even with all my experience I struggled with the Orbi system, I can get it working but only after spending a day doing so. The deco system works first time out of the box, even someone with zero IT knowledge could manage it in minutes.
Been wanting to set mesh network for awhile as getting WiFi about the house was horrible as 6 in household but got this and was very easy to set up now got WiFi coverage throughout the house and the item itself looks ok sitting about wire tidy behind item so yeah so far very pleased
Having had really bad Wi-Fi coverage throughout the house to literally 15mins later having 100% coverage makes these units worth every penny.
In areas where you couldn’t connect a Tv to the internet, couldn’t connect an IP Phone for remote working to everything fully functioning all at the one time, its like living in a new house.
Broadband providers boosters straight into the bin.
Ensure you put the Starlink router in bypass mode before installing the Deco mesh system. You also must have the LAN adapter for the Starlink modem.
Easy install if you follow the instructions on the walkthrough in the app. The first deco system that’s connected to the Starlink router with a LAN cable will act as the router so most Starlink app features are deactivated.
However the Deco system has created a seamless fast wifi connection throughout the house. I couldn’t even get 10mb if I left the room with the Starlink router before getting this kit. Now I get 200mb throughout the house.
Great feature on the app is you can prioritise what gets the bandwidth and limit devices.
Must have if you have Starlink.
Only pitfall for me is you cannot split the 2.4g and 5g channel, but this makes sense as it’s a mesh system.
Only use two but cheaper to buy 3. Have one to my friend.
Works really well. I use it as a router for my fibre to the premises as well as WiFi. Super fast. Getting the full 500mbit out of my internet via wired or wireless. One box does upstairs and router, other box on the back of the telly and set top box to make them WiFi 6 Via ethernet. So easy to set up.
After years of frustration with Virgin WiFi dropping out and going slow, I finally cracked, bought this mesh system and haven’t stopped smiling since. It works a treat, and we can now watch a video whilst walking anywhere in the house without drop out.
I recommend i
Changed to virgin and their superhub was not giving me the speeds on wifi that I was paying for. The wifi signal upstairs was really slow so I invested in these. Problem solved. I’m actually getting more than thought I’d get.
It’s easy to install with simple steps via the app. Make sure you follow each step and you’ll end up have very good coverage. Installed in a 3 storey house with little to poor coverage on the top floor. After installing these, the whole house has wifi coverage and it’s important to install in open spaces as this will help with coverage. I’ve bought two sets now for family and would recommend if you don’t want the hassel of running cables
Total game changing wifi around the house. Great speed and easy setup.
Consistent speed and easy to use app.
Can set up as access points or mesh and either works incredibly well. First class
This is the third 3-unit Mesh WiFi system I’ve tried in order to get WiFi coverage through my long, 2 storey house with several brick walls to get through. This is by far the best and easiest to set up. With my previous system I spent many hours trying to get the units to be recognised by each other and link up and it disconnected itself every few weeks and eventually refused to link at all. With this Deco EX75 the setup through the Deco App could not have been easier and quicker and for the first time we now have decent coverage around the house. Very pleased with this system.
My WiFi speeds downstairs, near the router would give me roughly 300mb download speed and 50mb upload speed, however, when i was upstairs in my room, i was getting 68mb download speeds and 50mb upload speeds (see picture), upload was good but download speeds were way down…
I recently purchased a Macbook M2 Max, which supports WiFi 6e, i made sure that i got a mesh system that had WiFi 6e capability…
And the results are simply amazing, i connected to the 6e WiFi on my laptop, and you can now see from the photo, i’m getting 713mb download speeds and 77mb upload speeds, and this is in my room, on a WiFi connection! I haven’t even tried using an ethernet yet.
Put simply, some of the best money i have ever spent, i was a little sceptical purchasing these as they seemed like a cheaper option that supported WiFi 6e, but it did not disappoint.
Set up was super simple too, connected all 3 of the nodes in 15 minutes.
I’m a content creator so fast download and upload speeds are crucial, i’m now going to upgrade to Virgins Voom Gig 1 package as i’m so confident this mesh system will get the absolute max speeds out of the WiFi package i have.
Couldn’t recommend more, i’ve got super strong WiFi throughout any part of the house, all my smart devices (Alexa, ring doorbell etc) connected just fine too.
If you’re on Virgin, and you’re fed up of calling them because your WiFi speeds are nowhere near where they should be, don’t think twice, just buy this system!!!
Impressively easy to set up – had to do this for a client in a huge old house with thick stone walls, and it was remarkably strightforward to do. Signal is attenuated by the walls, inevitably, but the units nevertheless seem to provide good coverage. Must do more of these!
So our broadband takes a hammering…wfh…trying to stream…phones. Plus house is quite big and the signal is next to nothing in the office.
I did a fair bit of reading…well…I found a posting on a forum by someone having the EXACT same issues and what she’d bought.
Literally took 5 minutes to set up. Plug it into the router once you download the app. You can even set up a guest WiFi for visitors. I’ve got the main one in the living room, and 2 others on different floors.
If you want to turn off WiFi to stop the kids using it – you can do that. Also, the app shows you what devices are on the network, so if your kid says they aren’t on their phone, this tells you that they are!
Honestly- I have no idea why I haven’t done this years ago. A bargain and easy peasy to set up. Signal is excellent all over the house…no glitches….no hanging. Excellent.
I’ve just had this unit delivered this morning as my Wi-Fi wouldn’t extend to the garden. I’m pathetic when it comes to technology but this was so easy to set up. Download the app and it was a piece of cake. I’m currently sitting at the back of the garden writing this review with full Wi-Fi signal. I would 100% recommend this produc
Have been using these for a few months now and they’ve made a huge difference. Our main router has always struggled reaching upstairs (For anyone else on Virgin Media you probably understand). But these changed the game for us. I love how they connect all as one network, unlike extenders we’ve had in the past, makes connecting between the hubs seamless! Well worth the money, gets my recommendation!
Bought this product to boost my internet signal, which doesn’t cover all three floors of my house. Calls to Virgin, my internet service provider had been frustrating to say the least and they wanted me to pay monthly for a Virgin booster, so I decided to go with this one instead. Glad I did – not only is my signal better (it’s gone from non existent in some rooms to full signal), but also I found their support team extremely helpful after a call to them when Virgin refused to give details of my service settings to help me set the booster up, the Deco team were friendly and helpful and resolved the issue. Highly recommend.
Bought this as my previous router did not have enough range for the whole house and WiFi extenders worked but were very slow and would have my devices staying connected to them even after I had left the area and gotten closer to my router but I would still be connected to the slow extender.
Set up is simple and fast but you will need the app to do so. The app is great but could do with a few improvements such as choosing a preferred node for a specific device as sometimes a device may decide to connect to a node that’s further.
I use mine with wireless 2.4/5/6Ghz backhaul and it is working flawlessly currently.
I don’t have enough WiFi 6E capable devices in my home which is why I use the 6Ghz band as a wireless backhaul instead of using it as a WiFi band to connect me devices to. It’s nice it gives you the option to use the 6Ghz as backhaul if you won’t be making use of it otherwise.
I also have a PC connected via ethernet to one of the wireless nodes and it’s almost as if I’m connected straight to the main one which surprised me, very well done. And I haven’t noticed any dropped connections or dipping internet speeds at all.
Most of the features are controlled via the app but it’s also possible to change settings through the web interface too.
Overall I would strongly recommend this to anyone looking for a great WiFi 6E mesh system
I like that it uses WiFi 6 to communicate between the hubs. My latest MacBook Pro uses WiFi 6 and is blazingly fast anywhere in the house or garden. Excellent they work as advertised and have not given me a moments bother. Also a really good app that lets you see what is connected to each hub and at what speed.
Would recommend to anyone.
My wife and I both work from home, our teenage children are always digitally busy. Previously had 2 good quality routers at either end of the house one piggy backing off the other. We were constantly having to restart and bandwidth was very inconsistent. This mesh has immediately changed our digital lives. I’m a designer and constantly load/download large files. We are often streaming from multiple devices. The installation is an absolute breeze. Fabulous product. thoroughly reccommended.
10/10
A few issues with a samsung phone keep dropping wifi, but since I default it to use 5Ghz on the app, I’ve had no problems since.
Little pricey, but I now can wander about the house, room to room, even go into the garage and still have wifi. I like the app that you can download on the phone and see what device is connected where, and how much bandwidth they are using up. A big improvement on my wireless powerlines.
For a non-tech person set up instructions could be better. Checking on line first it recommends disconnecting current WiFi from the modem to avoid interference- this is easy to find instructions on how to do but not clear on the deco app. After this set up is very simple and up and running very quickly. There is a final setup choice between router mode and access point mode – this means nothing to me .
However WiFi coverage with the three units connected (Ethernet to the first via modem then wirelessly) is very good and has eliminated the previous WiFi weak spots which we’d always had in our house. One last point is the amount of plastic protective wrap/bags – completely unnecessary when the units are well packaged in polystyrene inside the box.
Working from home, I was persevering with my standard Sky broadband WiFi. Sitting at the back of the house in an extension, the signal was very poor. Purchased these bad boys and problem solved. Big time! Now my laptop is fast and not only that, but the TV at the back of house is also extremely faster when streaming etc. Everyone in the house loves the boost this kit provides. Simple to set up too. Absolutely delighted. Money extremely well spent!
Great product and great customer support. They have an app which talks you through the set up. Unfortunately I had problems setting it up due to my internet service provider not giving me the correct information about my account. So I ended up phoning TP link customer support 3 evenings in a row (in between phoning my internet service provider. They answered quickly and were helpful. Thanks to Jerimiah who talked me through everything calmly and got it working in the end.
I can’t praise these enough. They have transformed a frustrating Wi-Fi experience in a large Victorian house into seamless coverage and speed. The best 97 you will spend if you have poor Wi-Fi coverage.
Living in a 4 bedroom home with one bedroom being a loft room and one bedroom being a garage conversion and having Virgin Media as our main Internet provider the odds were definitely against us when it came to having strong and reliable Internet. The Internet frequently disconnected and the speed was awful. Id walk from one room to another carrying out Teams call for work and always lose connection. After doing lots of research I opted for the Deco X55s as the reviews were positive and I didn’t want to spend a fortune. The setup was straightforward with the additional decos literally just needing to be plugged in. The Internet speed has doubled and we’ve had zero disconnects since it has been live – even when moving between floors/rooms. Having a gamer and multiple WiFi devices in the house this has been a godsend. Could not recommend it any more highly.
I recently had Fibre broadband installed. Openreach would only terminate the ONT downstairs in the kitchen. I have a 3 storey house and have previously had a Wifi router connected to FTTC terminating on the middle floor where my study is located. I had to completely rethink my topology!
The Deco system has been setup with wireless back-haul. I am using PPPoE on the main Deco unit to connect to my ISP via the ONT. I have one unit on each floor. The Wifi speed I get when connected to 5Ghz network is generally very close to the ISP speed and the 2.4Ghz network is more than adequate but obviously limited on speed. I also have a Mac connected on the first floor via one of the Gige ports and it runs at the full ISP connection speed and that includes a wireless back-haul hop from the Deco it’s connected to and the main Deco connected to the ONT.
All in all I’m very impressed with how easy it was to setup and the performance I’m getting. My ISP speed is 150Mpbs and most of the time this is available to me with devices that are capable both wired and wireless. I suspect if a much higher speed broadband connection is used the wireless back-haul would start to become a bottleneck and in this situation wired Ethernet via the GigE ports is available. There are 2 on each unit. This may be limiting if you use back-haul on one port and connect the other to the ONT then you’re left with no ports on that unit to connect to your wired LAN. I suspect you can’t back-haul over your LAN but I don’t know.
It doesn’t boast many features but as a basic router/mesh Wifi it seems like a very cost effective and stable solution.
Bought the deco s4 3 pack to fix the Wi-Fi issues I have been having with the Virgin super hub 3 ,cannot believe I didn’t do it sooner ,really easy to install . Fitted 1 deco next to super hub one in the lounge and the other on the landing ,Wi-Fi all over the house even in the garden and no loss of speed what so ever ,in fact a small gain .cannot big these decos up enough Quality !!!!!!
Does what it says on the tin. Not great through walls, so if your house has an odd layout or thick walls this might not be suitable. Took a little while to settle down after installation as it experimented with different mesh configurations, but is now working well. I extended it with a Devolo powerline link to my shed, which works remarkably well.
Living in a g/floor flat surrounded by other flats my signal was bad paid to have fibre optics to help plus sky provided another wi-fi booster still no good , invested in these & I ask myself why did I not do this in the beginning.
Wi-fi is booming no more cutting out , no distortion with video calling absolutely brilliant. Easy to connect 10 mins all done D/L was 20 now 70…Up/L 5 now 20 & crystal clear.
My tv seems to be clearer no signal cut out don’t know if that’s to do with the boosters, but anyway they were well worth the money 5 yrs of misery now perfection .
We had consistent issues in WiFi signal , called Virgin media twice with no luck. Instance the mesh and we can see the speeds add up by 6 times !!
Definitely recommend!! Enjoy streaming
I originally had a standard Virgin wife router hub which did not travel to all parts of my 3-bed home. The router was upstairs and I would often lose signal in a bedroom upstairs and in the dining room I would struggle to get 10mbps and often lose signal altogether.
The Deco S4 is amazing! It gives me a constant signal throughout my home and covers most of my garden too! A wired connection gives me up to 230mbps connection. Wireless I get around 150mbps close to one of the Decos. In the dining room I get a steady 70-90mbps connection now. Brilliant!
The Deco app is great too. I love that you can make a separate guest network very very easily and make up a simple memorable password for them. Honestly, I’m not very tech savvy and I found it easy to set up.
I also love that you can name every connected WIFI device if you want to. This can help you to identify which one of the x3 S4 Decos your devices are connected too.
My only real downside is that I wish you could manually choose which of the x3 S4 Decos you can connect your devices to. For mobile devices this isn’t necessary. But for example with an Alexa echo which stays in one place, mine connects upstairs when I would rather connect it to the one in the same room. Not a massive deal as the signal is good. But to manually choose would be better.
Used this to distribute my Wi-Fi signal though the house after moving provider from Sky. Set up was fairly straight forward although knowing setup answers to questions around security, private networks etc would help. Not sure that my Sky Q box particularly likes its new Deco friend although it does talk to it.
I was introduced to using these by a wi-fi engineer who visited to try to boost my existing signal (well, more accurately, to get it up to somewhere near the speed promised but never delivered by the supplier). He uses and told me about the M4 model, but I found that this S4 verson is an upgrade, and actually a bit cheaper too, if you shop around. I have knocked one star off the signal, because I have found that in certain rooms, well within range of others in the chain (in fact I bought two packs of three, and am currently using five, which all ‘talk to each other’), the transmitted signal is not as good as expected. I’ve knocked two stars off Technical Support’ because the provided documentation is frankly poor for an expensive product, and the on-line information is not as good as it should be either (especially on resolving the above-mentioned issue). On balance, however, I am very pleased with the overall improvement in the signal throughout a quite big house, and the performance is certainly better than from the boosters offered by my previous supplier, .
Easy installation, stable . However, although there is a unit in each floor, still there are spots were signal is week !.
At first in only set up 1 unit and my home network was instantly transformed. No more dead spots, no more random disconnetions from anything more than 2 feet from the router and 100% stability in the 2 weeks since I set it up.
I’ve placed another unit elsewhere in the house now and the third will probably remain a spare as I haven’t needed it so far.
Set up was a breeze. The app guides you through the process which took about 10 minutes. It actually takes longer to update the passwords on all your devices. Setting up the second unit was very easy too.
If you’re battling with poor WiFi these are the things to have. Highly recommended!
Dead easy to set up and immediately turned my SKY signal from awful to awesome.
I work at home from an external brick built shed and get a strong signal with no issues.
My son does online gaming and I have had no more complaints of glitching or dropping out.
We stream a lot of TV and that has worked great, so the wife is happy.
I hesitated for ages to get these and went for it when they dropped to 99.99 but if I had my time again I wouldn’t have waited. Well worth the money.
Update 20/12/22 (not sure this is relevant now, see above, easy to try and revert if applicable) Our Epson printer was intermittent. I discovered it only works on 2.4 Ghz and the Deco doesn’t differentiate. SO.. workaround was to disable wifi on my powerline adapters, disable 5 Ghz on the Deco and my Virgin router, and change the SSID name on my Virgin router so it can be ignored. Now the only signal used is the Deco 2.4 Ghz preventing overlap with Virgin router and all fine. OK not getting 5 Ghz/145 mb in a hot spot but the 2.4 Ghz signal is now visible as much more even, consistent and reliable/strong enough throughout the house.
First attempt:
I initially tried to set our Virgin Hub 3 to modem mode but it wouldn’t work, maybe that method applies to earlier models and I misunderstood. Once I pin reset the router all I had to do was follow the TP app, cable the pod into any port on the router, and give it time to flash blue then carry on following the app. I then plugged my existing TP power line kit into the pod and let it settle down. I then connected the other 2 pods in remote locations. One was not accepted at first but I tried again and it worked. I would suggest leaving the router settings as they are.
Now have much better wifi in former dead spots. Very good in my case. I used the same SSID and password throughout.
Before the TP-link S4 install I had a Virgin Media 350 and Super Hub 3, Split WIFI into a slow 2.4ghz and a fast 5ghz in the main house, a Apple Airport AP in the Garage on a separate SSID and an BT extension WIFI plugin in the Kitchen. (The BT extension was failing often and slow so that’s going back anyway) Albeit I had 4 SSID’s in the house. It worked fine but the 2.4Ghz was painfully slow in the extremes of our 3 bedroom semi detach house giving just 5-15mbps.
So my issue was also I have a lot of 2.4ghz smart devices, Amazon echoes, Tplink Light bulbs, Kasa Smart plugs, all fighting for 2.4ghz bandwidth. I was worried that a joint MESH Wifi SSID may put devices onto this slow signal and I would have no option to swap it on the TP-link S4 app.
Now the install: Simply swap the Virgin Superhub 3 to Modem mode via the login and then Ethernet connect the first Deco Unit and make it the router. This is done all on the superb Deco App, easy to install and then after an initial setup you simply add the other two units via WIFI first. Naming these Living room, Kitchen and Garage they were ready in 5 mins! Next I connected a TP-link 8 port non Managed Blue metal switch to the second ethernet port on the main router and this joined all my wired devices such as the TV and Game console, also ethernet extensions to the Garage for the Second Deco unit and to the kids bedroom PC’s. (8 port switch around 25)
The result? 3 Deco units. The main in the living room connected to a 8 port switch giving 32ping on gaming FPS shooters and online chat fully working (Nat type 2). The Second Deco in the Garage hard wired for a Ethernet backhaul to help with data and then the Third Deco connected via Wifi only in the Kitchen. The SSID? One simple name, one password, WPA2-AES (apple secure) security and speeds of 320Mbps in the Living room, followed by the slowest I could get in the house of 160Mbps! No more 5-15Mbps slow 2.4ghz. My iPhone Wifi App connects on the 5Ghz and runs super fast. The devices mesh the house very well, all my smart devices have so far connected to the 2.4ghz same single SSID and after 3 days I am a happy Dad with children not moaning and a WIFI that when the Wife facetimes her sister and walks around the house she doesn’t have to switch the WIFI SSID or suffer WIFI cut outs!
Worth the offer price of 99? Yes its worth more!. Easy to setup? Yes. It even had a firmware update and much like a famous mobile phone company it installed the update fast and without any issues within 5 mins with a countdown.
I really hope this stays like this, I really hope that in a year or 5 years its still as good as day 1 because this is a number 1 winner. (As a note the S4 is very similar to the M4 and offers 1GB ports, however the E4 has slower 100mb ports)
Hats off to Tp-Link, I have used some of their extenders in the past and they have been rather poor, this is the complete opposite. Superb …. so far.
(Note: We live in a 1978, 3 bedroom Semi detach house with brick walls inside and an attached garage. I might have gotten away with 2 Decos, but at this price why?)
Cheers All
Design:
I purchased the three-set TP-Link S4 Mesh system which meets 100mb+ fibre-optic speeds and up to 4,000 ft coverage/3-5 bedrooms/three-floors. The threes nodes are packaged neatly inside the box, arriving with one ethernet cable to connect your modem and three power cables for each node. TP-Link has done a tremendous job designing the look of this mesh system, discreet and supremely minimalistic. Each node has two ethernet cables that prove essential for your first node if you need to connect other ethernet powered devices like Eufy’s Homebase as one port will already be occupied by connection to your Virgin/Internet router. A small TP-link logo light exists above that surprisingly proves enough symbolism for setting up this whole unit.
Setup:
Setup with your internet router or Virgin HomeHub is made simple and easy for any user through TP-Link’s Deco app but can still be fiddly at first. The first step is to download the Deco App and the subsequent steps are all provided if you follow through on your device. Next, place your internet router/Virgin HomeHub on modem mode. Do not worry, this is fortunately made simple by Virgin, enter 192.168.01 in your browser while connected and login into your router to find the modem setting. If you did not know, the login can be found at the bottom of your HomeHub router. Now click and enable modem mode. Be warned, this now means you can only connect to the hub with an ethernet! (This is all reversible if you’re worried)
With modem mode enabled, use the ethernet cable to connect your first TP-Link Deco node to your HomeHub’s first Ethernet port. If you continue through on the app you should be all connected! If your node gets no internet connection from the HomeHub, I have the solution! I discovered, as the app briefly mentions, you need to turn off and turn on the TP-Link Node and HomeHub router at the same time. This is because when the Homehub is turning on it searches for a router connection and shortly turns off after when not found. Once the first node is set up, enjoy setting up the other two in different ends or levels of the house, using the app again to pair them together.
Connection:
The connection finally reaches full fibre-optic potential around my house. Not only do the three nodes together get signal around every downstairs, from living room, kitchen, garage and garden but also upstairs across multiple bedrooms to maximum speed. I pay for Virgin’s 100Mb connection and easily reach 80Mb to 100Mb+ in all rooms with these nodes. The ping stays below 20ms, the connection being stable all day long.
I long dreamed of connection reaching everywhere, I am so pleased TP Link’s relatively cheap Mesh system resolutely makes this a reality.
Bought these again as the first kit simply wouldn’t connect to the internet no matter what you tried.
Wireless setup – deco talking to each other over wifi….
Great concept but sadly it uses too much of the available bandwidth to stay connected – household with multiple devices like smart tvs, tablets, cameras etc would struggle as it reduces your overall bandwidth which affects the speed.
Ethernet backbone setup – deco talking to each other over Ethernet…
This is by far the best method to connect these units together, with gigabit backbone, you free up your entire wireless bandwidth for devices to use therefore you maximise on your broadband speed over wifi.
This method also will allow you to have more than 3 deco units all over your house – especially houses that aren’t square in shape.
Adding Gigabit Switch….
I am using 2 ethernet 8 port gigabit switch with 2 of the decos – this has allowed me to take fixed devices off the wifi thus freeing up bandwidth for more portable devices like tablets, phones laptops etc.
Fixed devices – tvs, set top boxes, pcs etc.
2.4G & 5G…
5G is the frequency to use as the2.4G has really poor bandwidth & speed, Virgin Media 3.0 Hub gave better speed over 2.4G than these decos. Over the 5G speed test showed full speed provided by Virgin whilst you were in the same room as the deco. Of-course speed will decrease as you distance yourself from the decos.
Make sure you enable Fast Roaming – so you have true seamless experience – as this feature will ensure you devices gets moved from one deco to another seamlessly ensuring you stay connected to wifi.
Beamforming is worth enabling as this ensuring your wifi devices get the most bandwidth from the deco majority of the time. Not sure if this works on all devices.
Be patient & be aware….
The deco units takes time to settle down, as they don’t give you full speed straight away. Probably because of the beamforming tech or some other variable. Earlier speed test were quiet slow, awhen other devices started to come online & deocs were running for hour or so, noticed the speed test were going up in speed until i reached the max speed virgin provided me over wifi.
Where to place them….
Using Ethernet backbone setup -does allow you to place them quiet far apart ensuring you get maximum coverage in your house but be careful that you don’t put them too far apart so you eliminates your seamless mesh wifi bubble – use wifi analyser to see what the wifi is doing & then place them accordingly in your house.
Functions & Features….
Word here is BASIC – there isn’t even a option to separate your wifi frequencies e.g. 2.4g & 5G being advertised as 2 wifi’s; so choose which you connect to rather than deco deciding it for you.
Also there is no feature to select wifi channels, which is a huge drawback. Not all places in a house will have same channel behaving equally, therefore having the ability to select a channel is needed. So you can select the best channel for the area where each deco is placed.
App…
Really easy & simple to use app that anyone can use, it gives really good insights on which deco a device/s is/are connected to & how much bandwidth they are consuming. Also monthly report is good overall view of connected devices & bandwidth used.
You can also control the deco via the apps from remote location, so you can both monitor & control settings including blocking devices & rebooting decos etc.
It is also, very easy to create Guest networks and you can have multiple admins on the apps, allowing multiple adults to have control.
Parental control is really stupid in all honesty & takes ages to setup up & it not intelligent at all – therefore I didn’t bother setting it up.
Are these worth buying….
Yes they are IF you use the Ethernet backbone setup otherwise, these are hit n miss depending on your house & environment e.g. some houses are thicker walls which WILL have a affect on the wireless range & performance.
Verdict…
If you have a big house or house with extension or thicker walls, these are a must have when using ethernet back bone setup – whilst the product is great & it simply works & performs well – I just can’t give it 5*’s as it doesn’t have basic options like separating wifi frequencies & be able to select wifi channels.
Only had issues once with speeds but that was during the extreme heat in August not sure if the overhead cable was affected. Rebooted the actual BT ONT box and speeds were back to normal. The seamless transition between moving in the house works well. It shows you if there have been any attempted attacks which are blocked (only my son’s devices )
If any new device is added and I am not home I get notifications whether I am on a different wi-fi network or using the phone data network.
NOTE: I HAVE ONLY GIVEN TECH SUPPORT ONE STAR BECAUSE I HAVE NOT HAD THE NEED TO USE IT. SO THAT SHOULD REALLY BE NEUTRAL. I CAN’T GIVE IT ANY MORE STARS AS I HAVE NOT USED IT SO CAN’T SAY HOW WELL THEIR TECH SUPPORT IS.
I was sceptible at first as it has only one additional Lan port but having read many reviews, watching youtube videos I decided to go for the TP Link X20 – 3 Pack.
Great things is the its Wi-Fi 6 which 2 of my devices utilise, also allows seemless transition from one router to another when moving through the house.
I don’t live in a huge house, its a terraced house from the 1930s however there were a few dead zones, whether its down to the thick walls or some other reason. In addition to the 3 pack, i also purchased a 5 port switch as i did have a few devices which i prefer to be hard wired, such a Playstation and also nVidia shield to stream 4k content from Netflix etc
Set up is really easy, just download the Deco app, connect the one unit first to the modem (i have virgin media which i switched to modem mode) it recognised a connection did an update, allowed me to set up a password etc and then asked if i wanted to add another router, went to the bedroom connected the second device, followed the instructions and device recognised and updated – and repeated the same for the 3rd unit too. Note you only have to set up password, settings once for the first hub, router and the others just coppy the details. You then select an option on the app to allow for seaming connection which is meant to keep you connected on the network if you are moving from one floor to another
I am due to change by internet provider from Virgin to the new BT fibre 900mb and I have been told that it should be as simple as plugging the network cable that currently goes into the virgin router into the modem / hub thing that BT install for their new fibre. I won’t know this for sure until the end of March.
The security built in gives you updates and also notify’s you of potential or attempted attacks from external sources via the net and so far protected. You can manage devices and allow parental locks for children devices.
Great router, no issues, easy set up.
Mesh networking, I was late to the party having struggled with multiple routers, bandwidth controls, multiple WiFi networks was a revelation. I’m more than capable with networking, flashing custom router roms, setting up parential controls, QoS, VLANs….. but sometimes you just want a network that works and not have to touch it, I’ve better things to be spending my time on.
Enter TP-Link Deco, it just works. The setup process is via smartphone app, it detects its way to the internet all by itself and you are pretty much done. Parental controls are pretty good, allowing on/off (bedtimes) per person and some lightweight website filtering. Essentially you can name all your devices that connect to the network and assign each of them an ‘owner’, these ‘owners’ are then parentally controlled, i.e. all devices for that owner will have the same behaviours.
QoS is very simple, but enough. This is ‘per device’. Essentially you set the devices you want to have ‘high-priority’, this might be the living room TV, or (as in my case) my work PCs.
If you are a technical user wanting control of every aspect of your WiFi, this kit is not for you. You cannot set channels, channel bandwidths, transmit power or barely any ‘advanced’ settings.
It’s not perfect, here’s a few flaws:
1) Devices are registered and assigned by MAC address. Both iOS and Android devices in their latest guises have ‘randomised’ MACs, which can play havoc. It shouldn’t as these MACs are supposed to stay constant per WiFi network, I do however have 1 rogue Android device that picks a new MAC everytime. Your kids may also know how to ‘spoof’ MAC address to circumvent parental controls. It would be nice if new MACs (aka new devices) were blocked by default on the network.
2) There is no dedicated backhaul (this involves a WiFi channel dedicated for node to node conversation). My internet speeds are less than 70Mbps, the lack of a dedicated backhaul makes little or no difference to me as the WiFi speeds far outstrip my internet speed. If your requirements are less internet connectivity, but more local network communication, this might be more important to you.
3) Existing DSL Modem/Routers present some difficulty. No real fault of the Deco, but if you have an existing DSL modem/router setup isn’t really done without some fiddling. You essentally need to ‘dumb down’ you existing modem/router a) It’s WiFi really shouldn’t be on b) It musn’t be a DHCP server. Some modem/routers offer a ‘bridge mode’, which essentially turns them into a modem only – this is ideal, then you input your ISP login into your Deco. You ‘can’ put the Deco into access point mode, downside here is you loose parental controls and other features that you only get when the deco is in router mode. If your existing router is still acting as a router, everthing will still work, it’s just you get a double-hop out of your network – for the non-techical this might be a 5 MILLISECOND delay (not that you would notice). The potentally bigger issue with this double-hop is for gamers, especially if inbound traffic cannot get back, here you can put your Deco in the DMZ of your exisiting router.
None of this should put you off the Deco, technically it is brilliant, I’ve been montoring its WiFi behaviour over some time, and its incredibly sophisticated under the covers, optimising the node configuration for maximum performance and stability.
For most people it will just work out of the box,
1) One single WiFi network identity throughout your home
2) Seamless roaming as mobile devices move around the house
3) Simple ‘app’ based control and monitoring
It’s the best investment I’ve made in WiFi hardware for years.