TP-Link Deco P9 Whole Home Powerline Mesh Wi-Fi System, Up
TP-Link Deco P9 Whole Home Powerline Mesh Wi-Fi System, Up to 6000 Sq ft Coverage, Dual-Band AC1200+HomePlug AV1000, Gigabit Ports, Compatible with Amazon Echo/Alexa, limited walls impact, Pack of 3
From the brand
AV1000 Gigabit Powerline Kit
- HomePlug AV2 Standard – high-speed data transfer rates of up to 1000 Mbps
- Gigabit port
- Up to 300 Meters
| Weight: | 2 kg |
| Dimensions: | 9.1 x 9.1 x 19 cm; 2 Kilograms |
| Brand: | TP-Link |
| Model: | Deco P9(3-pack) |
| Colour: | White |
| Batteries Included: | No |
| Manufacture: | TP-Link |
| Dimensions: | 9.1 x 9.1 x 19 cm; 2 Kilograms |
After much frustration, and many hours of trying to find a suitable unit and trying to understand various technical conversations (by email only it seems), I found these units. We have thick walls, in a long, old cottage, so nothing else of similar type was working. I tried two other TP Link options before this, and just nothing worked, but these P9s work almost perfectly.
I live in an old tenement flat with very thick, stone walls. I had previously tried a wifi extender power socket but this hadn’t worked great and my 50mbps connection fell to 7mbps in my bedroom.
I set up the TP-link deco and have been very impressed. I ended up only needing to set up two of them – one connected to the router and one in my hall. I now get close to 50mbps in my bedroom with no noticeable lag.
I had heard so much about ( Mesh ) over the years compared to a Router that I had to try it out and boy was I surprised. It is so easy to set up and use and it has cleared up all of my dead spots in the house and I can even go to the end of my 50 foot garden and still get my WiFi signal. the best job I have done in ages.
My home has very think brick internal walls. A nightmare for wifi. I have a 1 Gb connection. I had wifi basically in 1 room. It dropped of to between 2 and 4mb in the rest of the house. Tried those wifi boosters and that helped. Got up to 18mb in the rest of the house. Installed these today. WOW. I now have 300Mb in the rest of the house. I know that’s no where near the 1Gb but it’s fantastic improvement. Should have got this ages ago. 20 min to set it all up with the app.
I’m using this in a house with thick walls and this has resolved the signal issue.
bought this to improve my virgin media broadband signal which it did but also I don’t have interrupting times anymore, I recommend this
Easy to set up.Love the parental control. App is very intuitive. Wired backhaul maximises speed. WiFi distance is good
To be honest I wasn’t too hopeful that the TP-Link kit would make much difference. But I didn’t want to buy one of those awful looking ‘spaceship’ wifi routers with huge aerials, so I thought I’d give it a go as it seemed pretty good value.
Well I have to say they’ve exceeded my expectations and then some! There are no dead spots any more and the speed is maxed out everywhere, even out into the garden. Definitely a recommendation from me, I couldn’t be happier!
Drops a star because you may think that all devices just work with this mesh network and alls good, it’s doesn’t. Ring doorbells, Alexa devices and some solar energy devices stuggle to connect and stay connected. So loses a star for that.
I’ve had these for a few weeks now and since I set them up I haven’t experienced one WiFi drop out. I bought them as every so often I was disconnected from the internet or more truthfully the WiFi disconnected, went off for a while then reconnected. In the end I decided to go with a WiFi mesh, this TP-Link set up works very well, was easy to setup and a very good price. I can highly recommend this TP-Link Mesh.
A few issues during initial setup but these were cured once I disabled the wifi from my BT Smart Hub 2. Now have uniform coverage throughout our 70’s built three bedroomed bungalow, including my garage/workshop. Early days (installation was completed two days ago) but so far so good. The app allows very easy monitoring of the system.
Brilliant device , I wanted Wi-Fi for my shed so I could watch football in peace , it’s over 75 meters from my house and I get a full signal with 40 gb , no buffering . Runs all devices in the house with ease .
Brought these to help out with our Internet black spots where our virgin media hub 4 couldn’t reach and they work great we now have WiFi all around our house with improved speeds aswell
Wanted a mesh system to replace a bt smart hub and 3 disk set up to try and improve speeds and stability.
Yes it’s a cost but with my wfh and streaming requirements, this is great.
Really easy to get up and running. Having this linked to a draytek modern I am now seeing the speeds I thought I should have had through BT, and it’s a lot more stable as I have over 50 devices connected and see nearly max speeds everywhere in the house.
I had a deco M9 plus, but it never see to get to more than 400mb speed. But this Deco X60 delivers the same speed as my router gives out, 1130mb top recorded speed, which is much better.
After years of patchy and unstable WiFi, the TP-Link Deco S7 AC1900 Whole Mesh Wi-Fi System has solved the problem. Very pleased with the product.
Easy to setup and provides a house wide WiFi signal. Also has ability to plug in ethernet cables to mesh units for any devices without WiFi.
Good stable signal. App allows for WiFi optimisation if needed.
Overall I’m very happy with it.
Very easy to setup and was expecting it to be difficult. But these work really well and I work fulltime in networking dept. Connected to a spare switch port which is connected through the house back to the virgin hub router. Made a new ssid for these deco’s and connected the other 2 to the main unit via wifi. Left my existing virgin router also broadcasting existing ssid in case needed. These deco’s seamlessly allow mobiles, ipads etc to connect automatically throughout the house to the nearest deco.
Very easy for anyone to setup.
Performance is great and reasonably priced.
I have the TP-Link AV600 (power line) but it’s been dropping off recently in the external office. So I tried the above and those worked perfectly. I have one next to the router upstairs that is in the middle of the house. the next one is downstairs by the window around 10 meters away. The third is about another 9 meters from the second (almost 17 meters from the router) and it’s working perfectly.
Easy set up and works well throughout my home. I have a solid walled house and with the correct placement I now have strong Wi-Fi signal in every room, whereas before a few rooms didn’t have any signal at all.
Installed unit next to the router (bedroom upstairs) with another device in living room and another one in the kitchen.
They took about 10 mins to set up all units.
I now have 250mbps all over the house and the garden which is excellent, I am so pleased with this mesh system.
Lastly the app is great it guides you through set up and the features to control the units are great, I would recommend this product to anyone, a great buy.
I have had this mesh system for nearly 3 years now and about once per year it needs resetting, which takes a while. Apparently it’s normal, but they have offered a replacement if it happens any more often. While it’s not ideal having to reset it, and I hope new models won’t require it, I have been very pleased with the customer support received. This morning Dylan and Tyrone painstakingly guided me through the process of recreating my home network, not that easy for a non-tech mind. They were patient and often thanked me for my patience too. They called me back exactly when they said they would and I finally have internet and can get on with my WFH. Phew!
Initial impression – The Velop comes in an “Apple esque” smart box with magnetic closures and a ribbon tag with the name on it. The Deco comes in a normal but presentable cardboard box. Easily recyclable and adequate for the job. They both have (UK) plug mounted power supplies, but the Velops are so wide that they block the use of the adjacent sockets on plugblocks or the on/off switches on normal double sockets.
Both use the mandatory mobile app to set the systems up. The Velop app does seem to offer more functionality than the Deco, not sure if it is all useful, but the Deco app is more responsive to commands and more logical. The Velop app seems to take ages to make any changes and at one point indicated that the operation I was performing would take up to 6 minutes! No such problem with the Deco app.
I had both systems setup with one node connected to my broadband and the other two ‘wirelessly’ connected.
Once setup the Deco system works just as you would expect it to. Mobile devices seamlessly transitioning from one node to another as they move around. My broadband is 270Mbps and I can get that speed from anywhere in the house now. Which I was unable to get from the Velop system with the nodes located in the same places round the house.
Spent several hours trying to get the Velop system to work properly with its default setting and messing with its advance settings. It didn’t transition my mobile devices to the strongest signal and the speed suffered.
Setting up the Deco system took less than 20 minutes. Wish I had bought the Decos first.
I consider myself IT literate as I work in the industry and have no connection with or previous experience with either brand.
Only issue I have had is iPhone freezing on certain websites, but this could be an iOS issue. I use my Wi-Fi for work VCs every day and it’s rock solid for that. No problems with speed. App has needed a few resets but now working well. Positioning of nodes is important, best to put them close for any updates then move to desired location afterwards. Replacement for Tenda mw6 which had a unstable rubbish app by comparison. Units look good.
its app driven rather than a full piece of software which is annoying
it links the 2.4 and 5 signals together and i still havnt found a way to move then which means that soem older IOT devices cant see it properly . the powerline and settup of these devices is easy even though its app driven and it covers a 3 storey house in total with no issues and even covers a garden and front garden to roughly 300 feet as well … its a 1 stop shop that is simple to install and setup , I woudl not usze it as a primary router as the config for the router is rather poor so just plug this into and existign router ans switch the wifi off on the router . Could do with a decent web interphase and a Full software config ratehr than an app .
They’re pretty compact and easy to set up, and tbh the range on just one of them seemed to be a big improvement on my last tp-link router I had, 100% better than your standard virgin router. I have two out of the three set up and link them with a cable for better speeds. (you can link them wirelessly though). They are working well and rarely get any internet issues if any.
Software wise: its simple to use and has some control features on it, not as many as my previous router, but you can set up guest networks, name devices and categorise them. You can add parental controls and group devices allowing times and access rights. I do like that you can get notifications when a device joins your network.
My only gripe with them really is the amount of ports (2) in the back of them. If you link the two together for faster performance, then both ports are used in the first deco and only one is spare in the second. Once my hive system is plugged in you can’t port in anything else. Probably not a big issue and you can get a switch box, but just another would have been useful.
For the price I got them for they’ve been a good solution, standards are changing all the time and these will no doubt be out of date now. I didn’t need 3 of these so if you’re house isn’t big you can just buy the single for a big improvement on your wifi coverage.
With the main deco unit in the living room on ground floor, booster unit on middle floor hallway, and a final unit in the office on the top floor, I’m getting about 200mb up top now. Thats not amazing, but it’s consistently twice as good at least. We also have perfect coverage all over the house for all the other devices which is the business.
So basically, these can be used in series to reach far away locations. The speed achieved is pretty good, albeit not amazing. Setup was simple. There is an app, and you do need it to get going unfortunately. But it’s actually a really good app and no issues registering an email or anything like that. Stress free.
Going to upgrade the pc WiFi card to WiFi 6 next and hoping for another speed boost. Happy days anyway, pricey, but happy with the purchase.
Now previously we had TP wifi extenders on 2.4 & 5G.
So original Virgin hub plus 2 extenders ment 5 possible networks to switch from, depending on device (wifi plugs only 2.4G) room and signal strength. So a real ball ache if you were moving from room to room, while on a video call it would drop out.
So now you know the situation here comes the TP Deco x60…..
Quick Google and the Virgin hub is now a router only (4 min).
TP Deco App downloaded start setup of the Deco and the network 1st Deco (8 min), connect 3 devices (2 min) set up 2nd Deco (4 min) add 2 devices in kitchen (2 min) walk to the man cave add 2 devices and 2 plugs (5 min), go upstairs add 3rd Deco (3 min) add laptop, printer and 4 other devices (5 min).
Wander round testing speeds via the Deco App (5 min)…. Added 3 more devices (2 min) now I never had to change network, and signal is great throughout and there is plenty of bandwidth.
Units were simple to set up and I’m no techno wizz and managed 3 Decos and 15+ devices in 45 min. The ultimate was when the when the Mrs came home and I added her phone in 30 seconds.
None of us have had to swap networks it is seamless signal is great.
My only moan would be 2 things…
1st I wish the app would help you find the best spots to put the next Deco.
2nd I wish that it was easier to identify the type of device so I can set up profiles for the kids.
So in short easy to set up, single network, great signal strength and bandwidth, and the App is cool.
Bought this on black Friday so got a great saving
However, there is one aspect of the mesh router that I find mislead in marketing.
This router is marketed to have Powerline technology built in as a back bone of its mesh technology. So in short instead of relying on WiFi signals between the devices to keep the connection (and potentially reducing the bandwidth that is allocated to actual devices such as phones, tablet, etc), you can use the existing electrical wiring of the house to carry the signal to each other.
Now I thought this would be great for my house since I already utilise powerline. So idea was to use the mesh router near my modem as a injection device and use existing powerline hub around the house.
Well. That didn’t work. Turns out, while the mesh router does have powerline capability, it’s not compatible with other devices. So in sense it can talk to themselves using powerline technology.
It might have been me simply not reading carefully, or someone else might have asked this question on amazon before. But a warning regarding this would have been nice.
Also as a side note. Android app kept crashing so I ended up installing the app on my ipad.
We live in a 3 bed Victorian terrace (London) using SKY Q as our broadband provider. Internet speed test (c.30 download, c.7 upload) check your speed for free by typing “speed test” into Google.
Internet okay downstairs but is choppy upstairs (sometimes download drops to 7!) and sometimes signal falls out.
This has been a real problem regards working from home. Video calls have been horrific at times, loading software, opening emails, internet searches.. Urgh. No explanation, just some days it works ok (not fine just ok) but sometimes everything is slow (very). Yes, I’m aware of actions to do, switching off every night, resetting sky box etc. but these have not fixed the problem.
So.. I looked into this lots – wifi extenders, or this – a mesh system with “power line” backup.
First off, just plugging a single unit into the sky box made an immediate difference (I don’t know why but it did). Noticeably different – speed tests upstairs were better, connection stable, video streaming and calls whilst using multiple devices.
I did set up the other two units anyway just incase as the box came with 3 units.
Setup, really simple, and took no longer than 20mins.
Performance – wow. (Re. Powerline – I should add we had our house rewired last year so electrics are good and circuits are clear – but as stated earlier, our internet performance worked with just one unit).
So 150.. but given our change in performance (and what it has meant for productivity) and the simplicity of setup – more than happy.
I have tried other devices in the past (Apple airport express, wifi extenders) none have worked as well as this.
Delighted.
///
Update July 2023.
These are now disappointing. Why?
Regular drop out, despite standing next to the unit and the app is not helpful nor is the support.
I don’t know why these have stopped being useful, nothing changed but we were so fed up with our internet and service we switch provider and ditched these also.
Keep in mind if your provider is not great, then these won’t make a difference.
FWIW we were with Sky but service was abysmal despite being on the premium package. Regular throttling and slower speeds than advertised so we switched to a proper fibre broadband and no longer need these units
I love the app that come with it.
I love the flexibility it gives me.
I love the ease of setup (when i was not playing around and followed the instructions it went right!)
Disappointed by the web interface and what you can do it. (not much)
Disappointed in the signal strength. (read below)
Disappointed by the 1g ethernet connection on back. Assumed they would be 2.5GB at least but no, only 1GB
I have a 3 bed 1900 (ish) iron-brick house. Although i picked it up everywhere (better than broadband supplied router with extenders) I still had low signal in the places i wanted it to be good. Even with 3 of them i found cold spots (not dead) where buffering happened and lag become noticeable. After 3 months of frustration and disappointment (where i considered sending them back) i decided to hit the credit card and by 3 more x60’s, that where on offer at the time (amazon flash deal).
So now i have 6 of them (probably could have done with 5), I’m happy as a pig in mud 🙂
Zero cold spots in the house and can still pick up signal from 20m away outside of house (neighbours must love me) so garden streaming/zoom/facetimes have been done without issues.
Speed is relative when compare to a bottle neck of a internet connection which is always going to be your slowest part unless you go to a 1gig link.
I’ve backboned 3 of them together as a test and found 2 of my 4/8 port switches didn’t work (HP and Netgear). Lucky enough I recently brought a tp-link gig 5port switch which did. lots of talk on internet about it but in the end its a “try and see” if yours works or not if your going to cable backbone them. But buy/budget for a new tp-link switch if you want to cable backbone from day one. Cable backbone’ing is automatic although you need to setup as wi-fi backbone first (which it does automatically during setup). Then connect up the ethernet from switch and the x60’s will do the rest by itself.
Be warned though , it’s not instant. Took mine 5-10min before it switched over to cable backbone. Might have been because I was confusing the hell out of it… plugging it in and then unplugging it, trying to figure out why the hell it didn’t switch over….
Overall i love it and cant really fault the devices directly. If you can cable them up, you save yourself a lot of money from the triband x90’s. have 42 devices (on last count) on the network and it not even registering as being taxed/ overworked…
Also if you have a modern (non-metal ore brick work) 3 should do you. If you do the expect to get a few more or the (sale pitched) more powerful and expensive x90’s (if your stuck on TP Link, other WIFI6 MESH systems are available…)
Also Also – TP-Link love and i mean really LOVE your “Network Optimisation” option. Who needs wifi sniffer and a IT networking degree / compta+ network, when you can push of a button on the deco app, which then sniffs and configures best channels for you x60’s for optimal performance, if it registers conflicting /noisy wifi channels. (i’ve tested this with a sniffer because i’m sad i know. It does exactly do what it says on the app button!).
The biggest problem is that these aren’t compatible with D-Link ethernet switches (ethernet multi-socket adapters). I use my X60s in Access point mode. The first two installs went smoothly, but the final one not only took out wifi on all 3 deco’s, it also caused a network storm which killed my worked network too. Turns out the final Deco was plugged into a D-Link switch. Swapped that for another brand and everything returned to normal. To be fair, this issue is highlighted on the Deco website but that’s not easy to see when your network has fallen over.
The following aren’t issues – just handy things to know:
– You can’t install your first Deco as an access point. You need to set it up as a router (just accept all the suggested settings) and then use “advanced options” to switch it to access point mode. You also can’t set it up using an SSID which already exists nearby, but you can edit the SSID afterwards to match your old system
– It forces you to use the same SSID for 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz bands, to allow for optimal band switching. That has worked fine on all my kit – even old smart plugs etc. But it does mean that some things (Amazon Fire stick etc) needed to be reconnected to the network using the new details. That included two inaccessible webcams, which I feared I’d need to run a cable to to alter their settings. But instead, you can set up a guest Network on the Deco using your old SSID, connect to you webcam (or whatever) and point it at the new SSID). Then switch off the guest network.
As you can probably tell, I already had a system with a central router (BT Home Hub 2) and some dumb access points which were wired in. So I am using the X60’s as access points and they do have ethernet backhaul. So I do get great speeds and none of the issues with wifi backhaul. For me, the advantages were – faster wifi connection (I get about 350MBs in an area that used to be 220MBs). And better handoff between access points as I walk around the house. For example, I play podcasts on my phone through my Sonos system, which would fail if my phone switched to a different access point, but now works well.
Not a cheap solution but I expect to have them for some time and getting WiFi6 means they are future proof.
It does exactly what it says on the tin. It covers your entire home with a stable full speed Broadband coverage and no dead spots. Be ready to set up a new WiFi Network and password that will work with your new TP-Link Deco units. (so you will need to change Network and Password for all your connected devices and appliances). Your old router will no longer be in use (although see note below). As the name suggests, each of the Deco units mesh together to provide one seamless WiFi network throughout your home. You can add as many Deco units as you need, and you can connect up to 100 devices. As well as providing WiFi, each Deco unit is also equipped with 2 ethernet ports. Set up is very straightforward, just download the Deco App onto your device (phone or tablet) and follow the on screen instructions. Once you have the main Deco unit connected to your existing modem (ethernet cable supplied), you can add other Deco units throughout your home wherever you need them. This review relates to the Powerline Mesh system which provides additional connectivity by using the electric wiring circuitry in your home. Useful if you have lots of obstacles or thick walls in your home. This next bit is for Virgin Media customers. If your existing Broadband is with Virgin Media, and like me you had one room (where your hub is) with superfast broadband and the rest of your house was next to useless, then TP-Link Deco P9 Mesh system is for you. As one other reviewer said, this is what Virgin Media should be like. But here is the word of caution if you also have your TV with Virgin. Many people will say to you to switch your existing Hub to “modem only” mode, so that the Deco unit takes over the sole job of router in your home. Well I did that and got into a lot of difficulty. If you have a V6 cable TV box, it needs to continue to receive its broadband signal from the Virgin Media Hub (either through ethernet cable or WiFi). You will lose that signal if you switch your Hub to “modem only”. (Note: The Ethernet ports on the Hub are supposed to continue to work in “modem only” mode, but they don’t). To my knowledge, a V6 cable box will not work connected to another provider’s router (such as TP-Link). But don’t quote me on that. Also, for apps such as “Virgin TV Go” and “TV Control” to continue to work with your V6 box, they must also connect to the Virgin Hub. So, all of that said, I put my Virgin Media Hub back to “router mode” – so essentially I now have two WiFi signals in my home. And so far I have had no difficulties. The router from the Virgin Hub is used for the V6 box and its controls only, whilst the rest of the house basks in the wonderful WiFi of the Deco Mesh. Job done !
This sounds complicated, but once I realised what was needed it was just a case of trusting the app walkthrough, which does make sense. This involves picking a new name for your Deco ‘network’ and choosing a password.
This is what you will use later to connect devices to your service via wi-fi.
Once this is done, you can start adding deco units. You can name each unit, so I picked the locations they would end up in.
Each took around 2-3 minutes and I did this next to my Virgin Media Hub, to keep the setup signal strong. This was probably unnecessary but I do this out of habit.
I then moved the units to each place in my house (next to original router, extension and upstairs landing). The one nearest the original hub must be connected by an included cable. This is the ‘main’ hub as this receives the incoming broadband signals and shares them with the two others.
I then logged into my Virgin Media hub and placed it into Modem Mode. This is a fancy way of saying ‘don’t use me for wi-fi, just the connection to the Virgin Media network.
This prevents signals from the Virgin Hub interfering with the Deco Units.
Note: if you need to log into the Virgin Media router once in Modem Only mode, you will need to connect a laptop or Pc to it with a cable, open a browser window and type into the address bar: 192.168.0.1 or reset it.
Everything was connecting seamlessly, but when I got to an older camera and smart lightbulb, they initially did not connect.
I know this is because they do not like a combined 5G and 2.4G signal (which is what the Deco’s produce).
There is an easy fix. On the app, you can set up a guest network and once this is created (again picking a name and password), you can toggle off the 5G signal (leaving the 2.4G signal for this guest account) and these older devices then connected as expected (as log as you pick the guest account during set-up).
We have no more dead spots or buffering and all parts of the house are now covered.
A bonus is that you can assign a profile to connected devices, so my kids devices were added to a profile of their own. Then I could block adult content and set time-limits, or turn off wi-fi for their iPads at a set time (so no late night surfing sessions on school nights).
I am really happy I went for the P9 system as it uses power lines (mains) in the house to do some of the data transfer, meaning you are more likely to have a better faster connection.
If you are going to spend over 100 on a mesh system, save a bit more and pay for the power line P9 devices.
I never used tech support so I could not really comment, so I gave 4 stars as I cannot be sure they are 5 stars.
First and foremost I am not connected with TP Link in any way but I had to say the following comments to help other out.
I have bought various Netgear range extenders and so called WiFi boosters from various companies in the ever growing attempt to cover all of our house with glorious WiFi coverage but alas to no avail have I ever succeeded………Until now that is.
One word describes the TP-Link P9 units and that is OUTSTANDING!!!!.
Items are so easy to setup and wow what coverage you get. (Additional deco units can be added at any point at the touch of a button though the app but don’t think you going to need them unless you have a 8 bedroom mansion and even then I think it would cope).
We had various dead zones around the house the usual places conservatory and one of the bedrooms bathroom garage etc and you could forget it out in the garden that was a 4G area only.
We now have total coverage all over the house and a 3 bar signal in EVERY room, no drop off at all and best of all we now have our garden covered as well, bare in mind it is 75ft from the back of our house to the bottom of the garden and still it gives 3 bars with 56mbps download from a 75mbps fibre service.
I have totally deactivated the WiFi from our plus net home hub One as the Deco units handle it better and apparently it is better this way as your home hub can cause conflicts with the signal.
I have run a few tests 1 included overkill on the network running 16 smart items in our house at the same time including 3 wireless cctv cameras, 2 smart TVs, 4 Alexas streaming music, 3 iPhones playing videos, 2 laptops running Skype video calls and 2 tablets streaming video and at NO POINT did any of them lag, buffer or disconnect, I was absolutely stunned if I am honest and nothing has come close to this for me EVER.
App is so easy to use with quick buttons to parental settings which are so easy to set up, it also shows you all the things connected to the deco units and how much bandwidth they are using. You can easily toggle 5GHz and 2.4GHz settings on and off, monthly reports etc etc the list goes on.
You can also prioritise certain items on the network to have more bandwidth than others.
Another nice Touch is the guest network you can create with just the click of a button and share it with friends Via messenger, text message even airdrop it, for example at a party just shake your smart phone and it asks you which network you want to share and how then when they all leave just turn it off and they are disconnected……. how simple is that.
Would just like to add what a wonderful looking product it is as well not to big at about 9″ high and blends in seamlessly with our other furniture.
WELL DONE TP-Link for designing an outstanding product that actually does what it claims it will do.
Hope this helps people out that are in 2 minds about this product DONT it’s bloody fantastic.
Setup was pretty straight forward i used the steps outlined by another reviewer and it worked pretty well i did have to reset one of the P9s again and then it worked.
Dropout has been acceptable but its not been faultless signal has dropped 3 or 4 times over the last month since i have got it, two of these days was when virgin was having issues across the country.
Overall the P9 has significantly improved the range of wifi across my house, previously i was struggling with 1 bar in the bedroom but this has bumped it up the Max in all the rooms. I even get a signal 50ft away in the garden at 1 bar whereas before i would have gotten nothing.
i have included his steps below
I set up Deco as router and put Virgin Hub3 as modem only, which is the default recommended setup.
Setup quick and easy if right sequence is followed, so for benefit of those who may do it in future………..
1. MOST importantly, do the pinhole reset on your Virgin Hub3 by 20 sec+ press on pin hole button just below lowermost ethernet port on back of Hub. This resulted in an improvement of my router speed tested with laptop connected to lowest ethernet port on Hub. It will restart as router with WiFi as default from Virgin.
2. Connect to Hub interface by typing address 192.168.0.1 in browser. Use password (8 digits) on bottom of hub. This is not the same as your WiFi password.
Select ‘Modem Mode’ and tick modem mode box and accept. Note if you do not have a computer to connect by ethernet to the hub then you would have to pinhole reset to return to Router mode with WiFi from hub.
Allow the Hub to reboot into modem mode…..it is complete when only magenta light is showing at base. Any other ethernet cables you have connected to hub will now not be getting any signal as it has lost it’s router function. Only the lowermost ethernet port will be active in Modem mode. I confirmed that modem mode was active by getting full advertised speed of 547 Mb/sec with laptop connected via ethernet cable.
4. Kill power and reboot Hub3 again…it will go into modem mode with the magenta light on.
5. Kill power on Hub…..begin TpLink sequence
6. Make sure Deco app is installed on your phone and you have registered an account. Connect Deco disk to be used as router to lowest ethernet port on hub by Cat6 ethernet cable or better. I did not use the bundled cable with the deco set because no markings on it so was not sure of performance. Got 5 Cat7 cables for around 10 on Prime. Connect power source to Deco and plug in. At this point Hub 3 is still OFF with no power.
7. Follow steps on Deco app on your phone until blue flashing light appears on your Deco. The Deco app will then find the Deco disk. AT THIS POINT POWER UP HUB3 and let it go into modem mode. It is very important to have deco connected to Hub and in blue flashing mode when you power up the Hub3.
8. Hub 3 will start in Modem mode and Deco will get internet signal from Hub modem and create WiFi network.
At this point you are invited to name your network and create password. If you intend to use same credentials as your original Virgin WiFi network it would be best to delete it from your phone so that the TpLink app can establish the connection for you as a new network . All your other devices with the saved credentials will connect automatically as before.
9. Take your other 2 Deco disks to their desired locations and follow steps for adding a new Deco until they show green lights.
So I decided to switch to a mesh system to replace the VM Wifi completely. As we’ve got a few areas in the house that are hard to reach and over three floors, I was holding out for a mesh with a Powerline option. As this was in the sale, I took the plunge.
Set up was ok, although I needed to create a TP-Link account which seemed a bit OTT. Anyway, getting all three units set up was actually pretty painless via the app on my iPhone. The main issue I had was actually with how the VM router was set up. If your a VM customer, please take note of the following:
For a while, I had it set up in parallel to the new Deco network. While everything worked, I had the occasional issue with some devices getting lost or not being able to connect properly. So I decided to switch the VM Hub into “modem mode”. What was supposed to happen was the VM Hub is now just providing Internet and DHCP and the Deco the Wifi/connectivity. However, everything fell apart. Any device connected to the Deco didn’t have internet or might not connect.
Turns out, the VM Hub will only work properly if you connect your new network (in this case, the Deco) into ethernet port 1. As I had the Deco plugged into port 4, nothing seemed to work right. As soon as the Deco was plugged into port 1, everything sprung back to life. Found this out by trial and error, save yourself a few hours.
Since then, Wifi and connectivity, in general, has been faultless. My TV and VM TV box are plugged into the ethernet ports on a Deco unit and we’ve not had any issues watching any streaming services like we used to. Every other device on the wifi works perfectly and every blackspot has been eliminated. Sonos no longer randomly vanishes. No dropouts. Speed is consistent. It just works, which I’m pleased about.
If your a VirginMedia customer and are experiencing issues with your Wifi connection, then I highly recommend you consider checking out this product, or a product like this. It will improve your connection no end.
As for the Deco, it works just fine. The features with the system are pretty basic, but it’s not an issue as it’s a major step up from what we had. One thing I would like to see is detail on the Powerline, there is nothing in the app to indicate if powerline is being used, or the backhaul is pure wifi. However, as mentioned, as it just works, it’s no biggie.
I’ve been suffering slow patchy coverage and internet drop outs with my Virgin Media hub 3, connected to an Archer AC1900 router via powerline adapters. My Virgin router was upstairs in modem mode, and my Archer AC1900 router downstairs. This set up was less than satisfactory with a loss off internet speed as I move around the house and internet drop outs two or three times a day. This is a particular problem as I have Ring cameras that need a stable connection. My house is a sixties built larger than average semi with sound proofing in the walls and ceilings which adds to the problem.
I bought the TP-Link Deco P9 Powerline Mesh system in the Black Friday deal for 169.00. It was incredibly easy to set up. All I had to ensure was that my router was in modem mode (just a tick in a box when I logged into the admin page of my Virgin Hub 3). The Admin credentials were on a sticker on the bottom of the router. It will save you a bit of time if you download the Deco app first and create a TP-Link account. You’ll need this to set the TP-Link devices up from your phone. Once this was done I connected one P9 device to my Virgin Hub via an Amazon Basics Cat 6 Ethernet cable. The app walked me through set up which was just a case of connecting to the device and following the on screen instructions, and then changing the default SSID name and creating a new password. Once set up is complete it’s a short wait until the light on the top of the unit turns white and the unit is now operational. The first device was upstairs near the Virgin router, the other two units were placed downstairs. One in my back lounge where my TV is, and the other in my front dining room. I just plugged the other two in and they automatically connected, no more set up needed.
The devices are aesthetically pleasing and made of white plastic. Slightly taller than an Amazon Echo. They don’t look out of place on a table top or shelf. The plug is a standard UK 3 pin plug (for the UK version), which means that the powerline element must be built into the unit itself. This was welcome as it means the small form factor plug fits anywhere (rather than the bulky powerline plugs i’m used to). Each unit has two ethernet ports, for connecting to a router, or for connection between each other or to other devices. As these units use just a single SSID (which I created at set up), my devices connect to the strongest signal and see the Wi-Fi as one connection rather than three. This should mean seamless switching to the strongest signal, unlike extenders which create separate SSID’s. It also means that if one P9 goes down, your device can connect to the next available one.
With my placement of these devices, I’m now receiving 112 Mbps download and 12 Mbps upload speed in every room with my 100 Mbps Virgin Internet package. It also works at near full speed at the bottom of my garden which is impressive. The app is simple and doesn’t give you full control over the router, but does have some handy tools such as monthly reports, blacklists, parental controls (even being able to see internet pages visited by other phones or computers), high priority devices, adding managers, fast roaming (newer devices switch to the fastest connection quicker), and a few more settings.
I believe the powerline element of these are to enable ‘Backhaul’ communication. That is, communication from the three devices back to the router via your electrical wiring, so keeping the Wi-Fi less clogged with traffic. You can’t use the powerline feature to connect other powerline adapters. It’s a hidden network just for the three units to communicate. It also helps through thicker walls where Wi-Fi might be weak, to keep all the devices talking back to the router.
This has transformed the Wi-Fi in my house giving me fast full speed coverage everywhere. It has great flexibility for moving the devices around to test where they work best (all you need is a plug socket). Of course, if you can link these together via ethernet cable you’ll get the best connection. But for me, locating them on different floors and in different rooms, just plugging them into a power socket and using WiFi, they have been brilliant. Full speed everywhere and not one known drop out of internet so far. Highly recommended.