TP-Link Deco S4 AC1200 Whole-Home Mesh Wi-Fi System
TP-Link Deco S4 AC1200 Whole-Home Mesh Wi-Fi System, Qualcomm CPU, 867Mbps at 5GHz+300Mbps at 2.4GHz, MU-MIMO, Beamforming, Work with Amazon Echo/Alexa, Pack of 3
Robust Parental Controls
Simple, intuitive parental controls make it easy to keep your children safe while they’re online.
| Weight: | 1.94 kg |
| Dimensions: | 16.2 x 9.1 x 9.1 cm; 1.94 Kilograms |
| Brand: | TP-Link |
| Model: | Deco S4(3-pack) |
| Colour: | White |
| Batteries Included: | No |
| Manufacture: | TP-Link |
| Dimensions: | 16.2 x 9.1 x 9.1 cm; 1.94 Kilograms |
Whilst I only live in a single story small cottage I had a few problems getting signal in all
Rooms due to the thickness of the walls. I bought a three pack and have one in every room and have no more problems. Real easy to set up and use. Can recommend.
The system not only works, but it works well with sky broadband, which is not always the easiest Internet provider to add to. All the dead areas in my house are now covered by Wi-Fi and the speed increase has been incredible. It’s possible to buy a cheaper mesh network, but this system has the advantage of 6 kHz backhaul, which for the uninitiated like myself means less dropouts and clear signal. Well worth the money.
We had fibre installed about 6 months ago with speeds of upto 500mbps. The router we were supplied was rubbish. We researched mesh systems and came across this one. We have been using it for a few weeks now and it is so much better! We are getting at least 450mbps everywhere in the house and even in the garden! This replaces your original router and so easy to set up! This is a must if you need faster and better WiFi signal.
These blend in easily in the house, and work really well in a mesh setting. Better to hardwire if you can, but the performance is still great when meshed via wifi.
The web client is pretty awful to use, it logs you out every time you click a setting, and the features are VASTLY limited, but the app is pretty good. Personally, I’d prefer the browser!
You aren’t trusted to configure your own WiFi channels, so if you use ZigBee in your house, or a heavily congested area, you might struggle with getting it on the channel you want. The app will automagically find the ‘best’ config, but….. yeah…..
Updates are pretty simple, not too frequently, and they generally come with feature improvements too – for example you can now add an additional SSID. No VLANs though. But you can’t really expect enterprise features on a residential device at consumer prices.
If you’re currently in a house, where your ISP device isn’t doing great, and you aren’t looking for complicated networking – buy these!
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.
On my old Tenda M6, I’d top out around 89-91Mbps, with reception in the kitchen around 10. This was all stripped out, and the Decos installed without any issues, following the instructions on the app.
Now on default settings, the main Deco hub is reaching for around 850Mbps on its own, dropping down to around 500Mbps with all three nodes up and running. Reach is excellent – the three nodes have full saturation: surprisingly, the wireless backhaul beat the TP-Link Av1000 wired backhaul senseless. On wired, I was getting around 110-125 at the ends of the house: using the dedicated 6GHz channel for wireless backhaul, I’m seeing around 350-390 on my mobile.
For placement, the principle router is on top of the mantlepiece, about a foot away from the television. I have around 60 smart devices that require connectivity (there are 30 bulbs, 10 in the kitchen alone), to say nothing needing to have a reliable connection for calls or data. An expensive purchase, but I’m finally getting the broadband I’m paying for.
Edit:
It took me a while to realise that the new network was the most likely reason that Google assistant on the Nest Hub(s) became fairly erratic. Roughly half of the queries made resulted in “there was a glitch” or “something went wrong” responses, often from another unit. In the end, the Deco IoT option was activated, and the Nest hubs and cameras all moved across to a dedicated 2.4GHz network. Luckily the Hue bulbs (thirty of them) don’t need to be moved over, and remain happy on the main network.
Upgraded from Deco m9+ and what an improvement. The wifi6e back haul makes a huge improvement on all devices and cctv loads that much quicker. My homekit devices have become rock solid. Very impressive for the money spent.
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.
This product operates in two modes WiFi Router or Access Point. If you want to gain the maximum set of services and protection I’d advice you look into running this in WiFi Router mode. In fact I removed my BT Hub and access the BT Service configuring my Deco with a PPPoE connection into the ONT box with the outgoing fibre connection.
I also use the Ethernet backhaul between the Deco’s to maximise the bandwidth in the house. Pretty much all my static devices (TVs, Computers etc) are physically connected, leaving the WiFi bandwidth free for the handheld devices. These Deco’s don’t support Power of Ethernet (POE), but if that’s a requirement for you other Deco units are available that support it now, even IP65 units for outside use!
Not related, but I had some issues with some TP-Link light bulbs, and their support was really responsive, and they sent me some “tweaked” firmware to try out on my bulbs. Hence I’ve stuck with TP-Link because they do respond to questions and provide support. I couldn’t fault them.
If I have a gripe, it’s that I was an early adopter of this model, so I have V1.0 hardware. They’ve had six hardware revisions to date. As a result my last firmware update was in January 2021, whilst the latest hardware variant was updated in July 2023 and had lots of features added. Clearly if you bought this product today you’d get a significant change to my hardware version, but it puts me off being so quick to update to a newer model in the future until they’ve moved the variants on a bit.
Whilst the firmware has remained the same I have received regular updates to the inbuilt Trend security database that is the underlying security in the Deco system providing Malicious Content Filtering, Intrusion Protection and Infected Device Quarantine. I get quite a few Malicious Content warnings a week identify scam websites, and I’ve had some warnings on intrusion attempts (that it successfully blocked). I’ve included a screenshot to illustrate.
I’d happily recommend the TP-Link Deco, and in fact I have installed a few for friends.
(1) good value at the discounted price of 169.99
(2) provides good WIFI connectivity for a three bedroom property and some distance into the garden; previously, mobile would switch from WIFI to 4G , disconnecting from the BT HUB.
(3) TP Link App, downloaded and installed on mobile device, provides good and intuitive control over the X20 Mesh WIFI System.
Points to note ..
(1) Install TP-Link App and create your TP-Link ID first
(2) Decide on “WIFI Router” or “Access Point” mode for your Mesh System ( in this case, BT Smart HUB Router with Deco X20 Mesh System in “Access Point” mode )
(3) Connect one Deco X20 node to router via ethernet, this is the “Main” node and configure via the TP-Link App
(4) Add/Config remaining Deco X20 units ( satellite nodes ) in close vicinity of the “Main” node
(5) Check and update firmware once all Deco units are added/attached – all Decos should run the same firmware version
(6) Power off, move satellite Deco X20’s to their required locations ( Living Room, Kitchen, Dinning Room etc ) and power back on – see attached screen shot, in this instance, the nodes attach themselves to the “Main” Deco unit in a “Star” shape network.
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.
These are fantastic and maximise your internet speed throughout the house. Didn’t realize how poor the hubs that come with your standard Broadband supplier are, this kit completely changes that and I’ve got about 18 devices running brilliantly from these. Simple to set up in just a few minutes with a nice support app for your phone giving full disability. No more buffering on the Fire stick and the signal stays strong all the way to the back of the garden. Highly recommended!
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.
I live in a 100 year old cottage here in Ireland.
Three foot stone walls. Signal in the one room with the router. I hard wired these around the house. They worked perfectly. No issues anymore with Wifi. Well worth the asking price.
Great product. It is easy to setup and configure. The speed and rage are also great. I used both in a large flat on the second floor, about 150sqm, and a 2 stories house (about 150sqm + 80sqm garden). I could get the signal even in the garden or the street. Have being using for over a year now, still working perfectly, never had a single bad day. It is defo faster than the internet we have available in our region (about 50MBs) but does not falter with 3+ people using netflix, streaming and mobile at the same time. We have 10+ devices connected to it.
I live in an old house most of the walls (internal and external) are 9″ solid brick. Having tried various mesh systems I find this one to be by far the best, (using 4 units I get better coverage than with the BT whole Home system using 7 units), so I would recommend this system to anyone with coverage problems
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
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
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.
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.
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.
Since I originally wrote this review, I have managed to set up backhaul over a LAN using a TP-Link TL-SG108 switch which also has various wired objects plugged in (Smart heating bridge, printer and a MAC). In this case everything is working well and I am getting the full 150Mbps through the MAC. I suspect backhaul is possible over most LANs but I know there are complications with VLANs if you are using the Guest Network feature. In this case you may have problems with some switches depending on how they deal with loops caused by VLANs. I don’t use the Guest Network so I haven’t had a problem.
It doesn’t boast many features but as a basic router/mesh Wifi it seems like a very cost effective and stable solution.
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.
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.