Great routers, great software, would love a few more features
I’m upgrading from a ten year old Apple AirPort Extreme Basestation to the TP-Link Deco M5 kit. Performance is similar since both are WiFi5 (AC) systems. But the mesh lets me put several small routers around the house to have better performance everywhere. And the TP-Link app is so much better than where the Apple Airport app left off a decade ago. Getting a list of all devices, wireless and *wired* — something Apple refused to do — is fantastic. There are straightforward quality of service (QOS) controls. And a bunch of stuff I don’t care about that families will appreciate for controlling access times and device priorities and device owners. I wish for a few more features in the system: * WPA3 (maybe specific to the Deco M5) * Easy, direct control of the individual routers to change relative power or turn off individual WiFI beacons to help improve the network * More info on the “Network Optimization” including some guidance on positioning the beacons for improved performance. But those are higher-end features and this is a really budget-friendly kit, so on the whole, it’s a great system!
Good app, but some modifications would make it great!
Similar situation with the other reviewer noting how it would be helpful to have the date and time devices connect available. My other suggestion is with parental controls. It would be great to be able to have the list of visited websites sorted by time visited, or have a drop-down and you could select time, date, or alpha by website. The list it generates is good, and they recently made improvements to combine associated sites within one main drop down, but doesn’t give you an accurate depiction of the time sites were visited. Instead, its sorted by number of times visited putting the highest amount at the top. It also would be nice to be able to go back a day, 2days, 2weeks, etc. however long and see more than just a list of the top 10 sites visited. Unless you login on the same day as the sites were visited, you cannot get a full list of all sites, only the top 10. If it’s a memory issue and not having enough storage in the Deco system for all this data maybe a daily email option could be available. I would be fine getting a daily email for all sites visited before their deleted for the next day. Aside from those small details, the app is pretty solid and works reliably well. My setup is perfect for my home. I have three indoor deco units and one outdoor, all connected with ethernet backhaul.
Marginal at best, despite the hardware working well
For a long time now I knew that the previous version of this app was showing incorrect information in regards to my Deco system. It was showing Wi-Fi devices connected to deco units that was completely impractical and nearly impossible. Since my “stuff” connected well and had a great connection to Wi-Fi and the internet, I just ignored the info that the app was showing. I was pretty excited a few weeks ago to open the app and see that it was completely revamped. It looks great. I quickly realized, however, that it was just new lipstick on the pig. In fact, it seems like the information was/is more incorrect than ever. Now it’s showing LOTS of my Wi-Fi devices as connected “wired”. That’s impossible. It’s showing some of my wireless devices connected a Deco unit that is so far from the device, it’s just not logical. And a “device health” test from those devices app shows a very solid and strong connection. Because of that I know that it’s connected to the closest Deco, not the farthest one as indicated by the app. I don’t know. I guess this app update is a lateral step, but it does look a bit nicer. All of my devices still connect and work fine so there is nothing hardware wise to complain about. I just wish I could get accurate info from the app regarding the hardware and various connections. Maybe on the next major app overhaul?
Super Simple, but has all the bells and whistles if needed
Hands down the best router I’ve ever had. I have a 3 story 3,400 sf. home. It covers my whole house. Zero dead spots, full bars at all times. Dual band simultaneously, so my PlayStation, iPhone and laptop connect on 5 GHz band, while some other use the 2.4Ghz band. The firmware update was dang near automatic. This thing literally holds your hand through the full setup. 99% of people will hit next, next, next, and so on until it’s setup. It asks one question that could throw you bout how you connect to your ISP, but for most people it is by dynamic address which it defaults to for you. Lastly, without geeking out, you can do IP reservations and a tons of other advanced cool stuff. And this was with the whole home mesh network Deco M3. Buy it!! You will not be disappointed - unless you’re the type of person who has to customize everything to death for absolutely no reason other than it makes you feel superior, lol.
Easy to use app for my Deco mesh system, however, it could be better. These days, unless you’re hiding under a rock, you know that there are people trying to take advantage of others. I happen to live in a neighborhood where it’s common…neighbors, or their guests, can’t afford their own internet so they try to piggyback on mine, causing me to pay more for the service. My complaint with the app is that it doesn’t indicate the date someone has connected. I do get a notification, but I don’t often see them timely as I don’t carry my phone with me constantly. Having the date someone connects helps to identify which connected device I should block. If I had three Unknown devices, maybe all three should be blocked, but maybe it’s the last one listed. I do give out my password as I live rurally and cell service can be ridiculously poor, but having a better idea of whom I might want to block would help. At the very least, the connected devices should be able to be sorted by date connected. For me it’s the downside of an otherwise excellent, easy to use, app.
I switched to Rise Broadband after a reference for a contractor who was able to install a antenna at her place enabling broadband signal reception when she’d always been told it was not available in our area. We live in a semi-rural location with tall trees blocking signal, if the standard height poll is used. I had DSL from AT&T, absolutely the only other option besides using a satellite signal company. They are all WAY over priced, as is AT&T’s internet everywhere, or something like that. TP-Link equipment with antenna placement vs. AT&T DSL was like switching from Dial-Up internet service to DSL when it was first available! The TP-Link App’s Trouble Shooting area is a great help for those time when Wi-Fi signal is lost. It is limited to equipment malfunctions, you have to connect a lap-tap or desktop PC directly to the router for help with no signal or you have to contact your provider, no direct way to report or see signal outages in my area. Calling in for assistance is a nightmare now days with most companies giving their reps limited information to go off on to be able to help.
Reliability continually going down hill and Customer Service is none!
I will be looking at other brands for my mesh networks. Each update, reliability has been increasingly worse. I’m constantly getting the error that the Deco cannot be found, especially when updating parental controls. I tried troubleshooting per their instructions on their website before contacting them. The steps did not work, so I contacted them, receiving a canned response of high volume emails and to respond back with yes if I wanted further contact, which I said yes. They sent an email 2 weeks later, and said they hoped I had looked at the link, and if they had not heard back in a few days, they would close the case, however they waited 1 day and closed the case. People have kids, work and lives and are busy. Maybe give them a week to respond. I will no longer recommend this company (which I did at first since the decos worked great) and now will be looking at other brands for my mesh network since these decos are becoming useless and problematic. Their customer service is non existent, and quite frankly, rude. They should look at their email responses if they want to keep customers. I thought TP-Link was a solid brand but guess I was wrong.
My 3-piece Deco X60 mesh network works well in most ways, but is missing some key features. The most critical one is the ability to manually select what channel to use. The automatically selected channel mine picked is very crowded. This is such a standard feature I took it for granted I would have it before I bought it. I would have picked another product if I realized. Less critically, but also a feature that would come in handy for me is to be able to force a selected device to connect to a specified frequency. I have a mixture of devices that use 2.4 or 5GHz frequencies. Mostly it’s fine to let the device choose. I have one device, though, (a VR headset) that works much better on 5GHz but left to connect on its own, often chooses the less optimal frequency, especially if it’s handed off from one router to another in the mesh. If I just disable the 2.4 band, that would disrupt a bunch of other devices. I also don’t want to dedicate the guest network, which is used for actual guests, to just the VR. A toggle in the device details to disable one of the frequencies for only that device would be great.
TP-Link has committed the cardinal sin. They are now wanting to charge you a monthly fee to enable previously available AND BASIC features. These features, such as scheduling parental controls etc, are now “Advanced Features” and will cost you big $ every month to enable them! This is sick, disgusting, disturbing and should be illegal! I am no lawyer but I would be willing to bet a good lawyer could make a case on this. I purchased this router and all its features, you have absolutely no right to hijack the hardware I purchased and put paywalls up on basic features that are readily available on all standard equivalent equipment from all manufacturers. I am flabbergasted that you have the audacity to pursue such cheap and feckless means of profits. This is not proprietary stuff you are charging to access, there is NOTHING at all special about the features you have placed behind a paywall. You know it and I know it as a professional in this industry. It’s sickening and I will never buy or recommend another TP Link product ever again. Myself and my sphere of influence will not make a dent in your bottom line but I guarantee you I am not the only one. Simply put, you should be ashamed.
This app is pretty good as far as Wi-Fi management apps go. I wish it didn’t show nodes as disconnected frequently when they aren’t, and I would like to see them give a little more explanation of the performance hit of the security features. For instance, I have 1gbit fiber internet. With the IPS off, I can achieve that speed in a test in a wired computer. If I turn on IPS, I can barely crack 100mbit. This, of course, is not the fault of the app, it’s just that doing that inspection takes processing power that my Deco doesn’t have to spare. But the app never warns you of this, so people out there may think their Wi-Fi is slow or the internet is slow since the app bugs you to turn these features on. It could be hurting a customers opinion of the product and the company since there’s no expectations set with regards to the performance hit. Overall it’s a good app, well laid out, but it could explain things a little clearer to level set exactly what’s going on.
While its the most unconventional WiFi hardware I've ever used its been amazingly easy to use and its the first stuff to ever properly cover my parents entire house basement to second floor. Device hand off between nodes is smooth and almost entirely hiccup free while live streaming! A feat i could only dream of on the old setup. I run an ethernet back bone for the thing, so in network traffics amazingly fast. Though my parents paltry 32mbps download speed is less than desired, QoS on these actually works well and everyone get a slice when needed instead of whoever's downloading a game. The app for managements surprisingly robust enough for whats needed to satisfy myself, but simple enough I'm not scared of letting my mom have access to it. I think this is the first WiFi hardware in my parents place i can confidently say is invisible, it "just works". Which is incredibly comforting as i cant be their IT gal all the time anymore.
Upgraded this system countless time over the last 10 years or so. I love the push upgrades and the addition of Deco’s security subscription further protects my system. I had a close neighbor who accidentally had their internet cable severed by some tree planting. She works at home and the repair work from her cable company was 3 days. I was able to create a guest network for her in a matter of a few minutes and have her up and running in 10 minutes thanks to a great app. My house is fully automated with wall plugs, wall switches and portable outlet plugs. I use EVE climate sensors and a network connected watering system including an outdoor weather station. In totals I have 55 devices connected to my network in a two story house not to mention 7 Apple HomePods, 2 AppleTV and two internet TVs. I run two XE75 Pros, one XE75 and one X50-Outdoor. I absolutely luv Deco.
I added three Deco mesh systems to my home and business. This cured several problems. Easily being able to implement device priority, reset, test, update, easily from the well designed app, and curing dropouts in our parking lot. My auto repair business has gone completely cloud based and everything from wrote up to inspections, to accounting is in the cloud. I am working and managing my business remotely more and more and I have the ability to log into my work or home networks easily from anywhere. Not being a tech guy, The Deco app has made simple what before meant I had to stop everything, drive to work, manually log in and diagnose network issues. Routers and networks have problems. It’s the nature of things, Deco has experienced far fewer problems and more uptime than anything we’ve used in the past 20 years. Highly recommended.
I bought my TP-Link Deco W2400 Mesh Router (2-Pack) from Walmart for a good deal, like $79. I just had my internet turned on at our new house today and setting this router system up was so dang easy. It’s the easiest, simplest router app out there! I had an ASUS router before upgrading to the TP-Link ones and their app was trash. Every other router app I’ve used has been trash. Only one that’s even remotely comparable to this one is the Linksys one and even it is not as smooth running. TP-Link you definitely need to continue to stay on top of the competitors and stay ahead! All I had to do was press 2 buttons in the app and create my name and WiFi password and I was done. The whole setup took less than 5 minutes. I got the 1 Gigabyte Internet speed with Mediacom and these routers are super duper fast! I’m only getting 50MB/s right now cause I need to upgrade my ASUS modem to a higher capacity. But still even at 50MB/s it’s fast as h$ll! Thanks TP-Link for making an awesome & seamless app and an even awesomer product! This is the first TP-Link product I’ve ever owned. This review was not a paid review or anything like that. I’m a real person, living in the U.S., that’s HIGHLY satisfied with my purchase and will forever get TP-Link over any other brand. I hope this helps someone else. I’ll update my review if anything changes or when I get a new modem.
It’s only the third one I’ve ever owned. The first was one where you had to go to a website to set anything, and while not difficult, also wasn’t the easiest. The second was an Apple Airport, and that worked fine, but got old. Started looking into this because I felt it was time to change and upgrade, and this worked the best hands down. I didn’t realize how old my Apple one was, and with the Deco it was like night and day. Able to get online from my driveway, whereas before it felt like I could only use the internet inside my house (and even some areas it would be a weak signal). Having the mesh network is definitely great, as long as all the devices themselves get a good signal from the main router, you’ll never be without internet. And the app… easy to use and figure out. Hands down it truly felt like it was plug and play.
I had saw the router mine which is the X60 model at Home Depot for about $150. Went back about a week later and bought it. The app easy and straight forward to setup. If you have an existing account with TP-Link with another product use that instead of creating a new one, just a tech tip. Installed the app on my iPhone go the prompts and the first deco was setup less than 5 minutes! Once you have the first deco setup, just plug in the second one and it should communicate without the app automatically. No more drops and perfect for my Blue ADT wireless cameras. App you can see all your devices connected or about to connect. Updates to the firmware appeared automatically for both decos. Let it update and your done! Out of all the routers I’ve setup over the years, this app and deco units superseded my expectations. Highly recommend.
After spending a good deal of money on a 4 satellite (node) system I’m realizing this isn’t worth the money spent. The “backhaul” feature is practically useless. I live in a single dwelling house so there is no interference from the neighbors wiring yet my distant satellite rarely gets more than 1/2 the speed than the rest of the system. That isn’t the main issue I have with this system it’s biggest problem is getting the updates to actually download from the company. I’ve tried for months using all the recommended techniques listed in their self help yet the best that will happen is the progress of the dl stops at 50 percent then tells me the dl failed and to try again later. I’ve tried at all different hours and dates even two months later yet the downloads simply don’t happen. After reaching out to the customer support I never hear anything back from them. I have two separate updates waiting in the pipeline but neither will dl and the company doesn’t reach out to me. Looking elsewhere for a better system and will chalk this up as a loss.
Before this year this app worked great. I could login, look at things and reset things without any issue. At some point this year they tried to increase security to log into the app and they’ve turn the experience of using this app into a nightmare. Every time I login now it tells me I have a wrong password and my accounts locked for 10 minutes and I need to reset my password. I will go out and do the reset after 10 minutes and have a new password and I will write it down and then the next time, I will get the same message again. Keep in mind that the only time you typically want to use this app is if you’re having an Internet issue and you’re wanting to check something or clear up network connectivity… so you’re already frustrated and this app keeps locking you out. The app even has face recognition login but it also does not work and will tell you you’re now locked out of your account. i’ve checked their forums and there are many others having the same problem. I just wish they could have left a good thing alone.
I like the Deco mesh and the app. I’ve set it up now in three homes and it’s been seemless. I’ve been able to even set up some advanced settings needed for network devices. I had one problem with the QoS setting. (Quality of Service). Be aware that QoS setting is meant to manage traffic when you have multiple devices trying to hog your bandwidth. It asks you to put in the maximum speed. I put in my services max speed at the time. This will limit the speed on any device to that speed. My internet provider subsequently upped my speed and I only realized later I needed to adjust the QoS settings after troubleshooting why I wasn’t getting the full new speed. My advice is don’t use QoS unless you are managing a large network and one device is using too much of your bandwidth and you want to restrict it.
Everything is managed through your phone app. All features are listed and organized on the app. App is very intuitive. Update of firmware is smooth and labor free. You get notifications on your app and update, reboot is automatically done through the phone app. You also use your phone app to monitor home network remotely while you are away from home. My child who play Minecraft & Roblox used to complain about internet when using google high intelligence home router. Now with deco, every endpoint gets it own isolated bandwidth so there’s no more or less. You also see what devices are connected to your home network so you can block unauthorized access. You can also set guest network so you never had to share personal password that you used for everything!
I'll admit my home's layout is not ideal. The WAN drop from my ISP is on the ground level, and the house (interior townhouse unit) goes up for two more levels. I'd appreciate it, then, if the Deco app reflected the sometimes-spotty state of the mesh, and offered even the most basic feedback on how to make things easier for the network. Instead, the app offers either that "everything looks good," even when things are clearly not good from a network performance standpoint, or it offers that pretty much every Deco is offline, even when all the units have green status lights. When it works, it all works well. Thankfully it works most of the time. When it doesn't work, however, the app is of no help whatsoever. I don't think I'm moving anytime soon, so I'll probably give Ubiquiti's mesh solutions a look at some point. Deco's is OK, but it demands more attention than I'd like, and the app is pretty much useless for troubleshooting.
Seriously I would have been switched to this router if I would’ve known how awesome this is! It’s literally my favorite thing in my house right next to my ring cameras and door bell! You can control every device on the wifi from anywhere! And you can change the password right on the app ❤️no more calling the internet company!!!!! You can put all the kid’s devices on the kids profile with an automatic shut off time and have them set to different times for different days. You can set your tv/devices to high priority so if the kids have a million things on your stuff will still work. I love it 10/10 recommend. I’m not paid for this review I just have had no wifi control over my kids and now I really do! Thanks for the great design
The management application is a bit cumbersome and the parental controls are limited. If you want to make sure you’ve got your kid’s devices locked in you have to turn off the NIC randomization that Apple does to maintain privacy. I haven’t found a way to require a specific password per device (where DHCP only gives out an IP when properly logged in with identified NIC). The fact that the WiFi password is so easily shared it totally allows kids to share the WiFi with anyone of their friends. Also… all anyone needs to do is connect over Enet… there is NO protection… the router gladly hands out an IP to whoever plugs in. I have had to assign IP’s to all devices and then change the range of IPs that DHCP can serve. Then, I have to go in and modify that every time a neighbor comes over and wants to connect. Needs improvement. ALSO… and this is a big one. It appears that every time there is a software update to the router, that I have to log back in and turn on the PRO services again. Is my PRO service just NOT working until I discover the update? I really like a lot of the features and would give a 5 star BUT I really HATE the problems that I mentioned above which to me deserve a 1 or 2 star…. So, I split the difference at 3 star. I hope they can get their act together and fix some of these glaring problems.
App and Deco systems were beautifully working for more than 18 months till latest updates of the app and firmware this June.. After first firmware update in June (there were 2) my whole network went haywire.. from my 80+ devices only 19 were able to get back on line, technically turning my whole home off line, including security systems.. Among those 19 that managed to get back on line, none of them were stable, they were just flapping and disconnecting many times per day.. The app went thru the same path, it was perfect on previous version and also updated to integrate new features. Now it is very unstable, on this latest version .. sometimes Deco devices are all on line and shows off line, the IoT network (new) is not working.. and u can’t save the changes at all. Have opened a case with TP-LINK support, and in the meantime I was forced to buy a new mesh system from Netgear, which brought my home back on line.. frankly if TP-LINK doesn’t fix it all quickly , I will move to Netgear definitely ..
App itself takes up 1 GB; kind of slow, no customer support in app
I actually looked up how much space the app takes up before buying my Decos. I’m not sure how they get away with lying in the App Store, but I literally just set up my two Decos yesterday and the app itself takes up 1.07 GB (Documents & Data is only 685 KB). I can’t imagine why such an app should occupy so much space, unless it has been coded poorly. Another thing: the app is unnecessarily slow. It’s even slow to load it the first time…there’s a photograph on the loading screen (where the logo “Paint your home in WiFi” is) and that photo is unnecessary. It seems the app is clogged with stuff it doesn’t need. I don’t even really want an app…I only wanted mesh WiFi. The last thing: there is no help or support. The “Contact us” link in the app doesn’t actually include any way to contact them for help. It’s just FAQs, which I don’t need to have statically available in the app occupying space. The product itself seems good, but I’m not sure happy with this software so far.
I had an old mesh system in my house that worked well but my speeds were nowhere near where they should have been. I purchased this unit and actually held off for a few weeks because I was worried of all the extra work of connecting and then reconnecting all my devices. I shouldn’t have waited. This system connected to my router seamlessly and over the next couple of days I connected everything to the system. I even had a Cannon printer that I could not connect to my old mesh system that connected to this one in seconds. The only mistake I made was I named this mesh system the same as my old one and that caused me extra work in a few places but nothing terrible. I wish I would have purchased this months ago.
Just got the equipment yesterday and set it up today the setup was a little bit clunky, but in the end great and working fine. During the setup it asked to take a picture of the Barcode on the bottom of the unit but had to unplug power to get a good picture then had to wait for it to boot back up. Did not say anything or I missed it, naming device one and two So one device says the name I wanted the other one didn’t. of course I never read the manual. It was too small. Also did not realize when you set up one you’re setting up both until it was done that actually was pretty cool. I’m sure I will be getting a couple more in the future. It will go much smoother next time. Definitely recommend this product.
Mesh Network Works Well but Parental Controls are Terrible
We have a 3,000 sqft house with the router and 3 additional access points. We get a pretty good signal everywhere but it’s not as good as you’d think since we have more access points than should be required for this size house. But, for the most part I’m happy with the system. But, do not pay for the parental controls. They are horrible. My kids will have their computers closed on the dining room table all day and when they open it to start homework, it shows that they used up all their time for the day on that device. Also, when you block a device for the day, it doesn’t automatically reset that device the next day. You have to manually go back in and allow the device or it stays blocked until you change it. I’ve used lots of parental control apps and this is one of the worst I’ve tried.
UPDATE: The new 3.0 version it’s even worse than the last one, there are minimum controls to set, there used to be an option for prioritizing home clients, no longer available, also no way to change main channel, QoS, Bandwith control or anything. Terrible update ! I have used tplink routers for a very long time, they are reliable and very price/performance ratio excellent, this deco mesh system it’s no different, the coverage it’s great and you completely forget about wifi issues. I also installed a mesh system for my parents and I manage it from the same app away from their house. It’s great. However it needs some improvement regarding the wifi channels selection since there are constant growing 5Ghz wireless networks and a very saturated 2.4Ghz spectrum. Also it should incorporate a bandwidth limiter for the guest network and other options for easy management those frequent guest on the house.
The router is great and the app is easy to use and I can find everything pretty quickly and easily. I just wish it had a couple features that it doesn’t have. This would be my pretty short but valuable wish list 1- save port forwarding rules and turn them on or off without deleting them. If I want to disable one temporarily, it’s a pain to have to delete it an recreate the whole rule again. 2- some of my devices are recognized as a new device each time they connect, even though the MAC address is the same. Pointless to rename and pick a picture/device type of it changes each time. Also, it clutters the devices view. Duplicates not being created would be great. 3- address reservation is a little weird. It doesn’t apply to the device right away, you can’t set one that is currently in use by another device (which makes sense, but is a problem because…), and you can’t change that conflicting device easily to free the address. It also doesn’t work well with port forwarding since port forwarding kind of overrules it. It’s just a little finicky. Those are really my only complaints. They’re overall pretty minor, but I don’t think they’d be terribly difficult to fix either.
Recently upgraded to Fiber internet and wanted to upgrade my older WiFi 5 mesh network, (which I was absolutely in love with,) to something that could match the speed I am now getting in my home. Not only was the price phenomenal for my TP-Link Deco mesh devices, the setup was so easy a 3yr old could do it. Time will tell how they hold up to my scrutiny, but so far I couldn’t be happier with my purchase. Everything from the hardware to the software is top tier, so if you’re on the fence about this unit and it fits your specifications and needs, then I definitely recommend buying them. I don’t often leave reviews, especially of this length, but I wanted to take the time to say thank you to TP-Link by spending a few moments writing this.
Simple, but won’t allow the user to select the Wi-Fi channels manually
Instead the device decides, but in my experience with it, it has chosen the last channels I would’ve picked based on signal/performance. It’s honestly rather baffling this issue hasn’t been addressed yet. Secondly, it tries to force you to use the feature in app named, “Network Optimization”. Which despite the name doesn’t live up to its promises, picking channels 4 for 2.4ghz and 44 for 5ghz. Honestly, for how much I spent for a 3 unit AXE5400, one would hope for the ability to address crowded channels, at the very least. It feels like the more you spend, the less control you have with “smart” devices these days. 🙄 Lastly, and most importantly… enough with the subscription pushing, and bring back a speed test option. It’s found in some of your competitors apps, so it’s disappointing to need a second party app for this simple feature for the cost of the device.
I needed a meshed router; I outgrew my old network so I bought a couple of the TP-Link Deco X75’s. This app is the ONLY way to configure the routers, which makes absolutely no sense at all. I added Alexa to the app, and it was taking HOURS before Alexa would work; I ended up having to reset everything (Alexa, the routers, etc) and not pairing Alexa with this app. Whenever I add a new device to the network or rename a device, or set an address reservation in this app, I have to hit the Save button like a dozen times before it sticks (when it doesn’t error out which happens a lot). And to top it off, whenever even a small change happens, you have to reboot EVERYTHING before anything works again. This means unplugging all five Alexa’s (which are NOT paired with the routers), both routers, my 5 Apple TV’s, and the 30+ lightbulbs and 12 smart plugs. I’m other words, if you change ANYTHING, plan on spending a couple hours getting everything working again. I will NOT buy anything TP-Link again!!!
This is my first time using app-based rather than Web-based network management. It’s ok, though I’d still like a fully featured Web-based option, since a keyboard and mouse are faster than thumbs for initial buildout. One annoyance I’ve found pertains to the clients list. It’s possible to sort by Network Type, but if you sort by anything else, then you can’t see which network a client is using even when you tap a specific client to view its details. You can see which AP and frequency, along with IP and MAC, but not which SSID it’s using. I shouldn’t have to sort the entire list by network type to see which network a client is on. This would be a trivial addition to the client details page, which has plenty of usable space. Would appreciate an update to add this. :)
I wish I could manually select the preferred deco for stationary devices. My Apple TV is located 12 feet from the living room deco, but for some reason it will associate with other decos located further away -even when I disable mesh roaming. I wouldn’t care, but the bandwidth allocated to the Apple TV degrades when it’s linked to the more distant deco. I am not sure why it won’t automatically connect to the closer deco, shouldn’t that signal just be stronger? Whatever, manual association preference would just fix this. You can also optimize the network, if you see poor performance. Not sure why this isn’t automatically run for you. It seems like something that should/could be scheduled to run periodically when the network can tolerate it, I.e. at 2am … As title says, mostly good. A couple improvements and I’d give 5*
I had issues with coverage and speed in certain areas in my 5400 sqft house and I did not have Ethernet. I had a range extender but it was slow, inconsistent, and very buggy. Everything changed after I purchased the deco m9 plus. I get a strong signal everywhere in the house and I also get the full speed of the WiFi I am paying for. It’s as if I am standing next to the router wherever I go in the house. The app is very clean, looks appealing, not buggy, and performs well. It is very convenient to use and allows you to effectively configure your mesh system. It also has a bunch of anti virus and security software options which is also a plus. 5 stars from me and I highly recommend.
Everything you would expect and great mesh WiFi. Huge upgrade from my previous ASUS router and Circle filter. My only issue keeping me from giving 5 stars is the weakness of parental controls & details. Circle has a much better control UI that gives more detailed control of the filtering and time limits. Like time limits based on content, so I can restrict online games to an hour while allowing Google Classroom, or email for homework. To Deco, an hour of online gaming is the same as an hour of homework. Also a “reward” system to allow an extra hour or two added, but not changing the daily time limit. I love everything else about the app and the Deco 20X, but the parental controls. They are passible, but you have to manually pause and unpause. Make us parents the bad guy.
Sigh. As one can expect this was a fantastic app with a relatively easy to use Ui. Then as one does the company decides to changes it completely and gut it of a bunch of feature and make it look prettier and call it an “update”. The fact of the matter is this app got significantly worse after this update. For instance before the “new deco” you could restart a individual deco if it was experiencing problems WITHOUT taking all the other deco’s offline. Now however , if a deco is having issues you are forced to take ALL the deco’s offline to reboot. This is a massive oversight. Their app reviews are flooded with recent reviews all of which are complaining about how the new “update” is useless and actually a hinderance. Watch them take no action to listen to their consumers and continue to shoot them selves in the foot. Please look elsewhere for mesh network devices, your time and money is wasted here on people who don’t understand the basic need of simple functions.
I am not a technical person. I can manage following basic instructions, but often require a pro to help me navigate technology. That is not true of my WiFi. I have managed to correct connection issues, expand my system, set up a security system running on WiFi, and trouble shoot basic issues. I have a guest WiFi that keeps visitors off our private space. The directions for all this comes through my app in step by step instructions. Sometimes I break out the big questions on the website. It just works every time. No crying, no begging, just Superman level customer care. I am a lifetime client of TP-Link. If you want calm and careful service, this is the place to be! 🌟
I have an all concrete home with three floors and needless to say other extensions have failed me miserably. Now I have 4 Deco units throughout my home and 24 or so clients at any given time. 7 cameras and 10 Smart bulbs. All made possible by these mesh units. It’s been a life saver for me and for everyone using the internet in my house. I also subscribe to their total security package and it has blocked 6 intruders so far and hundreds of attempts to go to malicious websites. The benefits vs the cons are worth the switch. Simple to install. Easy to maintain and monitor. It’s not perfect but they issue updates every so often showing that they are actively maintaining their product. It’s definitely worth it. From a retired IT Guy.
The app, which is required to operate the network, exposes little functionality and requires you to register and log in to their corporate site in order to view and manage your own network. When you finally do finish giving their sales and marketing team your information, the app generally takes several tries just to find and set up your network. When finally set up the app is unreliable at best. It will often fail to find your network and inform you that it has been deleted despite the fact that you are clearly connected to the network and can access the internet. When it does eventually connect it exposes little to no useful features. The last straw, the one that has me writing this review, is that it appears to actually have permanently forgotten how to connect to my network and I don’t want to waste 2 more hours trying to get it to work. This is a terrible app backing a bad product. Avoid it.
I’ve been using the app for my home mesh network for a couple of years. Really pleased with the app and features. Recently I removed all my Gosund Wi-Fi switches and plugs and replaced them all with TP-Link Kasa switches and plugs. I have a total of 45 Kasa devices. I was able to add 32 of the Kasa devices to the “Smart Home” section of the app. I give this app only 4 stars because it seems like 32 is the most Kasa devices that can be added to the Smart Home section. Anything over 32 devices causes a failure when trying to add number 33 or a above. You can delete a device from the Smart Home section and you can add a different device, just not more than 32 devices. Maybe in a future update the Deco app can be made to allow more than 32 devices in the Smart Home section.
I’ve given 3 stars solely based on the WiFi points performance. The app is completely unusable by anyone without sharp eyesight. While it’s super slick and functional for someone with perfect eyesight it is completely incompatible with iOS accessibility features so if I have large text on my phone the text in the app text and icons are still minuscule and illegible, and further the interface contrast makes it impossible to see what is a link which menu item is activated and further decreases legibility. Zoom doesn’t work either so it’s really useless, you will need someone with perfect eyesight to use it. Please have your developers review Web Content Accessibility Guidelines WCAG and I will recommend the tp link products to everyone I know, the mesh is fabulous the app is unusable.
Recently purchased three deco x55 units. I tried setting the new wifi network as 5G in the advanced settings, but the network details on another page in the app specifically says that it is “2.4 and 5”. I checked the connection between my main “router” node and the node in the next room and it says 2.4. Sweet. So now it appears the second node is sourcing my third node (most important one) with a signal that has been bottlenecked by the 2.4 from the first connection. The app is just busted. There are other glitches, too, like when you try to establish the “preferred connection” to a given node. Irrelevant error messages. Not sure if it was from a firmware update or what, but the app does NOT seem to be controlling the actual units. Yet it is completely necessary for it to do so in order to configure a relatively complicated network situation. Else you are left you worse performance than what you started with from stock isp-supplies routers
I was kinda hesitant to switch from the Samsung SmartThings app to this one. My TVs use the Samsung app and I previously had Samsung mesh wifi but they were outdated so I decided to upgrade to an affordable WiFi 6 mesh system from Deco. I never really used the Samsung app but I was hesitant because I wondered if a smaller company would put as much consideration into their app. Surprisingly I like the Deco app much more. While Samsung obviously has a larger ecosystem, Deco has done a great job making this app user friendly. Setup was really easy and the interface looks pretty nice. To top it off, the app is extremely easy to use and offers nice functionality for monitoring and controlling my home wifi.
Started using Deco several years ago and with any system I hesitated until now to write a review. The system is easy to setup, install and use. What I have learned is that when things go wrong there is a startup order you need to follow if you have deco hooked up to a vpn router and a modem. First shut everything down. Next get the modem running and insure WiFi works through the modem ( I use a WiFi only iPad since using a cell phone gets confusing). Once running start the vpn modem (I use an aircove) and make sure you get a signal (go to the internet to a new site and make sure it works). Lastly start up the deco system. Then all is well once again.
Had the Netgear Nighthawk mesh system and it was consistently going down and disconnecting from the internet. Plus they advertised remote control of your WiFi when away from home, but then disabled the feature. So, I threw it in the trash and tried the Deco. The Deco is awesome and dependable! From the first day I plugged it in a year and a half ago, it has never gone down! The remote management when you’re away from home works flawlessly! Speeds are as advertised- with my gigabit fiber, I’m getting a gig with LAN wired, and 800MB wireless. Don’t waste your time with other routers- just get the Deco and enjoy dependable, high speed service! Deco rules them all! Thank you Deco!
I am using deco E4 in my house. Here, It’s a populated area and almost all multi storied building many internet connections creating a channel congestion. I took it guaranteed that there would be options to select the less congested channel or the device would be smart enough to do that. But to my great surprise, neither the app nor accessing the device from url let configure the channel. I’m in a fix. Besides, the network optimization feature in the app is not effective. Hope the developers would find a way and provide us the following features: 1. Channel selection option 2. Schedule restart option 3. Allowing users to select a device for a particular band of network i,e either 2.4GHz or 5 GHz band if the device supports the particular band.
Needing our WiFi modem moved to a more efficient location and a suggestion as to where we should locate our mesh system, I anticipated it may take some time or possibly not be doable as the central of our very large chimney creates a substantial signal block. Much to my delight, when Anthony, an Xfinity technician who provided us service a few years ago, rang our bell! I explained our problems with the signal and other issues, all of which he solved in no time! Hs is the best! So glad to know he is still with the company and should we have an issue down the road, we are definitely going to request Anthony. He knows his stuff! Thanks for all your help Anthony!
I am a 70 yr old great grandma who holds lots of family events at my house. We will have as many as 5 or 6 gaming SYSTEMS going on at the same time all over the house. Also, the adults will be on their phones and laptops or streaming on one of our 6 tv’s My cute little decos do it all seamlessly and I am the one who set them up! So easy to do! Yes, we have very fast internet but it wasn’t reaching every room with our other router. Do not hesitate to get these. You will not be sorry. There is no reason to pay the high cost of super speed internet if it’s not reaching your whole house. These will pay for themselves in a couple of months over having to rent from the provider!
Welcome to the Deco App — the perfect way to set up your mesh WiFi in minutes and control your whole network. Our simple-to-follow guide walks you through the setup process and even gives you suggestions for whole home coverage. Once connected, you’ll have instant access to check every connected device, manage your kids’ online activity, and control your home network effortlessly. All from the palm of your hand. - EASY TO SET UP AND MANAGE • Quickly set up with step-by-step instructions • Find the best spots to place additional Deco units for maximum coverage • Control your WiFi network without turning on your computer • Check your connection status and network speed at a glance • Find out who or what is connecting to your network • Instantly block unwanted devices with a tap - PROTECT YOUR WIFI • Detect potential threats and receive warnings before things get serious • Create a guest network to give friends internet access while shielding your private network • Block unauthorized access and inappropriate content • Run network performance tests - FIND FAMILY TIME WITH PARENTAL CONTROLS • Set a time restriction and pause the WiFi on kids’ devices • Control when specific devices have WiFi access • Make room for more family time with Schedules - PRIORITIZE YOUR FAVORITE DEVICES QoS lets you choose which devices always have the fastest connections. Set a schedule to assign device priority for different times of the day. - KNOW EVERYTHING ABOUT YOUR NETWORK Detailed reports help you understand your home WiFi and everything connected. - CREATE YOUR SMART HOME Connect, control, and check the status of your smart cameras, plugs, and lights – all from the Deco app. Features available in Deco may vary by model and software version. Stay tuned for updates as we add new features and products to the Deco family! Privacy Policy: http://www.tp-link.com/en/privacy?app=deco#sec_a\ Term of Use: http://www.tp-link.com/en/privacy?app=deco#sec_b\ HomeShield Subscription Service Agreement: https://www.tp-link.com/homeshield/service-agreement/?app=deco Auto-Renewal Service Agreement: https://www.tp-link.com/homeshield/auto-renewal-service-agreement/?app=deco For more information about Deco, visit www.tp-link.com
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