TP-Link Deco Voice X20 AX1800 Mesh Wi-Fi 6 System with Smart Speaker - 2 Pack, Deco Voice X20(2-pack) Modems / Routers / Gateways (Wireless)

I hope this is not my final review of this product and that the next one is more positive, but this is my actual experience to date.The TP-Link Deco X20-4G AX1800 is not a cheap product and it took me a good deal of time to convince myself it was worth the $$$. Unfortunately, it wasn't!It could not make an Internet connection when I inserted the (perfectly functional) SIM. The TP-Link Deco app also either could not detect the unit or could not complete the set up process, despite numerous attempts and re-attempts by me to do so. So much for "easy to set up" mesh networks!Anyway, I resisted throwing it out the window (just) and went back to my old TP-Link AC750 router. I will have another go in a week or so, after I recover from the disappointment, but am not ... MoreI hope this is not my final review of this product and that the next one is more positive, but this is my actual experience to date.The TP-Link Deco X20-4G AX1800 is not a cheap product and it took me a good deal of time to convince myself it was worth the $$$. Unfortunately, it wasn't!It could not make an Internet connection when I inserted the (perfectly functional) SIM. The TP-Link Deco app also either could not detect the unit or could not complete the set up process, despite numerous attempts and re-attempts by me to do so. So much for "easy to set up" mesh networks!Anyway, I resisted throwing it out the window (just) and went back to my old TP-Link AC750 router. I will have another go in a week or so, after I recover from the disappointment, but am not hopeful of a different result, because there is no obvious reason for the problem occurring.I guess it is then a support request to TP-Link and fingers crossed that their support is OK. If not, I have just done several hundred dollars.I couldn't recommend this product or the TP-Link Deco app. It is the single most disastrous and disappointing tech experience I have had in many years! Don't buy this expecting it to be easy!

I recently upgraded to the TP-Link DECO X20-3-PACK AX1800 Whole Home Mesh Wi-Fi System, and it has transformed my internet experience! Before the upgrade, my internet speed was hovering in the 60 Mbps range, which often caused frustration, especially during gaming sessions. After setting up the Deco system, my speeds have soared into the 200 Mbps range, providing a smooth and seamless online experience. The coverage is fantastic as well. Although my home is only 800 sqft, this system covers up to 5800 sqft, which might seem like overkill, but it's truly worth every penny. The mesh network eliminates any dead spots, and I no longer experience any lag while gaming. The setup was straightforward, and the app makes managing the network a breeze. If you're looking for a ... MoreI recently upgraded to the TP-Link DECO X20-3-PACK AX1800 Whole Home Mesh Wi-Fi System, and it has transformed my internet experience! Before the upgrade, my internet speed was hovering in the 60 Mbps range, which often caused frustration, especially during gaming sessions. After setting up the Deco system, my speeds have soared into the 200 Mbps range, providing a smooth and seamless online experience. The coverage is fantastic as well. Although my home is only 800 sqft, this system covers up to 5800 sqft, which might seem like overkill, but it's truly worth every penny. The mesh network eliminates any dead spots, and I no longer experience any lag while gaming. The setup was straightforward, and the app makes managing the network a breeze. If you're looking for a reliable and fast Wi-Fi system that can handle heavy usage without breaking a sweat, I highly recommend the TP-Link DECO X20. It has completely changed how I use the internet at home. In this picture that’s before I plugged in the unit at bottom, middle is when one unit was plugged in and top speed is when all 3 where hooked up

Good, but with some limitations

Easy to setupResolved connectivity issuesNeeds to be in Access point mode for most setupsCan't have different SSIDs for 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz bandsWe have a very long house with the ISP's router at one end, which means that signal is weak mid way and non-existent at the farther end. The Deco system was easy to set up and the three units more than covered our house, resolving the main issue of connectivity far from the ISP's router. Speed is OK but varies around the house and is not as good as direct connection to ISPs router. Most importantly, unless you have made arrangements with your ISP to allow the Deco to act as a DNS server you must set it up in 'Access Point' mode or it will fight with the ISP's router causing all sorts of problems. This can be done easily ... MoreEasy to setupResolved connectivity issuesNeeds to be in Access point mode for most setupsCan't have different SSIDs for 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz bandsWe have a very long house with the ISP's router at one end, which means that signal is weak mid way and non-existent at the farther end. The Deco system was easy to set up and the three units more than covered our house, resolving the main issue of connectivity far from the ISP's router. Speed is OK but varies around the house and is not as good as direct connection to ISPs router. Most importantly, unless you have made arrangements with your ISP to allow the Deco to act as a DNS server you must set it up in 'Access Point' mode or it will fight with the ISP's router causing all sorts of problems. This can be done easily during setup but the instructions do not make clear that 'Access Point' is needed in almost all cases. A significant limitation is that both 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz WiFi bands MUST have the same name (SSID), other brands will allow different names for each band. Whilst this is unlikely to be an issue in most set ups, for us it stopped our SONOS system working. I have since discovered that although SONOS creates its own mesh network it also relies on WiFi to connect controllers and portable speakers (Roam, Move). If the SONOS mesh is connected to one Wifi band and your phone decides to connect to the other, you will not be able to control the SONOS system and the portable speakers will disappear from the controllers. For the Deco the only way to resolve this is to turn off one of the bands losing that facility and thus reducing the value of the Deco system.

I couldn't be happier with my choice! Setup easy, app really good, Ethernet backbone is killer

I'm an IT geek / software developer for a living. I know all about how this stuff works and I wanted fast, but I didn't need crazy expensive for my home and some of these mesh systems are way overpriced IMHO. Reality is you can have all the latest crazy standards but once you get 20ft from the access point all bets are off and you'll never see the speeds you see quoted so you need to mix practical with price. There seem to be sooo many mesh system options these days, that I was overwhelmed, but after some consideration I thought I would just go for this one which seemed reasonably priced, but still offered most of the latest standards (and thus speed limits) and also had free returns!In this case this config with 2 slave units was great for my ~4500 sq ft house, my ... MoreI'm an IT geek / software developer for a living. I know all about how this stuff works and I wanted fast, but I didn't need crazy expensive for my home and some of these mesh systems are way overpriced IMHO. Reality is you can have all the latest crazy standards but once you get 20ft from the access point all bets are off and you'll never see the speeds you see quoted so you need to mix practical with price. There seem to be sooo many mesh system options these days, that I was overwhelmed, but after some consideration I thought I would just go for this one which seemed reasonably priced, but still offered most of the latest standards (and thus speed limits) and also had free returns!In this case this config with 2 slave units was great for my ~4500 sq ft house, my previous single access point left some dead spots (like my Ring outside the house) just outside the range. But with this setup I can blanket the house and get pretty good speeds (>100-200Mb throughput) just about everywhere, and faster (400+ when you are reasonably close / line of sight to the access point)It's important to remember when thinking about laying these out in your house what and where you need the speed. If you need speed inside your house (say you are always streaming movies from a pc to another device) or if you need speed from a device to the internet. The slave access points can only provide as much throughput back to the main access point (which is probably directly plugged into your router/internet) as good as their own wireless connection is to EACH OTHER. eg: if you put the slave access points 50ft away they might "only" be able to get like 20Mb back to the internet, as your devices is going from device -> slave access point ->* main access point (next to your router/internet) and the * connection is the weak link. What was the killer feature for me on these is you can actually use ethernet as a backbone for the slave access points. My house is pre-wired with ethernet so I was able to put the slave access points pretty far but every slave is hardwired back to the main access point and thus has 100% of the throughput back to the internet so no matter which access point you connect to in the house each access point is as fast as the main one so the access point to access point speed drop is a non-issue if you can set it up like this. DO THIS IF AT ALL POSSIBLE! It's like having 3 "full speed" access points strategically dropped through your house. It wasn't obvious I could do this from the (very basic) docs for setup that came with it, but a quick search through the online docs showed you could this and it's brain dead, just plug your home network into the port on the back. Extra bonus feature, you can use the 2nd port on the back as a local hardwired port so if you have a single PC or "device" (like an xbox or something) next to the access point you can still plug it in directly and get full hard-wired speed without needing to buy an extra switch in the middle. Note: If you don't use the 1st port for the backbone, then you get 2 ports for local devices that will get at least Access Point -> Access Point speeds without one more wifi hop needed.I was pretty impressed with the iPhone app that you use to manage the setup, gone are the days of a webbrowser hitting a super slow admin page, the app is snappy and you can tweak all kinds of stuff. (favorite feature: One of the access points ended up in a kids room and they complained about the LED at night, guess what, turns out there's a "night mode" where it turns off the LED's during a timewindow in the settings pages!)The "mesh" part works really good too, from the app you can see your device move from access point to access point and what devices are on which and stuff. Super handy for initial setup troubleshooting and geeking out over how it's all working.I will admit, I was a little nervous since TP-Link is sort of a more bargain brand in my head, but I've had it going for about 8 weeks now in my house and it's been basically flawless. I'm sold, I'd TOTALLY buy this again or recommend it to a friend (or anyone reading this)!

Pure WiFi6

Good product. Works well with other TP Link deco to create WiFi6 mesh and has 4 Ethernet ports, that is exactly what I needed for my entertainment set to connect my TV, sound system and Xbox with cable and QoS. The DSL function might not be of use here in New Zealander in most cases. TPlink keep changing their security settings and partners and they have a security+ subscription in partnership with Norton that worth it as it can gives you AV/VPN and password management for five devices but Im not using it as I keep my old X20 as the main router is setup to work with Fibre and it has free Trend Micro security embedded. Now I Have real WiFi6 Mesh with no dead spots in my place now and secure with TrendMicro for intrusion detection and device quarantine enabled.

Quick Setup, Good value for sale price.

It's was very simple to configure and setup. It is all using the app and it took 5 minutes to setup de main router.About 2 minutes each to setup the satellite routers.The main router speed is great.I was a little disappointed with the Wi-Fi speed of the satellites when linked over Wi-Fi only.The Internet speed dropped significantly. About 40% the speed of main router. I was expecting something closer to 70%~80% since I understand WiFi 6 is a full duplex bandwidth meaning it is capable of receiving and transmitting over wifi at the same time.Granted, my main speed is Fiber 500Mb.Thw satellites could handle 120-175. Possibly because it was using 2.4Ghz bandwidth rather than 5Ghz.When I forced the signal to use the Ghz only, the speed went up to about ... MoreIt's was very simple to configure and setup. It is all using the app and it took 5 minutes to setup de main router.About 2 minutes each to setup the satellite routers.The main router speed is great.I was a little disappointed with the Wi-Fi speed of the satellites when linked over Wi-Fi only.The Internet speed dropped significantly. About 40% the speed of main router. I was expecting something closer to 70%~80% since I understand WiFi 6 is a full duplex bandwidth meaning it is capable of receiving and transmitting over wifi at the same time.Granted, my main speed is Fiber 500Mb.Thw satellites could handle 120-175. Possibly because it was using 2.4Ghz bandwidth rather than 5Ghz.When I forced the signal to use the Ghz only, the speed went up to about 250Mb download.The main router was doing 500 to 600.So, I don't expect full speed when the satellites are linked via Wi-Fi. I was simply hoping for much more.Keep in mind that 120-175Mb download is plenty for streaming and general computer work for at least 5 devices streaming at the same time.The solution, if you can, connect the satellites using the ethernet backhaul connection. They'll work great.If you still need wifi linking because you can't run ethernet over... I suggest you buy the tri-band version because those models use the 3rd band for focused linking connectivity between routers.Overall, it was a great purchase for $150 but I can't give 5 stars knowing it's limitations and significant drop in speed if I connect the satellite routers using wifi only.

Slows internet and no network structure control

As soon as you download the app before you can do anything you have to create a tp-link account. Why?!I connected the first deco (main deco) with ethernet cable - I connected my laptop (over 5GHz) and ran a speed test - result is 430 Mb on Deco network and it is 500 Mb on my regular network - the product specs say that on 5GHz it can support until 1201 Mb - where did the 70 Mb go?!I continued and connected the second Deco 7m away from the main one with no blockage in between. I went really close to the second one and I waited for my laptop to connect to it - It connected, speed test 260 Mbit?!!!This is the same efficiency as a cheap repeater, what is the appeal of a mesh network created with Deco?! Why should someone use this product where it cannot provide ... MoreAs soon as you download the app before you can do anything you have to create a tp-link account. Why?!I connected the first deco (main deco) with ethernet cable - I connected my laptop (over 5GHz) and ran a speed test - result is 430 Mb on Deco network and it is 500 Mb on my regular network - the product specs say that on 5GHz it can support until 1201 Mb - where did the 70 Mb go?!I continued and connected the second Deco 7m away from the main one with no blockage in between. I went really close to the second one and I waited for my laptop to connect to it - It connected, speed test 260 Mbit?!!!This is the same efficiency as a cheap repeater, what is the appeal of a mesh network created with Deco?! Why should someone use this product where it cannot provide the basic functionalities it is created for.I still continued and connected the 3rd Deco. This one was another 7 meters away from the 2nd one. So the setup was like Deco1 --7m-- Deco2 --7m-- Deco3. What happened? Deco3 connected to Deco1 (which is 14m away) and there is nothing in the App that you can do force it to connect to Deco2?! Wow. I understand maybe the distances are not far enough but why don't you let me control the connections?At the end I forced Deco3 to connect to Deco2 by deleting the whole network and adding them again - somehow the strange Deco dark magic worked.In short, Deco (at least this model: X20) slows down your internet and you cannot control the structure/topology of your own network.Return to sender...

Solved all my home network issues

I have a fiber connection to my network service provider which has been rock-solid and trouble-free. I also have wired ethernet throughout my home. The wired ethernet is great, but my network has grown to be rather complex. I live in a congested urban enviroment where there seems to be an arms race for airspace and I have a lot of IOT/'smart'/HomeKit devices in my house. There are dead spots in my home and the reliability of my HomeKit devices has suffered.I could have simply used the Deco as my wireless access point, but I decided to go all in and replace my Archer A9 completely. I realized I was in for a major hassle reprogramming all my smart devices, but I would take the opportunity to upgrade the security of my network. I chose the X20 because I can use my ... MoreI have a fiber connection to my network service provider which has been rock-solid and trouble-free. I also have wired ethernet throughout my home. The wired ethernet is great, but my network has grown to be rather complex. I live in a congested urban enviroment where there seems to be an arms race for airspace and I have a lot of IOT/'smart'/HomeKit devices in my house. There are dead spots in my home and the reliability of my HomeKit devices has suffered.I could have simply used the Deco as my wireless access point, but I decided to go all in and replace my Archer A9 completely. I realized I was in for a major hassle reprogramming all my smart devices, but I would take the opportunity to upgrade the security of my network. I chose the X20 because I can use my ethernet network to handle the backhaul traffic.HomeKit devices use 2.4Ghz exclusively due to its range. There are copious videos that encourage you to set up a separate 2.4Ghz network for these devices (which causes its own problems) or jump through other hoops, or even those that say that HomeKit devices don't work well on a mesh network. I can report that the default setup of the Decos which use a joint 2.4/5Ghz setting works just fine.Even without the mesh, I noticed the signal strength of the Deco X20 outperformed my A9 by a large margin. I'm really happy. All my devices work flawlessly and there are no more dead spots.As expected, I did have to manually reprogram/add all my HomeKit devices. Some I didn't have to do anything (those that supported Thread like the Wemo Stage Controller and HomePods), most I had to reprogram (which is fine), but some were really, really belligerent, most specifically the Wemo light switch (v2). I had been led to believe this was because of the mixed 2.4/5Ghz network or other voodoo, but in the end, this wasn't the case at all. All the light switches had to be factory reset before they could be reprogrammed and finding out how to do this was not described in the app, or the documentation. This can only be done by connecting directly to the lightswitch itself as a wifi router, like, you go to network settings, connect to the light switch and relaunch the app which puts it in a totally different (non HomeKit) mode so you can program the light switch. The reason I'm mentioning this is hopefully someone else can learn from my struggles and not blame the router.Anyway, really happy. Hopefully this will serve my family for a few years.