TP-Link Deco X20 (3-Pack) AX1800 Whole Home Mesh Wi-Fi System

Was a little dubious about getting this, but some of the other reviews convinced me to give it a go, and I'm glad I did. Had tried range extenders in different rooms but it never made much difference.Easy to set up - download the app on your phone, it walks you through it step by step. Note - there is an option that comes up during the setup - enable IPTV/VLAN - if you have fibre then you must enable this, and then there is a drop down menu from which you can select 'New Zealand - UFB' - select this and you will be good to go. Then just place the other two units where you need them in your house, and the system will automatically find them, connect them and get them up and running.We've been able to move the Playstation back to a bedroom instead of having it in ... MoreWas a little dubious about getting this, but some of the other reviews convinced me to give it a go, and I'm glad I did. Had tried range extenders in different rooms but it never made much difference.Easy to set up - download the app on your phone, it walks you through it step by step. Note - there is an option that comes up during the setup - enable IPTV/VLAN - if you have fibre then you must enable this, and then there is a drop down menu from which you can select 'New Zealand - UFB' - select this and you will be good to go. Then just place the other two units where you need them in your house, and the system will automatically find them, connect them and get them up and running.We've been able to move the Playstation back to a bedroom instead of having it in the living room on ethernet cable, and have had multiple users on games, streaming services etc at the same time with no lag or buffering. If this is what you want for your house and you need something that is a breeze to set up (no network skills at all needed) then I fully recommend this product.

Awesome product...solve the slow wifi speed in my home.

Before installation I had my home main router in my home office. I pay for 200mbps download from Wow. If I try to connect to the internet from my bedroom on the other side of the house I could only get 40 to 50mbps and sometimes it would drop completely. After installing the 3 node Deco X60.. one in the home office, one in the basement that is halfway between the bedroom and my office... and one in my bedroom. Now I get 160mbps to full 200mbps speed in my bedroom. Whooo Hooo... it works! Note: after installing this each of the nodes needed to autoupdate their firmware. Before this firmware update the download speed was half of what I am getting now. Point is.. make sure you update the firmware if needed.

Deco X20, a disapointment

I installed 2 Deco X20 units in my house, each in a separate floor. Units are operating as Access Points, directly conncted to a TP Link Archer A9 router (Wifi is disabled) as well as using wired backhaul, so overall connection speed is no issue. Alas, although having relativly strong 5Ghz WiFi signal in most rooms, devices tend to stick with the slower 2.4Ghz WiFi band. The Deco App have no option to set signal treshold to decide when to move a device from one band to another, resulting with a way lower WiFi speed. Occasionally i am able to switch from 2.4Ghz if i restart devices WiFi (android phone) several times when very near one of the units. This is somewhat disapointing as it is a degragation compared to previously using a non-mesh Wifi solution.

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.

Great products and good features

The DECO X20 2-PACK was great, I have connected one at each end of my house, and the days of weak WiFi at the rear of the house are gone, I don't notice any drops out with the meshed setup and it works great. The interface is a bit restrictive as I can only see what is connected, not which AP they are currently on, nor can I see the APs individually. Better documentation and instructions would make the product simpler to use. The KP115 smart plug and 4619544 power strip work really well, I have long been concerned how much power my printer uses in standby, so the smart plug allows me to monitor this, as well as remotely switch it off when not in use. The power strip also allows me to remotely turn off and on devices connected to it, without having to access the ... MoreThe DECO X20 2-PACK was great, I have connected one at each end of my house, and the days of weak WiFi at the rear of the house are gone, I don't notice any drops out with the meshed setup and it works great. The interface is a bit restrictive as I can only see what is connected, not which AP they are currently on, nor can I see the APs individually. Better documentation and instructions would make the product simpler to use. The KP115 smart plug and 4619544 power strip work really well, I have long been concerned how much power my printer uses in standby, so the smart plug allows me to monitor this, as well as remotely switch it off when not in use. The power strip also allows me to remotely turn off and on devices connected to it, without having to access the powerboard directly, this is great for appliances that may need an occasional power cycle and are plugged in, in hard to reach places, such as at the back of a TV cabinet or under a desk. The only downside is it doesn't have inbuilt power monitoring like the smart plug does. The KL60, KL130 smart bulbs work really well, personally I am not a fan of filament bulbs, but the fact you can dim them and turn them off and on remotely, I am happy to keep them in places they would suit, as the bulbs are good quality and work without issue. The coloured bulbs work really well too, the kids have a great time asking Alexa to change the colours, and the brightness of them is excellent, being able to set them at different levels depending on what you need is great, and the profile settings in the app are great for autosetting mood lighting across multiple globes and rooms. The only thing I wish they would improve is the user interface, as it is somewhat limiting in some situations and us more geared for single room lights rather than mutli room lights. The bulbs changing one at a time is noticeable when having 4 in the one room, I would of expected some sort of group setup with a braodcast/mutlicast option. Overall good!

I'm happy I bought this!

A couple weeks ago the tech at my isp told me I was using only 2% of my allowed bandwidth, so the problems I was having was due to my Wi-Fi network being overloaded. I head for B&H and decided on the Deco.The setup was confusing as there isn't much in the way of words in the instructions. I'm too impatient to call support for a walk through, I toughed it out.The tricky part is knowing what each thing is that's connected to the Wi-Fi. So, shut all your devices off. Then plug them in 1 at a time and name them in the Deco app.My Wi-Fi is now roomy for my devices and all my lag problems have disappeared. And now I have a good reach out in yard, so I can take my my iPad with me out in the yard to show Zoom meetings how spectacular my view is.The price is great ... MoreA couple weeks ago the tech at my isp told me I was using only 2% of my allowed bandwidth, so the problems I was having was due to my Wi-Fi network being overloaded. I head for B&H and decided on the Deco.The setup was confusing as there isn't much in the way of words in the instructions. I'm too impatient to call support for a walk through, I toughed it out.The tricky part is knowing what each thing is that's connected to the Wi-Fi. So, shut all your devices off. Then plug them in 1 at a time and name them in the Deco app.My Wi-Fi is now roomy for my devices and all my lag problems have disappeared. And now I have a good reach out in yard, so I can take my my iPad with me out in the yard to show Zoom meetings how spectacular my view is.The price is great and I'm already recommending it to neighbors!

Incredible

Got sick of using an extender that didn't receive enough connection to reliably work, so splashed out on this mesh system. Best decision I ever made! I now have an incredibly strong connection everywhere in the house and even down at the edge of the property in the shed.It's also super easy to setup with only needing the cell phone app, and is done within a couple minutes for the initial unit, with the other 2 "satellite" units setup as plug-and-play so I had the whole house upgraded within about 5min. Worked seemlessly with my ISP and had no issues when we switched to a different provider just recently.I will 100% recommend this to friends + family when they need to replace their existing setups

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 Our Wi-Fi Issues.

Unfortunately we area where only virgin media can supply fibre broadband and in true Virgin style it is awful. I have tried everything Virgin suggested and used their extenders etc. all to no avail. We have the fastest possible service but was actually getting less than 1990's dial up.A friend is an electrician and he suggested this product from Tp-Link. To say it was simple to install is an understatement. We now have the superfast broadband I pay for.Very stylish and modern, will fit right into any home, office or workplace.I can't recommend it enough.

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.