TP-Link Deco X20 WiFi 6 Mesh System

I just came back from the park. I brought an inverter to power the SONOFF TH10. I brought an Android 9 phone to pretend to be the Deco SSID. I use another Android 10 phone to pair the smart switch. This is my last resort to pair it. It worked and continue to work after I brought it home.

I thought the Deco worked pretty well until I realized that the weather has been perfect for a few days. I had several TH10 to be temperature sensors for my HVAC system. They didn’t connect and couldn’t be paired again. I was panicking and pray for the weather to stay perfect.

There are many reasons that it’s very hard to pair again. And it’s not only Deco. But I would call it iDeco in the same league as iDevices. And that with Apple in the way, the psychiatrist is never far away.

There is something called Smart Connect that you are forced to use in the iDeco. You can have only one, single, uno, un, yi, SSID. The idea is that Deco will connect to the device in the best band, 2.4 GHz, and one of the two 5 GHz bands. Deco is not tri-band. It doesn’t use both 5 GHz bands simultaneously. But how possibly does it work? I don’t think it’s a new standard. It’s not up to Deco. The phone will scan and connect to the strongest signal even with the same SSID. The 2.4 GHz has the advantage. I almost returned it when I saw my phone connected to the lower band. But after some observations, it seems that all the 5 GHz capable devices all connect to the higher band, which should be the case as the interference at the 2.5 GHz band is terrible here.

The 1st problem is those cheap smart things that use little bandwidth stay at the 2.4 GHz tech. All of my switches from different manufacturers only support 2.4. My phone will connect to 5. So the Sonoffs won’t pair. I have no control over which band the phone connects to.

You can have 2nd guest SSID but the guest network is isolated from the main network. The Deco replaced my three router tree that is increasingly difficult to pair new devices. The Sonoffs may be connected to the same SSID on different routers. I was hoping the Deco mesh appears to the Sonoffs as one router.

Is that easy just to turn off the 5 GHz band during pairing? To my horror, you can’t turn off any band. You are just turning off the broadcasting of the SSID. Any devices that already have the SSID can still connect.

Of course, I can still connect to the 2 GHz band if I forget the SSID and reconnect. But the 2 GHz band here is jammed solid. I have to use two APs at the front and back of the house with an ethernet backhaul. All the APs are wired to the cable internet source. They not actually ethernet cables but modems turning unused TV cables in the house into ethernet. But the modems are limited to 100 Mbps from years ago. Now I am paying for 150 Mbps. Instead of upgrading that I opted for a wifi 6 mesh.

My 3 Deco’s are pretty good in putting a wifi shield around my house that no neighbors’ signals can penetrate. Even the internet speed at 2 GHz is pretty fast and reliable instead of unusable before. But the Deco occupies two channels so that you can’t do much from channel 1 to 8. And the rest are belong to my neighbors. You can’t move it around. And I don’t see how it can adapt when there are three Deco’s subject to different interferences.

Wifi pairing is always tricky because to be simple you have to give out your password to eWelink. For the Sonoff’s newer quick pairing mode, the device is looking for a secret SSID, 12345678 with the password abcabcab. The app asks the phone to generate a hotspot with the SSID and the password so it can communicate with the device. After the device downloaded the normal login credentials, the app deletes the hotspot and connects to the normal SSID. But the iPhone would never have allowed that and you can’t do that in Android 10 anymore. But that’s the default mode when you power up the IoT device. Until the newer devices use BT pairing.

Anyway, I don’t think the 2 GHz from the phone here is good enough to finish pairing. The last resort is the old compatibility mode where the device becomes an AP in channel 7! It’s always channel 7. I never saw it moves. Are you that lucky always? But this Sonoff AP always crashes with the Deco AP. If I have to add another AP to make another SSID to test things, I will be running out of clean bandwidth at 2 GHz. The only thing I can do is to wait until everybody sleeps and unplug all the Deco’s. But I rather go to the park.

I also think you have to delete the device from the app first before you pair it again as some info will be stored in the cloud. Maybe you can try the secret SSID first to unstuck some old bits. The quick pairing mode works in the park.

You have absolutely no web-based control panel like DD-WRT. The one there is just for show.

I stayed with the Deco because my problems are solved. Except that Smart Life doesn’t allow me to edit any device from time to time. I have no idea. I read that some satellites limit the bandwidth to like 60% of the ISP bandwidth. Whereas my Deco’s are about the same 130 Mbps (Netflix) vs 150 Mbps for the ISP.

And also each Deco has two ethernet ports whereas some others have only one. So I need 3 mesh devices to give me one cable modem connection, one game connection, and one internet phone connection, and no more. Yes, I have plenty of old routers to split the ethernet ports but they are still in the 70’s!

Original review:

I needed to upgrade. Speed isn’t the main issue as I’m only willing to pay my ISP for a 150 Mbps connection, enough for more than one 4K streaming and many zooms. I considered a tri-band one because of the interference from neighbors. But wifi 6 cost extra less than going out for a meal. I’m not sure it’s a better decision. But my current 5 GHz APs, D-Link AC750s, have dates in the 1970s because they are too old, the dates wrapping around. The Deco will see some new wifi 6 devices added to the house.

Installation is easy. All Deco’s are identical with a power socket and two ethernet sockets, identical and bi-directional. Each can be used as a satellite or the main router. Basically, you plug it in, open the app and give it the SSID, password, and security mode.

Easy except that the hardware and software are more Apple-like than I prefer. I was distracted when I installed the main router. Then I couldn’t find a way to install the 2nd Deco. After I exhausted the menus, I found that it’s the + sign. Silly me, or is it? I was also distracted when I added the last Deco. The app said I didn’t finish but the LED said yes. There’s no way you can see how many Deco’s you have in your network. Instead of being driven crazy often by Apple products, I let go.

Hours later when I accidentally tapped on the globe icon, with a label saying internet, all my connected Deco’s appeared. Silly me, or is it?

The signal strength is a bit stronger. That’s not the point as I can jack up the signal killing my neighbors’. It looks like that I can use only one Deco to replace my DIY mesh network, except for a room in the middle of the 2nd floor that is somewhat less than the ISP speed. I think if your house isn’t that large, and your ISP speed isn’t that great, you can just put a satellite Deco where you need speed. Because the max speed is much faster, like 1 Gbps, and the ISP connection is only 150 Mbps, the wireless Deco connections are as good as wired ethernet. You don’t need to use an ethernet backhaul. I have speeds at the 5 GHz band from over 100 Mbps to 120 Mbps. Netflix says 130 Mbps.

Surprisingly, you can only have one SSID for both bands. My phone automatically connects to the 2.4 GHz band that is much slower because of neighbors’ interference. The only way out seems to set up a guest network for the 2.4 GHz band only and the main network for the 5 GHz only. Use a different SSID for each one so you can select.

This Apple-like feature almost made me return it. I wasted my time using the guest network for a different SSID for a different band. The IoT switches work but they route via the internet. The guest network is isolated from the main. So I can’t see the IP cameras on the 2.4 GHz band when my phone is normally connected to the 5 GHz band.

When I searched further, this feature isn’t uncommon. It’s like a sort of handover between the two bands. You need both bands because the 2.4 GHz travels further while the 5 GHz band has much more bandwidth. But I don’t think there is a standard protocol to select one of the bands. The Deco can’t force a device to change bands. It depends on the device to pick the best band.

When I have the same SSID on two different 2.4 GHz channels, the stronger one will be picked and it simply makes sense. But it’s a disaster if any device picks one of the bands based on signal strength. Comparing the signal strength of the two bands is like comparing apples to oranges. I was alarmed when my phone connects to the 2.4 GHz band and I have no way of making it change.

After observing the Deco for days, I conclude that devices that need fast data connect to the 5 GHz band. Most desktops, laptops, and phones connect to the 5 GHz band eventually.

The conventional router settings are still there but a lot less. Perhaps you don’t need to with the content filters and parental controls. To change the DNS server, you need to tap on the dynamic IP setting, and then edit it to see the DNS address.

The content filters depend on the Trend Micro and the Deco database, which is not as reliable as the OpenDNS database. But you can add individual url’s. As for parental control, there is a time limit on each device that is hard to program on older devices. There are also bedtime settings so it’s rather enough for kids.

For my classic RT-N16, with DD-WRT on you can program it as a Linux computer. I used to have a timetable for games and other fun sites when switching to different DNS filters automatically. With the automation feature of the Deco, it looks like it can do something like that. You can do something when some devices connect to the mesh or at a specific time, but there’s nothing much to set.

It’s not easy to see what websites are connected to anymore. Though the top ones are listed on the monthly reports. If you want to know you need to set the DNS to something like OpenDNS so you can see the website logs.

For the Deco, it’s MAC-based filtering so you can easily tell which devices are connected and give them a meaningful name. The RT-N16 wasn’t able to install a MAC filter so I have to set up a table of IP reservations manually and then setup filters on the static IP addresses. But my RT-N16 isn’t reliable anymore. It crashes once in a few months and lost all data. I have to restore backups that aren’t always updated. And the last time I thought I couldn’t power it up anymore.

Do I need that high speed? I think I can pay a lot less going for 50 Mbps at my ISP. But I need better wifi to deal with interference from my neighbors. I need either a good mesh or an ethernet backhaul. I did have an ethernet backhaul. All my wifi AP’s are connected by ethernet. But it’s not direct ethernet cables. They are TV cables with ethernet modems on both ends. I had them when the 5 GHz band began to be crowded. I had two to finally four AP or routers, ethernet connected via TV cable.

But with wifi 6 mesh this good we can save a lot of money by sharing the ISP with neighbors. Each house only needs one Deco and we can share the 150 Mbps or higher among as many houses as we want.

The TV cable modem adaptors I have are cheap and limited to 100 Mbps. The faster ones are not worthwhile until I have a gigabyte ISP connection. This is the main reason I go for better wifi to get my worth of the 150 Mbps ISP connection.

Do I need a mesh? Probably not for an average 3 bedroom. The newer routers seem to handle interference well at the 5 GHz band. It’s also better at 2.4 GHz. They use a wideband, 40 MHz instead of 20 MHz.

But I always have a DIY mesh. You can actually use the same SSID on two different AP’s. It works seamlessly on two different channels without overlapping. Though it’s not a seamless handover, you have to disconnect manually and reconnect if it doesn’t disconnect automatically due to poor signal. Though it’s a lot easier for the kids instead of using different SSIDs depending on where they are.

The front and back of the house are subject to different interfering signals. With only one AP I have to suffer all of them. With two AP and two channels, I suffer only half. It worked well until the 5 GHz channels are crowded too. I suppose the older AP’s at 5 GHz doesn’t work as well with newer AP’s with newer devices.

With a 3-Deco mesh at 2.4 GHz, I won’t worry about dead zones for the IoT and outside cameras. They are a fraction of the ISP connection but very reliable now across the house. Maybe one or two can do it, but since I got three already, I don’t bother to sell one of them.

Este producto tiene muy buena calidad, desde que se está abriendo la caja y la forma en que está empacado se sabe que es un producto de calidad.

Las instrucciones que vienen en la caja en un principio y luego en la app para instalar los DECO son claras y sencillas de seguir.

Una vez instalado, la velocidad del internet que se tiene contratada con el proveedor se replicó bien en todo el establecimiento y sin variaciones.

Es un producto caro pero vale la pena.

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 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)!