TP-Link - Deco X55 AX3000 Whole Home Mesh WiFi 6 System

The TP-Link Deco works great for me.

If on a budget, deco, if you wanna go down the rabbit hole and really geek out, ubiquiti

https://a.co/d/chdM3Y8 Just purchased this last week Tp Link Deco x55

I have the X55 (3-pack, ethernet connection). ~~The 3-pack idea won’t work the way you think it will. The nodes don’t act as wireless relays. Both satellite nodes must connect directly with the primary node. Now if you have the 2nd and 3rd nodes connected to each other with ethernet, then the 3rd node’s signal strength should be equally as strong as the 2nd node but you’d want to make sure the 2nd node has a connection with the primary node before you connect the 3rd node to the 2nd (I’m guessing).~~ You’re better off just running a long ethernet from the router to your office. If you got the 2-pack, then an ethernet connection will carry the full signal strength to the second node so you’d at least have strong wifi on both sides of the apartment. Just make sure Fast Roaming is enabled for a seamless experience.

OMG, so the speed halves at each hop, that’s why it feels like node 3 communicates directly to node 1. Thanks for the correction. Sorry to mislead you, u/No_Phrase_7698

Your setup needs to be: Internet > Modem (or ONT for fiber internet) > Router > APs People here get too hung up on jargon. The TP-Link Decos can act as mesh (wireless backhaul) and they can act as APs (ethernet backhaul). Wired connection will always be superior so just wire them together. I have the TP-Link X55 decos and have them wired together. One great thing about the decos is they can offer seamless roaming (wifi protocol 802.11r). So as long as you have seamless roaming enabled, then when your devices come within range of a stronger signal from a different deco, then your device can connect to the other deco without having to re-authenticate. If you buy a router and different models for APs, you aren’t guaranteed to have this feature. Edit: in my case, I have fiber internet and I have one of the decos plugged in directly to the optical network terminal (ONT) and this makes that deco the main router which then makes the other decos mesh points/access points.

So for jargon’s sake, with fiber internet, the optical network terminal (ONT) is essentially the modem, but what really makes an ONT different from a modem is you can connect a computer directly into an ONT and be online. You can’t do that with a modem. ONTs don’t require a router but you still want a router if you want to connect more than one device. Anyway, with traditional APs, each AP can either have different SSID and password combos if you choose, or they have the same SSID and password as the primary router. However, having the same SSID and password doesn’t mean they offer seamless roaming. What happens is your phone will auto-join the first wifi access point that it can find. It will remain connected with that access point until the signal weakness drops below a certain threshold and then your phone will re-scan what’s around. Supposing it finds a secondary access point with the same SSID and password, it has to re-authenticate and it does this in the background but because it has to re-authenticate, it isn’t seamless so you could experience glitches on Facetime if you’re walking around your home. For seamless roaming, your access points and your devices need to have the 802.11r wifi protocol and it’s not enabled by default on the decos. After enabling it on your decos, what happens is the decos do a handshake with your phone so that you connect to the stronger signal without having to re-authenticate. I hope that makes sense?

I’ll share what I went from to what I have now. Former: TP-Link Archer A6 AC1200 & TP-Link RE-315 wireless range extender (both with the TP-Link branded OneMesh feature). Fiber internet with 250Mbps plan. Current: 3-point TP-Link X55 Deco wired with ethernet. Seamless roaming enabled and QoS configured. Fiber internet with 100Mbps plan. Even though my internet plan’s speed is less than half of what it used to be, my current setup is superior and feels faster than my former setup simply because my current setup is more optimal than before.

I have the TP-Link Deco X55 (3-point system) but am using ethernet backhaul and have seamless roaming enabled. It’s marketed as a mesh system but is it more correct to say that it is *capable* of mesh (wireless) but also capable of acting as router and wired WAPs? Is it accurate to say that I’m not using it as a mesh system since I’m using ethernet backhaul?

Products are one thing. How you use the products are another thing. I have the TP-Link Deco but it *is* the budget brand of what you listed (yet still miles ahead of the garbage that ISPs provide). Its web interface lacks a lot of configuration ability and requires the Deco app for most configuration. And some features are locked behind a paywall like parental controls. I’m fine with it (since I have other means of parental control) but if I ever upgrade, I’ll probably go with Ubiquity. Wire up as much as you can, make a separate network just for your IoT devices, and if you have multiple access points, try to wire them together and enable seamless roaming.

Not an expert but sharing my very recent experience. I had an old nighthawk Netgear router from 2018 that started to act up, so I got a newer WiFi 7 router from Netgear (RS90) and it was even worse than the old one. After hours on the phone with tech support they couldn’t do much, so I returned it and went with a TP-Link WiFi 6 mesh (Deco X55 AX3000) and it has been working great.

I’ve been using TP-Link Deco for a couple of years and it’s been great.

For a quick, easy and uncomplicated setup TP-Link mesh systems are a good option. You didn't specify your internet speed, so I'll assume 1gbps max. If it's faster than that you'll want to get a mesh system that can match it. For example if you have 2gbps service you'll want a mesh system with 2.5gbps WAN and LAN ports. Let me know if you have faster internet speed and I could provide additional recommendations. I'm listing 3 unit sets since you'll have one mesh unit per floor, and all will be connected via ethernet (wired backhaul), per your post (you are running ethernet to each floor). WiFi 6 is still a great technology, offering 2.4ghz and 5ghz band support. WiFi 6E adds 6ghz band support. WiFi 7 is the newest technology, also has 6ghz band plus other upgrades. WiFi 7 is still new, can have bugs and you could encounter quirks. Not trying to scare you away from WiFi 7, but if you want something rock-solid I'd recommend WiFi 6 or WiFi 6E. I myself am using WiFi 6 and don't plan to upgrade to WiFi 7 for at least 2 years. All prices below are for units I found at amazon.com. TP-Link recommendations - Deco X55 ($130, AX3000, WiFi 6 dual band (2.4/5ghz), 3 pack, 3 gigabit ports per unit); Deco XE70 Pro ($240, AXE4900, WiFi 6E tri-band (2.4/5/6ghz), 3 pack, 2.5gigabit WAN & 2 gigabit ports per unit); Deco BE63 ($420, BE1000, WiFi 7 tri-band (2.4/5/6ghz), 3 pack, 4 2.5gigabit WAN/LAN ports per unit). A side note:, TP-Link charges extra for some security features; it's a subscription service, so you'll pay it as long as you want those features. [https://www.tp-link.com/us/support/faq/4319/](https://www.tp-link.com/us/support/faq/4319/) Most people might be interested in adding Security+ ($35.99/year). Families with children using the internet might also want to add Advanced Parental Controls ($17.99/year). So about $54 extra is paid every year, for these increased security features. But TP-Link is the easiest to setup and use, not complicated, so perhaps the ease of setup is worth it to you. Or if you don't want the additional security features (summarized at [https://www.tp-link.com/us/homeshield/](https://www.tp-link.com/us/homeshield/) ) then you don't need to pay for it. Eero and Netgear ("Orbi" product) sell some mesh systems as well. Both of those also require subscription sign-ups for additional security features. If you are curious about these I can post some thoughts on them. ASUS includes Ai Protection Pro (security scanning/protection via Trend Micro) with their products for free. ASUS products cost more for initial purchase, but if you keep a mesh system for 4 years, then you've saved $216 by not paying for the security features (assuming TP-Link's $54/yr fee). However ASUS products can sometimes be a bit problematic to setup and use. You would probably have no issues but just warning you. I use an ASUS mesh system and it works well for me (XT8). I won't recommend it to you though, as it's an older system. Below are some newer recommendations. ASUS recommendations: ET8 ($259 w/coupon, AXE6600, WiFi 6E tri-band (2/5/6ghz), 3 pack, 2.5gigabit WAN & 3 gigabit LAN ports per unit); BT6 ($591, BE9400, WiFi 7 tri-band (2/5/6ghz), 3 pack, 2.5gigabit WAN & 3 gigabit LAN ports per unit). Hope that helps with your decision. Good luck and advise us if you have any questions.

Go with the Tp-Link Deco mesh system. They are priced well for what you get. I've been very happy with my system

Pulling this up was horrendous because my tmobile service sucks but its this one. TP-Link Deco AX3000 WiFi 6 Mesh System - Covers up to 4500 Sq.Ft, Replaces Wireless Router and Extender, 3 Gigabit Ports per Unit, Supports Ethernet Backhaul (Deco X55, 2-Pack) https://a.co/d/7qdP4Ts

I have good luck using my deco home mesh, go through Walmart and you'll most of the time find it on sale for less than $100. I picked up my 2 pack for around $80

I had an Orbi mesh system until it failed. Switched to Deco and love it. The software is so much better.

No, don’t use the Starlink router. I have this exact situation at my house (though it’s closer to 100 feet) and I use Deco X55 mesh routers and put the Starlink into bypass mode.