Purchased a 3 set of Deco P9 to accommodate a 3 story house which multiple wired devices also. A big selling point of these for me what the Powerline backhaul which is great because the house is not cat6 cabled to accommodate standard wireless access points.
I encountered my first problem when setting up the first device: I had to install an application on my phone to begin setup and there is no web user interface that every other router/network device has.
I wanted to setup my 3 devices as access points and keep the existing router as this existing Netgear router supports features such as IPSec site-to-site VPNs whereas the Deco does not, this is fine I thought as the devices are advertised to be placed into access point mode. I quickly found the access point setting in the app and changed my Deco to it. I connected it via ethernet to my router and it worked flawlessly.
I thought this was brilliant it was going to work no problem, so I started setting up the other two Deco P9 in the kit. I plugged one into the lounge and another into the garage. Unfortunately this was where the problems began. As soon as I started connecting up the third Deco P9, the whole network fell over for no reason. I was still able to connect to the network and gain an IP from my existing Netgear router, but quickly all the P9's started showing red lights unable to connect to one another and the wifi dropped.
After four hours of testing and trying different things like plugging them into different power sockets and plugging in the ethernet backhaul to the 3rd P9 in the garage, still nothing worked. (this area had a cable in it which connected to a switch which then connected into the existing Netgear router)
I discovered hidden in the FAQ section a note about Powerline and ethernet backhaul about the Deco P7 which informed me that mixing both backhaul ethernet and Powerline connection does not work. So unfortunately access point mode was a no-go for me. This also seems like a huge oversight in the design as it was setup exactly how it looks on the box that it came in.... I presume that access point mode is just plain broken and does not work, I note the software version is 1.0.1 so this product is extremely new, hopefully this issue will be fixed in future releases.
So I had to remove the existing Netgear router (and the accompanying site-to-site VPNs!) and place the Deco P9 as the router due to the broken Access Point mode. Setup of this was again horrible due to the management being an iPhone app but I also came across another issue in that the reason management is done via the app is because the Deco's are cloud managed. Which is HUGE issue when setting up an internet connection.... it created a catch 22 situation in that I couldn't configure the Deco P9 because there was no internet connection and I couldn't give them an internet connection because they weren't connected to the internet! So I had to factory reset them and start from scratch.
Once changing to router mode it quickly got setup with the PPPoE connection offered by my modem and I connected fine no problem, just like when I had it in AP mode! So I thought so far so good, lets try with the other devices. I factory reset them and they connected up ok and I had the wireless network working all over the house in the garage which is great and just what I wanted. I plugged in the Smart TV to the Deco P9 in the lounge and this was fine, streaming Netflix via the ethernet connection. I also plugged in the switch into the Deco P9 in the office and this was also working no problem.
So once setup in router mode the devices work ok as advertised but I was really hoping to get these setup in AP so I could take advantage of the features of my existing router. (I also have to reconfigure all the DHCP reservations).
Issues I have found with this setup:
1. The management app does not tell me whether the Deco P9s are using the Powerline backhaul or the wireless backhaul, there is no physical indicator of this on the devices. In fact there is very little information it provides on the operation of the P9s, e.g. no indication of RSSI from the clients, no tx dBm of the radios, no information on current operating channel.
2. No web UI for local management, management must be done via a cloud mobile app.
3. There is no option to change the channel that the network broadcasts on, I discovered my P9s broadcasting a 2.4GHz bonded channel (40Mhz) which is a massive mistake and huge performance hit when designing and implementing wireless in the 2.4GHz band networks!
4. If the PPPoE connection drops, the Deco P9 will not renegotiate and must be rebooted for this to occur. (this will require physically turning the device off and on again as the lack of a PPPoE connection means no internet connection and no internet connection means no management via the app!)
5. The ethernet ports on the Deco P9 do not have link lights to inform me if devices are connected.
6. Access point mode breaks the network when 3 or more Deco P9 are connected.
7. Deco P9 does not support uPnP for multiplayer online gaming, manual port forwarding rules must be entered.
8. Unable to create another SSID and bind it to a different subnet and VLAN.
Things the Deco P9 does well:
1. Aesthetically pleasing.
2. Provides a wired backhaul (via Powerline connection) for devices such as smart TV, Video games console.
3. Has provided good wifi coverage across the property.
4. Management app shows a live download/upload usage in Mbps.
5. IPv6 Support.
| Brand | TP-Link |
|---|---|
| Product Dimensions | 16.2 x 9.1 x 9.1 cm; 260 Grams |
| Item model number | Deco S4(3-pack) |
| Manufacturer | TP-Link |
| Wireless Type | 5 GHz Radio Frequency, 2.4 GHz Radio Frequency |
| Operating System | Windows |
| Are Batteries Included | No |
| Item Weight | 260 g |
