When I first connected the TP-Link Deco XE75, I thought there was something wrong with the speed test. Speeds of over 900 Mbit / s are some of the fastest I’ve ever seen on WiFi, and I was ready to shout from the top of the nearest mountain that expensive networks are just bullshit – the XE75 is all you need. ! But soon reality would hit me hard in the head …
Two or three units
TP-Link Deco XE75 is an affordable mesh network, available in two or three parts. With compact, round, white units. I received the set of three boxes, but the price listed is for two. Whether you need one or the other depends on how many areas you have with poor coverage. Many people will get away with two boxes, but since I myself have a garage where I should also have the cover, three glasses are fine for me.
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Deco XE75: installation
All the boxes in the package are identical which means you can choose which one you want as the main routes. Connect it to your home modem and set it up easily with the Deco app. Then place the other boxes in close proximity and plug them into the wall. They will all be paired automatically. You can then plug the ones you have chosen as nodes back into the wall, place them in the desired rooms and reconnect them to electricity. When they all light up constantly with a green light, you know the network is up and running.
The Decco app offers a few more options than the Huawei app, including network speed control. Something that is very nice to do from time to time, and which is probably the function I myself use most often in an app like this.
6 GHz
Deco XE75 is of the latest type, Wi-Fi 6E, which means it has its own 6GHz channel. As long as this frequency band is not flooded with modern products that support it, it will be noise-free, so to speak, so if you have a newer type of Android cellphone or other products which support 6GHz, can be connected there with advantage. That is, as long as they are close to the router or node, because range is worse on that band than on 5 GHz.
Just know that the 6 GHz band is basically dedicated to the connection between routers and nodes (backhaul), and you need to make it actively available to connected devices in the app. 6 GHz will then become a separate network with its own name. For example “Mesh TP-Link – 6GHz”.
Non-dedicated backhaul
Deco XE75 can be used both wirelessly and wired backhaul. Any Ethernet connector can be used for the purpose. If you choose wireless, you should know that there is no dedicated backhaul channel and you will not know which channel is used for the purpose at any given time.
Speed
As I wrote at the beginning, when I first plugged in the network and measured the speeds, I almost gasped. With a compatible 6 GHz Samsung Galaxy Z Fold3 in the same room as the router, I saw 700 Mbit / s down and 670 Mbit / s up. You’re talking great! But as I said, this is a frequency band with a limited range and with the cellphone upstairs I was down to around 300-350 Mbit / s. Another floor up we were on only 20-30 Mbit / s, but the PC that has better antennas could read 100 Mbit / s on the same band.
Speed test: 6 GHz. Node in the room next to the WiFi card of the PC. Open door. Wireless backhaul, with an entire floor in between.
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When I then added a node on the third floor, in the room next to the office, things went completely different. Especially with a wired connection between the two. With a closed door between rooms (light interior door type), I got over 900 Mbit / s less and 870 Mbit / s up! This is insane and one of the fastest I’ve ever seen on any network. Regardless of the price range! Same result with the door open, and the speeds did not increase if I placed the node in the office, in the immediate vicinity of the antenna.
The 5 GHz band gave almost the same speed, around 850 Mbit / s with the node in the room outside. I simply cannot understand and understand who needs more than this!
With a wireless connection between router and node, the speed drops slightly. But with the router on the first floor and the node on the third floor, I continue to exceed 300 Mbit / s on the 5 GHz band, while the 6 GHz drops to around 270. Absolutely respectable, few people need a faster network. of this. Remember that the most demanding 4K Ultra HD shows on Netflix only require 15 megabits per second bandwidth!
Many gadgets: Trouble in yeast
What would cause problems, however, was when I plugged in all my gadgets and smart devices. Well over 30 pieces, including TVs, speakers, PCs, tablets and mobile phones. And shutters and garage door, front door and so on. And even though most of them aren’t in use, they’re still standing and barely communicating with the network.
When the TP-Link network receives too many products to handle, the speed decreases. Like a stone. As of this writing, I have an average speed of around 50 Mbit / s. It’s throughout the house, with coverage of three TP-Link Deco devices: a router and two nodes. All are set up where they provide the best coverage in terms of experience, without soiling each other’s coverage area more than necessary. I’ve also tried disconnecting both one and both nodes, with no significant improvements. The conclusion is simply that the Deco network does not particularly like many gadgets connected at the same time.
Conclusion
If you have some gadgets that you need to connect to your home network and you need fast speeds, then you should take a closer look at the TP-Link Deco XE75. Here we sometimes have blazing speeds and have rarely been this close to seeing real gigabit speeds on WiFi!
Unfortunately, the speed drops dramatically as more smart devices connect to the network. Presumably this could have to do with the system not having a separate one backhaul-channel.
The advice is therefore to go up in price if you have a large and extended smart home, while others do very well with the Deco XE75.
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