TP-Link - Deco BE16000 Wi-Fi 7 Quad-Band Whole Home Multi-Gig Mesh Router System (3-Pack) - White

I have been looking at WiFi solutions utilizing 6GHz for an apartment in the city. The problem: congestion and interference on the 2.4GHz band render it slow and unreliable while the 5GHz band is useable with limited bandwidth channels of 40MHz. The solution: 6GHz is wide open! I tried a number of routers and mesh sets from BestBuy as they have an easy return and exchange policy. I was replacing a very good 3 year old, 12 stream, 11000Mbps, Triband, WiFi 6 router. This would drop connection to older AC clients 50 feet away through multiple walls. 6GHz has high bandwidth with limited ability to penetrate multiple walls. Hence a mesh setup for a 1000 SqFt apartment starts to make sense. Yet it also needed to be easy to use, self healing, remotely monitored,… basically non-techie proof. (And finally, this is for my daughter who also wants something that looks nice sitting out in the open.) I’ve used all the major brands over the last 20 years. Currently ASUS and TP-Link have WiFi-7 mesh solutions that fully embrace MLO. (Netgear/Orbi is still using dedicated 5GHz wireless backhaul on its most advanced mesh sets while it is moving to MLO backhaul.) Still, the price of WiFi 7 remains unreasonably high…. Enter the TP-Link Deco WIFi 7 solutions: The BE11000 triband runs about $233/node, BE16000 triband quad-radio is $283/node, BE22000 triband $367/node, BE33000 triband quad-radio $467/node. The latter two are multi-10gig wired as well which is unnecessary for my use case. The BE11000 or 16000 both worked for our needs. I found the quad-radio setup of the BE16000 more versatile as 6GHz channels become more prevalent in the future. Meanwhile the Deco MLO firmware works right now! It’s the magic behind WiFi-7 allowing 6GHz to work seamlessly while WiFi-6E remains a bit clunky. I found the Deco setup and functionality to be simple to setup and troubleshoot. While this is only a 350Mbps cable internet connection, it passes that bandwidth throughout the whole apartment easily. Downloads for AX clients are over 300Mbps while AC clients on the non-MLO network are over 200Mbps. The AC client is a streaming device connected through a satellite node via wireless backhaul to the main node. It could not reliably connect to the old router, yet now it works better than it ever has! The only downside to the TP-Link Deco solution is their anti-virus/malware protection software requires an additional subscription of $69.99 for a full year, billed annually. (Netgear and Eero also charge subscription fees for advanced security features while ASUS includes these important items as part of their package.) I’ll give the hardware and firmware a 5-star rating, yet I would subtract a 1/2 star for the subscription fees if I could. Overall, TP-Link Deco has solid equipment with functional software and solid firmware making WiFi-7 reliable for real world use now. ASUS ZenWiFi and Netgear Orbi also have compelling mesh sets which should be widely available and have solidified firmware by 4Q 2024. If you can wait a bit longer for WiFi-7, prices and reliability will both improve significantly. TP-Link Deco WIfi-7 is ready now, easy to setup, easy to use, easy to monitor…. It just works!

I'm generally an ASUS guy and have had ASUS AI Mesh running for a few years with dual band wifi 6. FIOS finally came to my neighborhood and moved from 2G down/400'ish up Comcast to gig FIOS. My house is 95 years old and has thick plaster with some metal backing in it walls and wifi speeds have always been terrible, fortunately I have a basement so I ran 3 lines of CAT 6 to 3 ASUS mesh routers that connected to my main router. All was stable. After upgrading to FIOS gigabit, my ASUS just couldn't handle the bandwidth. It was great with my main router only, but as soon as I added additional nodes, even though they were hardwired on the back end - wifi speeds were abysmal. My options were either $1200'ish for the 3 node ASUS or $799 for the TP-Link. Figured I'd try the less expensive option first. I did install some TP-Link, lower end model 2 nodes at my Mom's a couple of months ago to replace or Orbis and the TP-Link was terrible so I returned them. Long review, I know - sorry. So, installed these a couple of hours ago. They would not detect my internet plugged directly into the Verizon ONT - so I configured with the FIOS modem, connected good. Download speeds were ok, kinda. 500mpbs range on wireless Upload speeds were under 100mbps. Tried everything I could and nothing and was about to box it all back up Then I decided to go back to ONT to Router - removing the FIOS router. BOOM! FAST download, nearly a gig upload depending on the test server, etc. I still prefer the ASUS web page configuration options, the TP-Link is extremely limited for some of the things I need to be able to access outside of my network (server, NAS, cameras, etc.) so I still might bite the bullet and pay the additional 400 bucks for the ASUS - however I'll run with these for a couple of weeks and see how they go. So far, the wifi speeds are exceptional.

I first bought an $1800 system by someone else. Ended up taking it back as it wouldn’t stay connected to my fiber. Bought the 16000 and love it! I own a house literally across the street and down the block a few houses and I have one of these satellites in there and it runs 6,5,24Ghz. Let’s me runs lights, ring, and an AppleTV for when family stays in it. THAT is how powerful they are. Easy to setup. It says it has things in the App mine doesn’t have is the only thing. No big deal. Can tell things which one I want to go to.

This is an utterly amazing mesh 7 Wi-Fi system. It is fast, easy to set up and very reliable. Just connecting it increased my internet speed by 100 MBS over the supplied Spectrum router I had. I could not be happier with the range and signal strength. My only complaint is the price. It is steep but I guess you get what you pay for.

Going from the google mesh system to Deco, has been the best investment yet! Yes little pricy but I wish I invested in the top model with 10 gig ports for the future, but 5 gig port work fine with cable (spectrum) as my isp! With my nest cameras I use to drop them often and apple tv (5 of them) periodically loose connection! Ive had this about two weeks and all problems solved mac books, 17 pros max (6h household) running good laptops fast, no lost connections, also better range! I’m looking forward to addiNG TPLINK outdoor booster and flood cameras so far best investment! I even set up home security+ part of deco system! So far I feel robust! Optimize network feature let the system chooose a channel that less interference (microwaves dryer’s vacuum cleaners etc)! More I play with all the features more Robust it get and better I feel paying for the cost!