TP-Link - Deco BE68 Wi-Fi 7 BE14000 Whole Home Tri-Band Router Mesh with Ultra-Fast 10G Port and AI-Driven Roaming (3-pack) - White

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The vast majority of our reviews come from verified purchases. Reviews from customers may include My Best Buy members, employees, and Tech Insider Network members (as tagged). Select reviewers may receive discounted products, promotional considerations or entries into drawings for honest, helpful reviews.

• Rated 1 out of 5 stars

  Not compatible with Arlo Ultra 2 Security Cameras

  • Incentivized
  • Verified Purchaser
  • My Best Buy® Member

  So I guess I’ll be the first to give the bad review on this new system, but for good reason. As much as I agree with the majority of the positive reviews written thus far, my experience over the past week connecting to various smart home devices, most notably my Arlo security cameras has been nothing short of complete misery and a waste of countless hours spent troubleshooting. I have been unable to connect my Arlo ultra 2 base station to the Arlo app with this router, but have no problems with my previous Orbi system. I’ve tried everything, and while the Deco app shows the device online, the Arlo app shows that it is off-line and thus, I am unable to add any cameras. TP link customer service has escalated my case to their engineering team, which tells me more time is needed for bug fixes with this system and it being so new to the market. I’m sorry, but I refuse to be their guinea pig any longer. I was also unable to add a Kasa smart switch (sister brand of its own) nor LED strip lights. My guess is this has something to do with needing a VPN otherwise being unable to connect with certain external servers. Orbi and Eero have built in VPNs, which I think is why I had no problem connecting Arlo to those systems. I’m just not willing to set up a third-party VPN with this system. Besides the failed connections, I find the app to run very slow with lags in loading time. I also think the Deco app could better explain all of the settings available for a better user experience. I am returning this system this weekend and will be upgrading to another Orbi system actually worth the value it provides.

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  Posted 2 months ago by Nichole

• Rated 5 out of 5 stars

  It's all about network stability and speed

  • Tech Insider Network Member
  • Top 50 Contributor

  First and foremost, I always struggle to find a router that can handle the demands of my home WiFi network, which has over 180 smart devices connected simultaneously. Over the years, I’ve replaced countless routers and always invested in high-end models regardless of cost but none of them truly gave me 80% peace of mind. After researching the new WiFi 7 routers, I pulled trigger on the TP-Link Deco BE68 mesh system. It supports WiFi 7, essential features I rely on, and a sleek design that fits seamlessly with my home decor. Setup was quick and intuitive using the Deco app and in just a few steps, the network was up and running. One standout feature is that any of the three nodes can act as the main router, which adds flexibility to the setup. It’s worth saying that “On Deco app, you can choose any node and enable it as main router”. My home is a single-story, 1,837 sqft, and I have Xfinity’s 1.2 TB plan due to my heavy usage mainly streaming and gaming. I don’t use Xfinity’s gateway as a router; I use it as a modem because I need a more capable device to handle my network load. Initially, I only used one Deco node to allow the network to settle, then added the second, which connected effortlessly. After the system was running, I checked for firmware updates and there was one update, and I installed it. Post-update, I checked my devices and noticed some of them began disconnecting. To address that and improve network stability, I split the network into separate 2.4GHz, 5GHz, and 6GHz bands and enabled the IoT network for small devices, which helped. Later, I noticed additional instability, so I turned off the “Fast Roaming” feature, switching the wireless mode to “High Capacity.” I knew the 2.4GHz band was a common bottleneck, and this mode disables 2.4GHz backhaul, which improved my setup, though it resulted in an average connection between router and node. Still, it was more stable overall. In the past, I used to manually select channels, but with this Deco BE68, I left everything on default settings. The router intelligently switches channels to avoid congestion, and so far, it’s worked flawlessly. I also appreciate being able to name each band individually. The Deco app is loaded with features, offering security tools and VPN support. I chose not to add the third node because, based on my long experience, adding a third in a home of this size tends to create more problems than it solves particularly since MLO utilizes all three bands simultaneously to connect between all three nodes, which can lead to increased congestion on the 2.4GHz band. Overall, my network is running smoothly. I’m seeing WiFi speeds of 923 Mbps down and 354 Mbps up with all devices connected, and there’s no lag or delay. For the price, this router is a reasonable and I’m very satisfied with its performance.

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  Posted 1 month ago by Zaid

• Rated 5 out of 5 stars

  TP-Link is the way to go for Mesh Routers

  • Tech Insider Network Member

  I was debating getting another node for my TP-Link Deco XE75 system with 2 nodes, when I saw that the WiFi 7 systems were available. I decided to upgrade and picked up the Deco BE68 Wi-Fi 7 BE14000 Whole Home Tri-Band Router Mesh as an upgrade into the new WiFi 7 and to add the 3rd node to my network. Pros: - 3 Nodes system with 8100 Sq Ft of coverage. - 3 Ethernet Ports & 1 USB on the back of each node - Simple App Setup and Management. - Tri-Brand with multiple networks (Main, Guest, IoT, MLO). Cons: - Not many WiFi 7 supported devices yet. - Error encountered when trying to swap networks. My Mistake: So, to start off, I messed up the transfer of my old Deco XE75 to the Deco BE68. There was an error during the main router transfer, which happens but the steps to resolve specifically say “unplug both routers, then plug back in and restart the transfer process”. Instead, I tried to delete the Deco BE68 from the network to start over, which resulted in my whole network getting deleted. Oops. So, my bad. So don’t be like me and just make sure to do as the steps say and be patient. If you do encounter an error during the network settings transfer, do not delete the new router. Follow the instructions and restart the transfer process. Setup: I swap out routers often, so I often that I expect to have to reset the whole network during the transfer of hardware even if I’m using the same WiFi settings. So, I went in with the expectations that I would have to start from a new network and reconnect each device to the network. When I was checking the settings on my TP-Link Deco XE75 network, to my surprise I noticed the “transfer router” option, so I decided to try that out. Ideally, this would have transferred all my network setting that were compatible over to the new Deco Router without me having to reset the whole network. Unfortunately, I encountered an error and made the mistake I mentioned above. So, I just reset and started as a new network. The standard new network setup was simple and worked without any issue. It walks you through setup of the main node, then asks you to add the 2 other nodes after setting up the basic network settings. The default settings set the name and password of 2.4GHz and 5GHz to the same but breaks the 6GHz off with the network name + “_6GHz”. There are additional networks that can be added, I’ll talk about those later in more detail. Even just through the setup, the Deco BE68 has way more features than the XE75, which is a huge plus to the added WiFi 7 network speed and stability. Deco App: One of the reasons I often choose to run a TP-Link router in my home is for the App. The Deco app is simple and intuitive, yet very powerful. There’s no need to login to the router directly on the network or remember a password you only use once during setup. It’s all done via the Deco App which guides you through the basic setup, then prompts you if there seems to be any issues to resolve. There is a lot you can dive into with the Deco App, TP-Link continues to add more features with each new update. From the initial Network tab, you can see the current network traffic, each node and the number of devices connected to the node along with the network strength. Additionally, if you enable the additional networks, you will see a split of the number of devices on each network. This is helpful if you know how many devices are supposed to be connected, you can quickly spot devices that shouldn’t be there and even block them. Most of the advanced features are all under the More tab of the Deco App, where you can configure those additional networks, optimize the network, or even setup a VPN to share across the network. Just the way all the features are easy to find, and setup is hands down my favorite part about TP-Link. Below I’ll dive into the features I used more. Performance: The Speed and Coverage of the TP-Link Deco BE68 is amazing, to the point that my current internet provider can’t even come close to pushing the maximum limits. I’ve got a 600MBps down and 35MBps upload plan, but that translates to roughly 680+Mbps down and 40+Mbps upload in actual use. I was blown away when on the wireless I got better speed than through my wired network! I was able to pull as much as 691Mbps down to my Samsung S23+, which is only a WiFi 6 enabled device. The crazy part is the speed I was pulling anywhere on my network, if I was in my home. Even out in the yard, which isn’t huge but big for house in a metro city, I was able to pull 600+Mbps. Even the latency has me blown away, my wired computer is pinging about 14ms but I’ve been able to pull This mesh router system uses the newest WiFi 7 standards across 3 bands of network frequencies: 6GHz, 5GHz, and 2.4GHz. The speeds of each network vary, the claim of “14Gbps” is a bit misleading, as it is a total of the speeds of each network: 6GHz up to 8647 Mbps + 5GHz up to 4324 Mbps + 2.4GHz up to 688 Mbps. But if you leverage some of the advanced features like Multi-Link Operation, you can get lower latency and more stable connections even in congested areas like apartments or dense buildings. For a normal home, even one where there are 100+ IoT devices, the Deco BE68 will handle your WiFi needs with ease. TP-Link claims 200+ devices in laboratory tests, but this will depend on your use and the devices more than anything. The only odd thing is that the choice for node connection on some devices is well odd, I’ve got a few devices that are literally in the same room as a node but choose to connect to the node on another floor. The devices work fine, so it’s not an issue but just odd behavior. Connectivity: The focus for this router is the wireless connectivity with the 6GHz, 5GHz, and 2.4GHz, but also extends to wired networks with 3 Ethernet ports on the back of each node with 10Gbps, 2.5 Gbps, and 1Gbps. Plus 1 USB-A 3.0 port for connected devices. These extra ports also allow you to use the Nodes as access points for devices that don’t have their own internal WiFi or have slower connections via WiFi. I use one node in the basement to connect a desktop computer, so it has the fastest possible connection. Additional Networks: Beyond just the standard 6GHz and 5GHz & 2.4GHz networks, you can enable a Multi-Link Operation (MLO) network that allows your device to take advantage of all bands to reduce latency and ensure stable connection. This adds an MLO Network to your list of available networks, your network name+ “_MLO”. This doesn’t exactly combine the speed of each band, but it does ensure you’re always connected to the most stable network. But not all devices support this kind of network blending, so check if your device supports the feature first. There’s the ability to create a Guest Network for each band as well. This is useful if you often have Guests or just want a separate network for people to join that isn’t the same network you normally use. I used to use this as my IoT network, as it was completely separate from my main network. I say used to, because TP-Link has added a feature that creates a separate IoT network for all the smart devices. The IoT network defaults to 2.4GHz only but the 5GHz can be added. I really like this as some smart devices can have security issues or lead to leaked data, which can be hugely impactful in this digital age not to mention the privacy concerns. Backhaul: Having a backhaul channel is extremely important for me, it’s one of the main features I look for in a mesh router. My old XE75 used the 6GHz channel as a dedicated backhaul which made the network always stable, since there was little to no interference on the 6GHz channels. With the Deco BE68, there is even the option to use a wired backhaul in combination with the wireless backhaul across all three bands. This basically means regardless of which node you’re connected to; you will receive the best possible signal. So far, my testing has confirmed that anywhere in my house I receive roughly the same speed while having full coverage. Not only is it the same speed, but the same latency. Conclusion: If you’re looking for one of the fastest and most reliable home wireless experience, then the TP-Link Deco BE68 Wi-Fi 7 BE14000 Whole Home Tri-Band Router Mesh is a strong consideration. The simplicity of the App controls and setup alone makes me suggest TP-Link hands down, but the performance and consistency hands down make TP-Link my go to router name. I’ve got a new favorite router, even with my mess up, it’s still been a great experience plus crazy fast speed.

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  Posted 2 months ago by BradfordBT