Mesh TP-LINK Deco M9 Plus (AC2200 - 400 + 867 + 867 Mbps) Setup
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Hi everyone - I just bought the Deco M9 Plus with two devices but I just realized that one needs to be wired to the main router/modem, which happens to be a major constrain for me.
Here is my situation: I own a different kind of house, which has 7 halffloors, meaning that it is a vertical house. I have the main router/modem in the first floor, would like to have one mesh in the third floor and other in the fifth so that the entire house is fully connected. If I need to have one deco wired to the main router/modem I'm not taking advantage of the wireless of the main router/modem and in addition I'm not able to cover all the floors. Also, in the fifth floor I have a Ethernet plug on the wall and I was expecting to take advantage of the stability of the wired connection to that floor range.
Any ideas how I could setup my network with these three devices: 1 main router/modem from huawei and the two decos, bearing in mind I have one two Ethernet entries throughout the house?
Thanks in advance for your support.
Pedro
I have good news and bad news for you.
Good news: when running Deco mesh in AP (Access Point) mode, you do not need to keep Main Deco directly wired to router. You only need that for initial configuration.
Bad news: with your setup, you will not have proper mesh network, meaning seamless transfer of a client between nodes, with WiFi on ISP router/modem and two Deco nodes. You may need to buy one more Deco node.
Now, how to make it work.
Initial Deco Configuration.
Wire Deco directly to your ISP router/modem, using Ethernet cable that came with Decos. Configure M9, and if it'll need firmware upgrade - let it to. That would be your Main Deco.
After this setup is completed and Main Deco light is green, using Deco app on smartphone change Deco mesh mode from default Router to Access Point. This setting is under More/Advanced/Operating Mode.
Deco might restart after that. When Deco light goes green again, power it off, bring it to the fifth floor and connect to Ethernet port you have there. I am assuming this Ethernet port connects your fifth floor to the the ISP router/modem on the first floor.
If Ethernet wiring is good, Main Deco light should go green, meaning no issues. You may need to give it a bit of a time, mine Deco M9 light goes to red for more than a minute after I turn it on, before going green.
You can run speedtest from inside Main Deco, using "Test Internet Speed" in Deco app, to see that you are getting proper download and upload speed - which should be very close to your ISP Internet speed.
If all is OK, this concludes initial Deco configuration.
------
Next step is to add second M9 to your mesh, follow instructions from the user manual or quick start guide. It will be your Satellite Deco. After Satellite Deco is set up, bring it to third floor. Check that it has good backhaul connectivity to Main Deco, at least two blue bars under Signal Source for Satellite Deco in Deco app.
Ideally, it'll look like this:
WiFi mesh configuration and tuning.
With Deco M9s mesh setup completed, you have different options to tune your WiFi mesh.
Option A.
You might find that WiFi signal from Satellite Deco is strong enough so that it gets down to the first floor and you have good WiFi coverage on first floor from Satellite Deco.
If this is the case, turn off WiFi on ISP router/modem and use Deco WiFi only. You are done, mesh is configured and tuned properly.
Option B.
If signal from third floor Satellite Deco is not strong enough at the first floor, attempt reusing WiFi on ISP router/modem. It is recommended to use different SSID on ISP router/modem from one Deco mesh uses, so that they don't conflict. Configure devices to access both SSID.
You now should have WiFi coverage on all floors, but you won't have smooth device transition between router on first floor and Decos on third and fifth floor. Yet, if you rarely move between floors while actively using device (such as making VoIP call, Youtube streaming, etc.) that might work for you.
Option C.
If options A and B don't work for you, buy additional Deco node. TP-Link does not sell single M9 nodes, but you don't need specifically M9. You could buy single M5, TP-Link sells those.
Turn off WiFi on ISP router/modem. Add M5 to your Deco mesh. Wire it to ISP router/modem. In your network setup, with M5 it is important that you wire it to ISP router/modem instead of trying to have it connected to Main Deco M9 by WiFi.
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In fact, Option C is very similar to how my network set up. I bought 2-pack M9, put them on first and second floors of my two floors house. My ISP router/modem sits in the corner of the finished basement, with quite long Ethernet cables and two switches between it and Main Deco M9 running in Access Point mode from the first floor. Satellite Deco on second floor connects to Main Deco by WiFi.
WiFi on ISP router/modem is turned off.
I have found later that if I to disable 2.4GHz band to run my home network on 5GHz only, and I want to, the signal coming to the basement is not strong enough. So, I bought single M5, configured to join my Deco mesh, and wired M5 with short Ethernet cable right to the ISP router/modem.
I have good news and bad news for you.
Good news: when running Deco mesh in AP (Access Point) mode, you do not need to keep Main Deco directly wired to router. You only need that for initial configuration.
Bad news: with your setup, you will not have proper mesh network, meaning seamless transfer of a client between nodes, with WiFi on ISP router/modem and two Deco nodes. You may need to buy one more Deco node.
Now, how to make it work.
Initial Deco Configuration.
Wire Deco directly to your ISP router/modem, using Ethernet cable that came with Decos. Configure M9, and if it'll need firmware upgrade - let it to. That would be your Main Deco.
After this setup is completed and Main Deco light is green, using Deco app on smartphone change Deco mesh mode from default Router to Access Point. This setting is under More/Advanced/Operating Mode.
Deco might restart after that. When Deco light goes green again, power it off, bring it to the fifth floor and connect to Ethernet port you have there. I am assuming this Ethernet port connects your fifth floor to the the ISP router/modem on the first floor.
If Ethernet wiring is good, Main Deco light should go green, meaning no issues. You may need to give it a bit of a time, mine Deco M9 light goes to red for more than a minute after I turn it on, before going green.
You can run speedtest from inside Main Deco, using "Test Internet Speed" in Deco app, to see that you are getting proper download and upload speed - which should be very close to your ISP Internet speed.
If all is OK, this concludes initial Deco configuration.
------
Next step is to add second M9 to your mesh, follow instructions from the user manual or quick start guide. It will be your Satellite Deco. After Satellite Deco is set up, bring it to third floor. Check that it has good backhaul connectivity to Main Deco, at least two blue bars under Signal Source for Satellite Deco in Deco app.
Ideally, it'll look like this:
WiFi mesh configuration and tuning.
With Deco M9s mesh setup completed, you have different options to tune your WiFi mesh.
Option A.
You might find that WiFi signal from Satellite Deco is strong enough so that it gets down to the first floor and you have good WiFi coverage on first floor from Satellite Deco.
If this is the case, turn off WiFi on ISP router/modem and use Deco WiFi only. You are done, mesh is configured and tuned properly.
Option B.
If signal from third floor Satellite Deco is not strong enough at the first floor, attempt reusing WiFi on ISP router/modem. It is recommended to use different SSID on ISP router/modem from one Deco mesh uses, so that they don't conflict. Configure devices to access both SSID.
You now should have WiFi coverage on all floors, but you won't have smooth device transition between router on first floor and Decos on third and fifth floor. Yet, if you rarely move between floors while actively using device (such as making VoIP call, Youtube streaming, etc.) that might work for you.
Option C.
If options A and B don't work for you, buy additional Deco node. TP-Link does not sell single M9 nodes, but you don't need specifically M9. You could buy single M5, TP-Link sells those.
Turn off WiFi on ISP router/modem. Add M5 to your Deco mesh. Wire it to ISP router/modem. In your network setup, with M5 it is important that you wire it to ISP router/modem instead of trying to have it connected to Main Deco M9 by WiFi.
-------
In fact, Option C is very similar to how my network set up. I bought 2-pack M9, put them on first and second floors of my two floors house. My ISP router/modem sits in the corner of the finished basement, with quite long Ethernet cables and two switches between it and Main Deco M9 running in Access Point mode from the first floor. Satellite Deco on second floor connects to Main Deco by WiFi.
WiFi on ISP router/modem is turned off.
I have found later that if I to disable 2.4GHz band to run my home network on 5GHz only, and I want to, the signal coming to the basement is not strong enough. So, I bought single M5, configured to join my Deco mesh, and wired M5 with short Ethernet cable right to the ISP router/modem.