Deco M4 house layout missing
Hi Everyone
I just got a Deco M4 with 3 units, my house has Ground Floor plus first floor, in the app I don't see a place where I can change the layout of the house I see in TP-link website that I should choose the layout of my house but I don't see it.
The issue I'm having is the following, downstairs I reach speeds of 450/500mb, but upstairs no more then 130mb, the Deco is downstairs by the door and I put on up on the corridor, there is not much obstruction on the way but I wonder why the connection is so slow and if the layout option would somehow direct the Deco to send the signal more Up to the other decos.
Thanks
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House layout is only used as Deco units placement guide for house owner. Selecting specific house layout does not configure Deco mesh in any way.
You should review the section of the article "How can I find a suitable spot for my Deco?" that starts with "When placing your Deco, please refer to the below steps to check the signal strength from the source Deco."
Also, note link in that article to another useful TP-Link article: How to improve the Wi-Fi range of Deco?
For comparison, practical test results in my household, with Deco M5 which has similar hardware specs as M4.
ISP Internet: 350 Mbps
Deco mesh runs in: Access Point mode.
Deco M5: uses WiFi backhaul to Main Deco in Living Room
WiFi signal: 5GHz only (2.4GHz is disabled on Main Network)
Tested with: Android 9 smartphone
Distance from Deco M5: about 2 meters, clear view of Deco unit, smartphone is on the same level from the floor as Deco unit.
Backhaul signal quality to Main Deco:
As you can see, signal quality is good but not the best.
Maximum download speed, after multiple tries, using fast.com Web site for speed test:
In other tries, have seen 150-180Mbps. Not far from what you get.
Same Deco M5, wired with Ethernet cable to ISP router, same tests reach speed of my ISP Internet connection: 350 Mbps.
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@Alexandre. Is there any advantage on running as AP? i just find strange that I get 450/500mb on main Deco and other one upstairs on corridor with almost open way I get only 130
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@Alexandre. Also i find strange that in one room upstairs my internet from my router hits 220mb when the Deco only its 180 and I had one Deco up.
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Akhenaten wrote
I just find strange that I get 450/500mb on main Deco and other one upstairs on corridor with almost open way I get only 130
Have you checked what Signal Source for that upstairs Satellite Deco is? If it is less than perfect, you should expect decline in speed.
Deco M4 works as range extender. Range extenders improve signal strength, eliminating dead zones, but tradeoff is lower speed. Google "WiFi range extender cuts bandwidth by half" to see info on that topic.
Here is non-scientific test you can run. Power off both your Satellite Deco, only leaving Main Deco running. Take mobile device (smartphone, tablet, laptop) to where your upstairs Satellite Deco is. Place it as close as possible to Satellite Deco. If it is smartphone, just put it on top of Satellite Deco which is already powered off.
Turn WiFi on device off/on to get fresh connection to Main Deco, the only Deco left running. Run speedtest multiple times. What speeds you will get, is what Satellite Deco gets from Main Deco. Devices connected by WiFi to Satellite Deco won't get more than that, obviously, and that is in theory. In practice, when your wireless device is connected to Satellite Deco and gets more than half of that speed, it is already good result.
If you want better than that, consider replacing your M4 set with so called tri-band WiFi mesh, otherwise known as mesh with dedicated backhaul. For that type of mesh, speeds of devices connected to Satellites are usually better, and could be up to your Internet speed. These are usually more expensive.
With Deco, the equivalent for M4 but with dedicated backhaul would be M9 Plus. You can check M9 Plus 3-pack prices and decide if price difference worth it for you. If it is, return M4 set and try either M9 Plus or mesh from different brand, with tri-band capability.
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