Deco M4 issues on secondary unit after updating to 1.5.0

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Deco M4 issues on secondary unit after updating to 1.5.0

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Deco M4 issues on secondary unit after updating to 1.5.0
Deco M4 issues on secondary unit after updating to 1.5.0
2021-08-24 16:22:18 - last edited 2021-08-24 16:31:30
Model: Deco M4  
Hardware Version: V2
Firmware Version: 1.5.0 Build 20210511 Rel. 34580

I have a pair of Deco M4s which have been working excellent ever since I bought them over year and a half ago. While my main unit still works fine, ever since I updated the firmware to version 1.5.0 I've been having pretty bad issues with my secondary unit.

 

  1. Connection got very unstable. There are frequent ping spikes and it intermittently loses connection to the main unit, reconnecting automatically a minute or so after that.
  2. Download speed has dropped anywhere from 30% to 50% of what it used to be. I was usually getting around 120mbps down, which dropped to around 80mbps after updating to 1.5.0.

 

This is really disappointing considering I haven't had such reliability issues even with my cheap old TL-WR740N and with everyone now working from home such problems make me consider buying another mesh solution from a different manufacturer.

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12 Reply
Re:Deco M4 issues on secondary unit after updating to 1.5.0
2021-08-25 03:48:20

@nickbg321 

Hi, When the satellite Deco got disconnected, would it turn red?

If possible, please also try to change the satellite Deco to the main Deco, such as How to Setup the Satellite Deco to be the Main Deco?

If all failed, satellite Deco still dropped the internet connection quite often, please have a try of the following beta firmware:

[Solution] Wi-Fi speed drops down after updating Deco M4 to the latest 1.5.0 firmware

 

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Re:Deco M4 issues on secondary unit after updating to 1.5.0
2021-08-25 18:47:17

@nickbg321 I'm seeing something very similar with my units, and it's the same even with the beta firmware mentioned above.

 

I've had no issues with the units in the past, but they're completely unstable now. I've been pricing up swapping them out for the Amazon Eero units (but annoyingly their satellite units have no Ethernet ports).

 

Basically the satellite unit will occasionally drop the connection, and I've got mine on a wired backhaul too. It seems that I can trigger it to drop by performing a speedtest on a device that's connected to it. So if I go downstairs, wait for it to switch over, then start a speedtest it'll start the test and then the light will go yellow and it'll drop out.

 

I'd really like to downgrade the firmware to a previous version so that I can keep the units, but unforunately I don't think that's going to be possible so looks like I'll have to return them.

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Re:Deco M4 issues on secondary unit after updating to 1.5.0
2021-08-25 20:04:20

@Jordan1996 I've also thought about downgrading from 1.5 to 1.4 but that doesn't seem to be possible from what I know and unfortunately I'm way past the return period on mine.

 

1.5.0 firmware has been hot garbage for me so far. With both my wife and I working from home due to Covid these issues have been especially frustrating. Don't think I'm buying another TP-Link product again.

 

 @TP-Link I haven't really paid attention to the light color but I will try to the next time it happens.

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#4
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Re:Deco M4 issues on secondary unit after updating to 1.5.0
2021-08-25 20:07:53
I purchased mine around November last year, so I believe I can take it back to the retailer within a year and get then replaced with something that works. For issues like this there should definitely be an option to downgrade the firmware until a new release comes out.
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#5
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Re:Deco M4 issues on secondary unit after updating to 1.5.0
2021-08-26 03:42:48

@Jordan1996 

Hi, As for the firmware downgrade, please have a look at the private message.

But I do hope that you could wait for a moment and I would like to forward your case to the senior engineers to locate the issue of firmware 1.5.0.

If you would like to spend some more time, please help me confirm the following details:

1. Since it was mentioned that the satellite Deco would turn yellow(not red? Yellow means the Deco is rebooting now), can I have a picture of the LED light?

2. Did you wire both satellite Deco M4s via cable, like ISP—main M4----wired—2nd M4---wired—3rd M4, or the last one is wirelessly connected?

3.Did both satellite units have this issue?

 

Thank you very much.

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#6
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Re:Deco M4 issues on secondary unit after updating to 1.5.0
2021-08-26 08:49:21

@TP-Link Hi, thanks for the reply. Apologies for hijacking this thread, but I believe it could be the same issue that we're both facing.

 

I've tried a few different configurations to see if anything made a difference, but it happens in all of the following setups:

 

Modem -> Main Deco (Router Mode) -> Netgear Switch -> Wired 2nd M4

ISP Router -> Main Deco (AP Mode) -> Netgear Switch -> Wired 2nd M4

ISP Router -> Main Deco (AP Mode) -> Wired 2nd M4

ISP Router -> Main Deco (AP Mode) / Wired 2nd M4

 

In all scenarios the 3rd M4 is connected wirelessly via the Main Deco.

 

I have tried moving the roles of the Deco's around the house, but the issue I'm seeing is that no matter which device I have downstairs (on the Ethernet cable), the issue persists. Even when disconnecting the Ethernet cable on this device I see the same issue occurring when utilising the wireless backhaul.

 

Interestingly, when testing this morning this issue seems to be device specific. If I connect to the downstairs M4 and perform a speed test using my Surface Pro I'm able to complete the speed test at 220Mbps download and 20Mbps upload (the package maximum speed). However if I perform the speed test using my iPhone 12, it'll get to around 150Mbps and this seems to force the Deco to reboot.

 

The Ethernet cable is around 35M in length and has been tested using a Fluke cable tester, so there's no issues with the cabling - plus the same issue occurs when the wireless backhaul is in operation too which would rule that out.

 

Confusingly it's only affecting whichever device is downstairs, no matter which device that is. And when the devices are upstairs (either in router mode or wireless extender mode) and I perform the same tests they're fine.

 

I've captured a video this morning to show the status of the LED's whilst this is happening. A few seconds after the speed test starts the LED will go yellow, then eventually it'll flash red before going white after about 2 minutes.

 

Just a note to add that the downstairs device does randomly reboot during the day too which is the main issue - the speed testing just seems like a quick way to see if the issue is resolved.

 

I'm planning on leaving a ping test running during the day to capture the drops and latency spikes that I might not even be aware of, so once I have the results from that I'll pass them onto you. I'll do this before downgrading the firmware to see if that resolves the issues.

 

Link to video

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#7
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Re:Deco M4 issues on secondary unit after updating to 1.5.0
2021-08-26 10:43:05

@Jordan1996 

Hi, Thank you very much for the detailed information.

I have forwarded your case to the senior engineers and please have a check of your email box.

And It would also be highly appreciated that you could send the logs via email as well.

Moreover if possible, could you please wait for a moment and wait for the update from engineers before downgrading the firmware?

 

Thank you again.

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#8
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Re:Deco M4 issues on secondary unit after updating to 1.5.0
2021-08-26 12:28:52 - last edited 2021-08-26 12:29:38

Just to add to something I noticed which may be useful for debugging the problem:

 

Wireless speed decrease seems to mainly affect download. I get around 100-120mbps up, which is the same as when I'm connected to the main unit.

 

Also my units use wireless backhaul.

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#9
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Re:Deco M4 issues on secondary unit after updating to 1.5.0
2021-09-01 04:15:45

@TP-Link I am facing the exact issue after upgrading to 1.5.0. Kindly provide a new workable firmware or at least provide the 1.4.3 firmware for a temporary workaround.

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Re:Deco M4 issues on secondary unit after updating to 1.5.0
2021-09-01 05:45:18
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#11
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