Deco M4 - WiFi Instability after recent firmware upgrade

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Deco M4 - WiFi Instability after recent firmware upgrade

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Deco M4 - WiFi Instability after recent firmware upgrade
Deco M4 - WiFi Instability after recent firmware upgrade
2023-09-27 01:11:09 - last edited 2023-09-27 02:12:51
Tags: #Firmware Update #Downgrade
Model: Deco M4  
Hardware Version: V2
Firmware Version: 1.5.8 Build 20230619 Rel. 48552

I've had my Deco M4 network set up for what must be at least 2 or 3 years now, in router mode. Never had any issues before, it was perfect...

 

Since recent updates however, the WiFi constantly drops out, to the point where my wife and I just don't even bother turning WiFi on with our phones anymore - we just use our mobile data instead. That's how bad these updates have ruined WiFi on the M4.

 

I'm not alone - I have found endless threads on Reddit and this forum complaining of similar issues. Wired Ethernet is still perfect so it's not an ISP-related issue, it's just the WiFi. FYI my current firmware is 1.5.8 Build 20230619 Rel. 48552.

 

I read some posts with other customers suggesting this is due to the Deco constantly trying to find a suitable WiFi band in congested areas, and how having no ability to set a fixed channel and turn off 'Network optimization' was making the M4 useless for many.

 

I have also read customer support replies telling customers to turn off mesh features including Fast Roaming, Beamforming etc - I've tried this but no joy - and in all honesty, it's a useless mesh system if you have to turn off the mesh features just to get a basic WiFi connection, so I have no interest in effectively downgrading my router just because TP-Link made a mess of recent updates.

 

It seems TP-Link are not interested in giving customers the ability to downgrade their firmware back to the earlier, much more reliable versions. I don't know why TP-Link do not allow this, but I have seen them say this many times on this forum.

 

Please, someone at TP-Link take this seriously. Please allow customers to downgrade their firmware - it'll surely help you find whatever bug the recent updates have produced, and allow you to fix this in a new update? I think many would appreciate the option to switch off 'network optimization' too, just to try fixing a band to see if that resolves the issue - surely this will also help diagnose the firmware issues?

 

Can someone from TP-Link send me, or link to, previous firmware files so that I can at least try them out to confirm if the issue is in fact the recent firmware updates?

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#1
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16 Reply
Re:Deco M4 - WiFi Instability after recent firmware upgrade
2023-09-27 02:19:19

The really annoying thing is this - if I log into my router from a browser, for a split-second it shows these drop down boxes to select a 2.4GHz or 5GHz channel...then it quickly hides these options before you can click anything. So clearly it would be possible to offer users the option to select a band!

 

 

 

 

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#2
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Re:Deco M4 - WiFi Instability after recent firmware upgrade
2023-09-27 10:59:22
Hi Try these settings before you do bigger changes. on the app go to More Then QOS make sure none of your device is listed there Then Reboot Good luck
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Re:Deco M4 - WiFi Instability after recent firmware upgrade
2023-09-27 11:17:30

  @Sabes143 I tried that too. Used to have devices in there but removed them. Also tried setting QoS to 1000 for upload/download, but no change.

 

Today I found firmware 1.5.6 was available on TP-Link's website (but that's as far back as they provide). I installed that this morning and will see if anything improves then report back.

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#4
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Re:Deco M4 - WiFi Instability after recent firmware upgrade
2023-09-28 09:13:53

  @Sav25 

Hi, Thanks for the feedback.

Personally, I tend to think it is not a problem with the 1.5.8 firmware but would highly appreciate it if you could keep us updated on what happened after the firmware downgrade.

If possible, it is also suggested to temporarily separate 2.4Ghz from 5Ghz to see whether the disconnection is limited to a specific band:

Please leave the main network enabled for 5GHz only, and enable the guest network for 2.4GHz only.

 

Wait for your reply and Best regards.

 

 

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Re:Deco M4 - WiFi Instability after recent firmware upgrade
2023-09-29 11:11:56

  @David-TP So I downgraded to 1.5.5 from this page: https://www.tp-link.com/uk/support/download/deco-m4/v2/#Firmware

 

So far things are the same. Either no connection (because it's flopped out again) or when connected, things are weird and slow. Like BBC news app, the page might kind of slowly load but half of the images won't (until I switch back to mobile data of course, then everything pops up instantly). It's just really weird. On a wired connection, no issues whatsoever.

 

I'll try playing with the bands today and see what happens with that, but as I mentioned before, if this fixes it...I've had to reduce functionality of the product I purchased just to get something as basic as a reilable WiFi connection working.

 

 

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Re:Deco M4 - WiFi Instability after recent firmware upgrade
2023-09-29 20:52:22

  @David-TP Ok I tried setting everything to 2.4G - no improvement, in fact no noticable change at all. The same weird drop outs or general hanging of the connection (which I'm led to believe from other posts and Reddit that this is either to do with the main router being stuck at 100% CPU usage, or the optimization switching bands constantly and confusing things).

 

Any ideas? Can anyone provide some older firmware for me to try? Any way I can set a WiFi channel and turn off the optimisation (se emy earlier screenshot, it looks like it's alreayd in the software but TP-Link block the option for some reason?).

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#7
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Re:Deco M4 - WiFi Instability after recent firmware upgrade
2023-09-29 21:33:38 - last edited 2023-09-29 21:34:00

Sav25 wrote

  @David-TP Ok I tried setting everything to 2.4G - no improvement, in fact no noticable change at all. The same weird drop outs or general hanging of the connection (which I'm led to believe from other posts and Reddit that this is either to do with the main router being stuck at 100% CPU usage, or the optimization switching bands constantly and confusing things).

 

Any ideas? 

  @Sav25 

 

You can check CPU utilization of Main Deco in Web interface. If it is, indeed, 100% constantly for a few minutes while you are watching it (the number updates itself, no need to refresh the page) - that would be the problem.

Have you checked that?

 

Also, Deco does not do network optimization on its own: you either need to run it from Deco app or reboot Deco mesh for Deco to switch channels.

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Re:Deco M4 - WiFi Instability after recent firmware upgrade
2023-10-02 18:11:27

  @Alexandre. I've sat and watched it, never changes.

 

They're going in the bin tomorrow. I have an Amazon Eero system coming which sounds much more reliable and with support that actually want to help rather than constantly denying access to older firmware (just WHY?!).

 

Last TP-Link networking product I'll likely ever buy. Such a shame as the M4 were great until recently.

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Re:Deco M4 - WiFi Instability after recent firmware upgrade
2023-10-02 20:24:48

Sav25 wrote

  @Alexandre. I've sat and watched it, never changes.

 

 

  @Sav25 

 

Never changes from what value?

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#10
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Re:Deco M4 - WiFi Instability after recent firmware upgrade
2023-10-02 21:06:20

  @Alexandre. 100.

 

Have a search and you'll find I'm not the only one, either in this poorly-managed forum (loving the unmoderated Roku spam) or Reddit etc. TP-Link are not listening to customers. We want simple things - ability to set our own channel for bands, and firmware rollback.

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