Deco M4 - becomes a brick

Deco M4 - becomes a brick

Deco M4 - becomes a brick
Deco M4 - becomes a brick
2025-06-03 20:37:17
Model: Deco M4  
Hardware Version: V2
Firmware Version: 1.6.5 Buil 20241231 Rel.41802

Hi Tp-Link,

 

Very frustrated and disappointed account here!

 

I decided to invest in Tapo cameras in February, but it turned out that the cameras are too much for my old router (TL-WR841ND), so I purchased Deco M4 set on March 8, it was working fine till March 19.

 

Issue Nr1. on March 19: At midnight, suddenly the whole wifi connection has gone awayNone of the Deco devices could connect to the internet (they were blinking red, the app was prompting me to doublecheck the PPPoE, although it was set correctly), neither the H200 hub, neither my PC, neither my cell phone, neither the C520WS camera, nothing. Restarting, resetting the Deco units did not help, so after approx one hour unsuccessful attempts I decided to remove the whole network (not allowed by the app) and finally remove and reinstall the app. This took me 2.5 hours to fix (I'm not an IT expert).

 

Issue Nr2. on May 19: Following a ISP network outage, the Deco was not able to recover. The IPS says this is a typical bug with Tp-Link routers, which is strange, because my old router was able to reconnect any time. The Deco M4 could not! In the app I could not do anything, it fully lost connection with my Deco units. Finally I had to remove, download and install the app three (!) times to fix, taking another three hours from my life!

 

Issue Nr. 3 on June 2: At midnight the whole system got brick, losing the whole internet connection. The old router is perfectly cooperating with the ISP modem, so the fault is not the service provider side. Again, after removing, downloading and installing the app three (!) times and switching between the main and satellite units, the satellite units was functioning, but the main one gone red for ever. It took 5 hours (!) to reach this point!

 

Issue Nr 4. on June 3: I decided to return the whole set to the reailer and having it replaced. My today's surprise is that ONLY one of the units is able to connect, the other one is solid red! Took me again 3 hours to solve it, without success.No reaction to soft or hard reset, the solid red comes back every time. Btw, first I picked this unit to setup as the main one, but having seen the solid red, I opted for switching them. As one of the cameras (the most important one) was connected to the satellite deco via ethernet, currently it's offline.

 

I'm working from home, meaning that a stable and reliable internet connection is key for me, on top of this I've invested in 4 Tapo cameras plus the SD cards to feel safe during night and day, especially, when I'm away. My experience tells me that these objectives cannot be met by Tp-Link devices anymore.

 

Could you please let me know what is going on with my Deco M4? Should I return tomorrow the replacement set as well? When I faced any issues with my C520ws I've foound a great support here, which I really appreciate. However, these repeated breakdowns make me extremely disappointed, not to speak about my time invested in looking at every corner of the internet and of the Tp-Link Community. I do not know too much about IT technical details (due to internet security concerns, I'm quite reluctant to change things I'm not familiar with), what I actually need is a userfriendly and reliable system.

 

Thanks for listening and waiting for your feedback asap. Kind regards

 

 

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#1
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27 Reply
Re:Deco M4 - becomes a brick
2025-06-04 06:33:29

  @Sutike 

Hi, thank you very much for the feedback.

Here are some suggestions for your reference before proceeding with the replacement:

1. There is a new 1.7.0 firmware for Deco M4_v2. Please manually install this version first: Deco M4_V1/V2_1.7.0 Official Ready for Test!

2. As there is another DHCP router available, it is suggested to connect the Deco M4 behind this old router and set the Deco into Access Point mode:

How to set up Deco to work in Access Point mode

 

Wait for your reply.

Best regards.

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#2
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Re:Deco M4 - becomes a brick
2025-06-04 07:35:17

  @David-TP 

 

Hi David, thanks for your reply.

 

I have an EU version, which is not listed in the link you provided, or do I miss something?

The Deco app says that the current firmware 1.6.5 Build 20241231 Rel 41802 is the last update (this was installed on the main Deco yesterday).

 

I do not understand the point of using my old router, sorry. The old one has a very low output (100 Mb perhaps), with your recommendation, how can I benefit from the 1200 Mb performance of Deco M4?

The reason for replacing the old router to Deco M4 was to make sure that the Tapo cameras can work fluently with a more advanced router (my C520ws killed my old router several times). Maybe I misunderstand your words but my logic says that the old router would be the bottleneck in my network.

 

Kind regards

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Re:Deco M4 - becomes a brick
2025-06-04 08:39:45 - last edited 2025-06-04 08:40:17

  @Sutike 

Hi, thanks for the update.

the 1.7.0 version works for Deco M4(EU) v2 as well. You can try to manually install this version.

Since this version is still in the release process, some users might not be able to detect it on the Deco APP.

 

Setting Deco into Access Point mode might exclude the potential interference of all advanced features. M4 will have no DHCP/NAT functions and only work as an extension. It helps to test whether there is any issue with its hardware.

 

As you mentioned, "C520ws killed my old router several times", may I know how many online devices you have connected to Deco?

Would there be a lot of smart home devices?

Have you checked the CPU/Memory Usage on the web interface?

If possible, can you share a screenshot of the network map on the Deco APP,such as:

Best regards.

 

 

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Re:Deco M4 - becomes a brick
2025-06-04 09:08:08

  @David-TP

Hi David,

 

I cannot jump into the installation right now, since I'm working, but I'll try later.

 

See the list of smart devices using my Deco

- one smart phone (5-10 mins per day maximum)

- one C520ws camera

- one C420s2 set, the H200 hub is wired (modem=>main Deco M4 => TL-SG100SD switch=>H200 (communicating eithe S420 cameras via Sub-G)

- one C320ws (it was using the satellite Deco M4 until it was working, currently is offline and can't access the camera in any way) 

 

On top of the smart devices one laptop is connected to the system.

You can see that it's nowhere vs. the advertised 100 devices...

 

Kind regards

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Re:Deco M4 - becomes a brick
2025-06-04 19:31:39

  @David-TP 

Hi David,

 

Thanks for your recommendation, the software upgrade was successful, on the main Deco M4.

I tried to add the satellite unit after the upgrade, but it still turns solid red after some seconds. Exactly like yesterday (remember, this is the replacement set), and exactly like in case of the old set. It is/was impossible to breathe life into it.

 

Since the main deco is functioning, I have not proceeded with the AP mode. As mentioned yesterday, first I wanted to calibrate the "bad guy" unit as the main one, but it turned solid red, and is keeoing this very bad habit permanently.

 

Any further ideas? Can it be a hardware issue? Should this set also be replaced after one day?

 

Thanks

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Re:Deco M4 - becomes a brick
2025-06-06 07:17:53

  @David-TP 

 

Hi David, can you please answer my question #6?

 

Thanks

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Re:Deco M4 - becomes a brick
2025-06-06 08:25:32

  @Sutike 

Hi, I don't think the new Deco M4 pack is defective again.

Somehow, I think it might be due to the smart cameras.

Have you tried to connect Tapo C320WS via WiFi, instead of an Ethernet connection to the satellite M4?

(It is just for testing, not permanent advice.)

 

If you would like to spend a little more time, when the satellite M4 is red again, before making any reset or restart, I hope you can connect a laptop to the satellite M4 via an Ethernet cable, then access http://tplinkdeco.net to help me save the system log on the satellite M4.

(You can forward the log to support.forum@tp-link.com. Please make sure the log is saved from the satellite M4 unit)

 

By the way, do you have any home firewall software/appliances, such as Circle/Firewall Mini PC?

Thank you very much.

Best regards.

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Re:Deco M4 - becomes a brick
2025-06-06 09:48:03

  @David-TP 

David,

 

 

as

 

As said previously the satellite unit starts with solid green and after one minutes turns to solid red. Not possible to connect is neither with cable, neither via wifi. This happened immediately after bringing it home and trying to use it as the main deco.

"Have you tried to connect Tapo C320WS via WiFi, instead of an Ethernet connection to the satellite M4?" - no because of the above mentioned phenomen.

"I hope you can connect a laptop to the satellite M4 via an Ethernet cable, " - no there is no ethernet inout on my laptop.

"By the way, do you have any home firewall software/appliances, such as Circle/Firewall Mini PC?" - AVG Free

 

Kind regards

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Re:Deco M4 - becomes a brick
2025-06-07 07:08:58

  @David-TP 

Hi David,

 

This morning I proceeded as suggested.

"before making any reset or restart, I hope you can connect a laptop to the satellite M4 via an Ethernet cable, then access http://tplinkdeco.net to help me save the system log on the satellite M4."

 

I plugged in the ethernet cable to my PC, and the satellite unit was not seen in the UI. Instead, it says: Operation failed.

 

It goes back for the second replacement, sorry.

 

Regards

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Re:Deco M4 - becomes a brick
2025-06-09 02:51:36

  @Sutike 

Hi, thank you very much for the update.

It would be highly appreciated if you could keep updating on how the new replacement works.

The main point of checking the extra firewall settings is that there was feedback that the Firewall appliances, such as Circle, have configured DNS filtering rules that have cut off the internet communication between the main Deco and satellite units.

Thanks again.

Best regards.

 

 

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#11
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