Best way to set up deco M9s with M5s

Best way to set up deco M9s with M5s

Best way to set up deco M9s with M5s
Best way to set up deco M9s with M5s
a week ago
Model: Deco M9 Plus  
Hardware Version:
Firmware Version:

Hi

 

I currently have 3 Deco M5s set up in router mode in a 3 story Victorian house connected to a Virgin Media broadband router. Due to the size and construction of the house I've had a few connectivity issues throughout the house, particularly in the kitchen and the living room. The current layout is as shown below with the main deco connected to the Virgin Media router in the office on the top floor. The Virgin Media 360 TV box is in the living room on the ground floor. The connection to the TV and the VM box currently shows good speeds but we get frequent issues on catch-up services. I have moved the deco on the first floor from the front bedroom tp the main bedroom and daisy chained the living room deco to this deco, which seems to have improved things a bit, but now the signal in the kitchen is very patchy.

 

As a result, I've just bought two M9 plus decos to add into this setup. My question is how best to configure all this to take advantage of the M9s wifi backhaul and stronger signal. I assume I'm best using one M9 connected to the VM router in the office and, if the signal is strong enough, using the other M9 in the living room to connect to the TV and VM box. Alternatively, I could put the second M9 on the first floor and daisy chain the M5s to this. Any thoughts or advice?

 

Also, is it easy to delete the existing wi-fi network and set up a new network with the same ssid and p/w? I've seen some people have had issues with this.

 

Any help or advice greatly appreciated, ian

 

 

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#1
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5 Reply
Re:Best way to set up deco M9s with M5s
a week ago

  @ianreneb 

 

As an owner of two M9 Plus and two M5s, here are my recommendations.

 

The best way is to make M9 Plus your Main Deco. Connect Satellite M9 Plus to Main M9 Plus and make sure Signal is good between them:

 

 

if signal is Weak, move Satellite closer to Main. 

 

Connect M5s to Main or Satellite M9 Plus, you have Connection Preference feature in your Deco app to do that. Make sure all Satellites show good quality Signal to Deco they are connected to.

 

 

Additionally, if you can connect TV or VM box (or both) by Ethernet cable(s) to Satellite Deco near by, it should substantially improve streaming quality on these devices.

 

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I would suggest adding M9 Plus to Deco mesh and promoting one of them to Main Deco instead of deleting and re-creating existent Deco network. See How to replace the main Deco with another Deco

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#2
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Re:Best way to set up deco M9s with M5s
a week ago

  @Alexandre. many thanks for that, that is really helpful and all makes perfect sense. Will give this a go over the weekend.

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#3
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Re:Best way to set up deco M9s with M5s
a week ago

  @Alexandre. I've now got one of the M9s set up as the main deco - thanks for pointing me in the right direction on that, saved me a big headache.

 

One quick question. Do you think it's best to put the second M9 in the living room next to TV/virgin box if the signal is strong enough? (I'll wire them both to the deco)

 

Or would I be better putting the satellite M9 in one of the 1st floor bedrooms to provide a decent spine for the network to which the other m5s could connect? What are the pros and cons of each option? Apologies for my lack of knowledge, I'm sure I'd get there through trial and error but any thoughts on best approach?

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#4
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Re:Best way to set up deco M9s with M5s
a week ago

  @ianreneb 

 

i would start with placing Satellite M9 Plus in the living room next to TV/virgin box, and hardwire them to Satellite Deco M9. If Satellite has good link to Main Deco from there, you'll have best possible streaming experience.

At least, for my household that were my objective: to achieve best streaming quality on Smart TV I have, because most other devices can tolerate brief issues with WiFi signal.

 

Only if Satellite M9 can't reach Main M9 reliably, I'll try different approach: move Satellite M9 closer to Main M9, place Satellite M5 where I can wire TV/virgin box to it, configure that M5 to connect to Satellite M9.

 

 

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#5
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Re:Best way to set up deco M9s with M5s
a week ago

  @Alexandre. Many thanks Alexandre that's what I thought, will give that a try first.

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#6
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