@greyhair Unfortunately the DECOs seem to be geared towards a simplified setup with minimal tinkering required, but also minimal configurability.  One of the newer Archer models probably continue to have similar control like your AX50.

  @jzchen Thanks for the reply. Sadly, part of the reason I bought the Deco units was the 'spousal acceptance' factor. The AX50 was relegated to the basement because it was ungainly and ugly. It worked, but it really limited coverage to the second floor (from the basement) and outdoors, because of its installed location. Before I commited at all to the Deco units, I installed them, one on a sideboard in the living room and one on a bookshelf on the second floor. The design and overall appearance of the units was acceptable, so at that point I started to configure them. So, acceptable to the spouse, but somewhat of a PITA to me. I run my own local DNS cache in the house, and I also configure fixed IPs for certain devices. The IoT feature of the Deco works well with my Nest stuff, that is cool, but the granularity of control on DHCP configuration leaves a lot to be desired, compared to the AX50. So they work well as APs, but I am underwhelmed by their operation as a router, in comparison to a much older TP-Link product.

I think ultimately, to resolve it, I will set up either a wired OpenWRT or OpenSense router, and convert the Deco to AP only mode. The other option would be a port of OpenWRT to the Deco Units. Does TP-Link support installing OpenWRT on the Deco line?

Is there any documentation on the Deco units in regards to Guest network vlan tagging to separate the guest network from the primary network? I am hoping that Guest network segregation is supported in AP mode.

Doug

Another option would be for TP-Link to support an AX series model in a Deco style enclosure. We can hope.

  @greyhair 

Same here.  I have an extensive use of DHCP reservations (30+) for my home.  I didn't think that "upgrading" to the Deco Pro would neuter the web console access.

Unfortunately, I can't bring myself to stand up my old TP-Link router for the sole purpose of handling DHCP Reservations and other functions.  
Hopefully, once I finally get it all done via my mobile device, I won't have to tinker much more after that.  Although reading another recent post about a FW update resetting the entire system...that has me a bit apprehensive about the future.  

Little backstory since you mentioned open source.  I had purchased a trio of the MX4500 (LN1301) that were recently being dumped into the retail market for pennies.  They have support(ish) for DD-WRT and OpenWRT.  I went with DD-WRT and was unsuccessful getting a stable network, let alone one that would handle wireless backhaul and device roaming.
So I found a trio of the XE75 Pro (refurbs) on Amazon for < $300.

While I am (initially) thoroughly impressed with the ease of setup and that I am getting 900mbps (of my 1Gb ISP) to my endpoint from the wireless backhaul is impressive to me, 

...I just wish it had a real web management interface...

  @greyhair 

Oy vey!  I think I just found another "gotcha" of the Deco system.

Can you set DHCP reservations?  "Yes", as long as it's within the current DHCP scope...
So where I have my network setup as 10.0.0.0, and DHCP range is 10.0.0.100-120, I can NOT set reservations below or above the DHCP range.

Seriously??? What the ****???  
Anyone from TP-Link in these forums that can confirm this functionality? I'd be more than happy to apologize if I missed something.