TP-Link Deco M5 Whole Home Mesh Wi-Fi System, Up to 3800 sq ft Coverage, Compatible with Amazon Echo/Alexa, Antivirus Security Protection and Parental Controls, Pack of 2

I have Virgin Media Wi-Fi, via a hub 3 router, with expected speeds of 130mbs, but have a Sky subscription using a Sky Q box and a Sky mini box. There’s plenty of complaints and concerns on the internet saying that trying to use these two systems causes poor connection and frequent dropouts, and I can testify to this, resulting in a poor overall experience.I initially bought triple pack of TP-link Deco M5 mesh Wi-Fi discs and set up the Wi-Fi mesh system by turning the hub 3 from router to modem mode, and then, using the app, connected the three discs, with an instant impact to Wi-Fi quality.My house is three stories with a rear extension and loft conversion.The app which is required to set up the mesh Wi-Fi is great at assessing the signal strength being provided, it showed that even though three hubs SHOULD, be adequate, there was still room for improving the overall Wi-Fi quality, hence I purchased two more discs.I now have robust 130+mbs Wi-Fi signal everywhere.More importantly, my Sky equipment is working perfectly and I now have MUCH higher internet speeds, as in close to maximum speeds all of the time.I appreciate I’ve spent around £260 to achieve this, but when I factor in what I pay a month for both of my Virgin/Sky subscriptions. I think this was well worth the initial expense, to get the experience I want.I am Not very tech savvy, but changing the Hub3 from router to modem was easy, with plenty of YouTube videos to help, the TP-link Deco M5 app, is SO easy to navigate and get the mesh Wi-Fi up and running, I just wish I did this months ago.

Having purchased many pieces of kit over the years from Access Points, to Homeplug/Powerline connectors, to Wireless Homeplug/Powerline connectors it was time to go for something that would span the house (we are in a bungalow) and was of the one product and brand.I have been very pleased with the Deco’s, granted they are expensive but I did purchase them on a daily deal at reduced cost. Had the cost not been as low I think I would have been hard pushed to spend the full price on them.My layout probably wouldn’t be seen as typical, as my IT security is managed in a different and separate way, as such I am using these in Access Point mode so some of the features (such as the Antivirus) are disabled when you don’t have these set as doing the entire routing (you can switch between the different options in the app).I found them pretty easy to setup, again I wouldn’t be a novice, IT is my business, so any issues I experienced I would have dealt with myself without the need for additional support from TP-Link.Coverage is very good, there are no longer any ‘not-spots/blackspots’ in the home (circa 2400 sq. ft) so it does the job as intended.The app is good and it has recently been improved as you can now manage both the 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz bands, which is something you couldn’t do in the past which was a complete pain. Previously if you had any device that operated over the 2.4Ghz band exclusively you would have experienced issues connecting to the Wi-Fi. The Deco’s supports both collectively but the 5Ghz always got in the way, the fact you can now you can switch the 5Ghz off to connect your 2.4Ghz products and then switch it back on again is a real bonus and will no doubt alleviate a lot of frustration with older equipment.One issue I did find was that I wanted to add a further single unit in the Garage to broadcast down the far reaches of the garden. I purchased a further two pack from Amazon but for the life of me they would not connect to my existing cluster. Through fighting with the product, I found the issue, the ones I received, although looking the same, were in fact a previous revision/version to the ones in use. There was my issue, incompatibility with improved features! I therefore returned them to Amazon and received a refund.The lesson to learn here, if you are extending the network by installing additional units you will need to make sure they at least match your current revision or are newer, failing that you may have to start from scratch and use the lower revision as a baseline, it may work, but is it worth it! I don’t think you can stipulate which revision you want from Amazon but if you are fighting with adding new units check the base of your existing units for the revision number and then do the same with the add-ons, this may be your problem.So all in all I am personally very pleased with the Deco M5’s.(Note - 5 stars for app improvement, or it would have been 4 stars for the incompatability of device revisons).Note 2: This review is for the 3 piece set (the same as the 2 but with another unit), the 2 piece is the one with the older revision that I received as detailed above.

I had been using a powerful AC1900 router that provided fantastic speeds in its range, but even in a mid-sized terraced house struggled to push a signal to the far reaches the property. having looked at extenders and ruling them out due to poor reviews, performance and the need for a second SSID I decided to go with a mesh system. Best decision I have made in a long while.A two-pack of M5s easily covered my home, and every previously ropey spot now has fantastic speeds, so pleased I order a third just to push the wireless into my yard and garage area. And that's the beauty, you can just add more coverage as you need/want. Compatibility with other TP-Link mesh systems is another plus if I wanted to upgrade again in the future, I could still integrate the existing units.Setup is a breeze through the app, that is very clear and has useful settings and facilities. My only gripe is that there is no WEB UI for controlling the network from a PC.Couldn't be happier. If you are considering taking the plunge into a mesh network, going by my experience you won't regret it.

I installed a Deco M5 mesh system into my house in 2018 and it has been fantastic. My house is old, with very thick brick walls - wifi signals barely make it from one room to another let alone across the whole building, so installing a mesh was really my only option for decent coverage throughout the home. The M5 was easy to set up and I eventually expanded it to the maximum 9 nodes, connected to my main node via a combination of wired ethernet and the wifi mesh. The TP-link app has been regularly updated over the years and makes administration of the system relatively straight forward. I especially appreciated the security protection built into the system which supplemented the anti-virus software I have installed on the computers in the house. Unfortunately, the system has now reached "End of Life", according to TP-link, not something that they have made explicit in the app or in any other way, save for a small note on the Deco M5 page on the TP-link website, as a result it is no longer receiving regular firmware updates and I don't think that the anti-virus is being updated any more - as a result the system is increasingly vulnerable to external attacks. If you are in the market for a new wifi mesh system DO NOT BUY THE M5! Look at other options such as the Deco M10.