Review on 📶 TP-Link PCMag-Best of the Year, Smart Hub & Whole Home Mesh WiFi System with ZigBee, Bluetooth Smart Hub, Homecare Anti-Virus, Tri-Band Dynamic Backhaul, Works with Alexa (Deco M9 Plus) - Renewed by Noah Lewis

There are many mesh systems out there these days; much more than when the first systems were released. Manufacturers jump on the bandwagon and regularly bring semi-finished products onto the market. This is one of those releases. I got into this grid after using Apple Airports for the last 15 years when Apple announced it would no longer be updating and manufacturing the Airport line. It's time to look at newer "better" technologies. Today I have Eero (not recommended) and both series M5/M9.1. Setup is pretty easy, you need to use the mobile app to both initialize and complete the setup. This is becoming a common process among all manufacturers. I think they think nobody has a computer and nobody understands the web interface for configuration. The iOS app for these devices is very slow to connect and detect. Even after setup is complete, it takes 30-60 seconds to reconnect to the controllers while watching the spinning wheel. Several times the app had to be closed and restarted just to connect.2. You cannot define your own subnet for the M5 series. I stopped using 192.168.0.x or 192.168.1.x a long time ago and instead chose something higher in the octet range to stay away from any Wi-Fi neighbors who all seem to be on 192.168.0 .X seem to be! Can't change default/auto selection in M5 series? public IP range. Since I already have dozens of devices with predefined IP addresses, this was not the case from the start. No, you don't read any of this in the very sparse documentation available online. So the M5 series is back and I ordered the M9 S (Pro) series instead as the reviewers said you can pick any IP range you like. They desire - a need that a moderately developed person can have.3. M9 Series: Same issue with mandatory use of mobile app. Slowly, clumsily, but eventually you'll make it. My next task was port forwarding. I have 17 cameras on my property so I predefined specific ports on those cameras to avoid the default settings and give each camera a unique footprint/signature. It turns out that while the M9 series can choose your own IP range, it only allows 15 entries in the port forwarding table. The? You are joking. Again, not suitable for those with a moderate need for advanced networking. Also, while the detected cameras quickly appeared in the surveillance application, none of the cameras were accessible from the outside in less than 30 minutes. No reboot of the router, cable modem, or mobile device has ever brought back the ability to see the live feed from the camera. Like something blocked them after a few minutes (trend?) but never warned or indicated that they were blocked. Maybe port forwarding is a new skill in TP-Link? So far I've RMAed both M5/M9 series back to Revain. As for advanced features like those built into the Trend Micro 3 year old, I can't say much as I haven't installed them in over 48 hours. I will say that the M9 generated several alerts about "quarantined" devices and it was difficult for me to determine what was actually the event that quarantined them as no one was actually using these devices when they did were quarantined and when used, they functioned normally. I'm also rating the tech support 1 star as their FAQ/website may need some work. I never bothered to call anyone as the first line of support was completely clueless except "Do two cable modem reboots and call me in the morning." So I won't recommend them to anyone close to me. In 2009 Airport Extreme set up all 17 cameras with the required port forwarding and they have been online and working ever since. Find out.