Header banner
Revain logoHome Page
Nick Shirodkar photo
Papua New Guinea, Port Moresby
1 Level
685 Review
47 Karma

Review on πŸ“Ά TP-Link Deco M3 - A Plug-in Mesh WiFi System for Whole Home Coverage (3-Pack)" by Nick Shirodkar

Revainrating 5 out of 5

OK. Not EXCELLENT at all. PLEASE READ if you need 2.4GHz specifically for smart plugs.

I read the reviews and even got the firmware update as advertised but I have YET found no way to distinguish between the 2.4 and 5GHz channels , it seems you merge them into one and your devices can "guess" what they need, BUT. Smart plugs for lights etc that you use in Alexa and Google Home that NEED a 2.4GHz channel will not be able to see this as the SSID to connect to. I even named it like my old 2.4GHz SSID to try and fool it even though it's a single channel combined. I just couldn't get it to connect at all and have reconnected it a few times while fumbling and know what I'm doing so it would be difficult to set this up for a layman. While many people say the app is very basic, it's actually NOT because it doesn't say much about channel aggregation or that it can't split 2.4 and 5GHz into separate SSIDs, so it's not a win for me. This is a HORRIBLE mesh system these days if you have smart plugs and it shouldn't be a bummer. Definitely give it 2 stars as I can see a lot of people having trouble with it and not even bothering to open the 50 page booklet. Each page has 2 paragraphs in different languages on each page that basically just tell you to download the system setup app. Why would they even print it, it's a waste of time. Setup is very easy if you don't have the requirements to specify a 2.4GHz channel and just want a basic mesh system, but otherwise it's a VERY basic setup and most people have no control over it and will end up returning it. To update. After the second installation of the firmware update. (Rebooted and was told there is an update but not for all 3 components anymore so not sure) it seems to be working much better. I'll try a smart device and see if it recognizes the need for 2.4GHz and comes back. When I first installed smart switches, I couldn't connect at all. Presumably the firmware fixes this but I had already updated the firmware and it worked correctly but it still didn't work. It was a lot more difficult setup than some of the reviews say and I work in IT and still had to move the satellite box closer to the main unit for the initial pairing and still had issues. So fur. Just take a look.

Pros
  • Stable results when tested
Cons
  • Could have chosen a newer model