@gedrick So your #3 unit now says that #2 is the signal source?

I have a similar config to you - nice linear arrangement of decos across three floors with the main at one end. Both slaves say the main unit is the signal source.  I would like some confirmation that signal source means what we think it should - the node in the mesh the respective deco is connecting to. The only way the behavior I'm seeing would make sense is if signal source always refers to the unit that is connected to the wired network.

@Nohit Right... so the daisy chain is something I intentionally forced. Not sure if it's a "blessed" solution, but the 3rd unit was too far away from Main to work. I did this by:

1. Set up the Main unit in my office.
2. Set up the 2nd unit by connecting to Main WHILE it was right next to the Main, then moving it out to the location down the hall.
3. Set up the 3rd unit by connecting to the Main WHILE it was right next to the Main... then unplug and move it right next to the 2nd unit... then I unplugged and moved it again to it's correct location downstairs. 

For reasons I cannot expplain, the 3d unit remembered the 2nd unit when it was plugged in and viola... the connection remained. But there is NO guarantee if that daisy-chain will stay in force if I reboot the 2nd unit or lose power and all 3 come back up at the same time :-). 

Same issue here, seems like a massive oversight.

Just arrived. Network performance is an improvent, but not as good as it could be.

Straight line network, 1-2-3.

Currently 2 connects to 1. 3 should connect to 2 but just connects to 1 so the signal is weaker than it could be.

This needs to be resolved. I'm tempted to just return this straight to amazon.

Whats the alternative product which performs correctly?

@grantlabt - completely agree!!

TP Link need to listen and fix this as it's a bug for sure. The design should ensure signal attenuates and devices in the system lock on to the to strongest/nearest source as a cascade and not try to find a distant "main device" with weak signal as that is NOT a true mesh system. 

Looking back over this thread, it should be obvious by now that TP-Link must know about the problem. So they either are incapable of fixing it due to poorly designed hardware or just don't even care enough to fix the software.

Venting here has done nothing. If you bought from Amazon, you could post a negative review. Or do that on other product review sites. Maybe that would get some notice from TP-Link.

@RandySea2 I did post our concerns using TP-Link Twitter accounts but all I got was crickets... maybe they don't really care.

Also got issues with my computer connecting to the slave unit in the next room, rather than the main unit right next to it. Thus getting reduced performance. And no obvious way to correct it.

Seems you get what you pay for. Budget performance and options for a budget system.

Think I'll hang on to this for a while until I can afford a high end system with the options needed to use the system correctly.

So here's an idea I got from one of the Tech guys... If you have devices that CAN connect to 5ghz instead of 2.4ghz (such as iPhones, MacBooks, modern Windows computers) AND more importantly, devices that prefer or do NOT need to be on the faster speed... separate the bands using different names! This will allow a device to ONLY connect to the preferred band, and keep it from slipping (say, from 5ghz to 2.4ghz) when it really doesn't need to.

I set up my 5ghz band with a different Network name from the 2.4 network, then connected iPhones, Computers, and "fast" devices to that network. THEN, I connected all the slow things (wall switches, cameras, thermostats) to the 2.4ghz network (which has a different name). Since that time... our iPhones and MacBooks all connect to the 5ghz network, even if it only shows 2 bars of Wifi... but by NOT dropping back to 2.4ghz, they are NOT "skipping" around the house looking for the best of SIX possible points! They only look for 3, which is a smaller and easier number for them to choose from!

It's a pain to reconfigure... but I have 20 devices on my network right now (there were 26, but my daughter went off to school). And now, it's all working great! 

@eli014 well, that's just allocating devices to a SID that has 2.4 or 5, not really implementing a mesh network which is what the Deco system is supposed to be. Thanks for the idea though.

@c.h.moller The issue I had was that the devices would not roam properly from one hub to the next. Instead, they would stay with the same hub but switch frequencies even though slower or weaker than the next one in line (e.g. Start with 5g on the Main hub, then switch to 2.4 on the Main even though 5g was stronger when moving toward the kitchen). This solution, defining the Network frequency, means that when the 5g signal from the Main hub gets weaker, the device looks only for the next (stronger) hub using the same frequency.

Maybe it's not perfect "Mesh," but for me, it means I am not holding onto a degrading signal just because the device wants to stay associated with the Hub. If the signal degrades, it moves to the next stronger Hub instead of dropping down to the slower frequency. More importantly, I can stick the low usage devices (light switches, cameras, etc.) on the slower frequency because they don't need the speed AND therefore, they don't clog the faster channel. 

Comcast says I should have no more than 15 devices on my network... but with this solution, I have had as many as 33 over the summer!