@RuiCardoso - so what is wrong in your setup, what is that thing not working as you're expecting?

@Tik 

Some random equipments just get reconnected a few times during a day.

Besides, in FAQ's they say it should be visible in the app the "Backhaul" status but i can't find it anywhere.

@RuiCardoso 

RuiCardoso wrote

@Tik 

 

Besides, in FAQ's they say it should be visible in the app the "Backhaul" status but i can't find it anywhere.

I chatted with tech support couple of days ago, and they gave me this link to verify status on backhaul: https://www.tp-link.com/us/support/faq/1794/
I sent screenshot of my app to verify that there was no such thing, and now they have a note in site that it depends of model whether info is available or not.

But anyway, to the point:

My setup is chained: (vdsl-modem as bridge -->ethernet--> Deco 1 -->etnerhet--> Deco 2 -->ethernet--> Deco 3 -->ethernet--> Airport Extreme (wifi off) -->ethernets to--> TV/Playstation/Sonos Speaker

I noticed packet loss when near Deco 3. It wasn't like that all time, but too often to maintain good quality online meetings. I started to go through cables and suddenly everything started to work. I still don't know what was the issue, but I assume that link between Deco 1 and Deco 2 was not reliable, because from Deco app I could see that Deco 2 was dropping out time to time (not Deco 3 though, which is connected from Deco 2). Now everything works.

I send thanks to tech support's David and Rikka.


There are few feature requests I'd like to share, but I just need to find right channel for it:
1) Possibility to see ethernet backhaul status (ethernet 100Mbit/s or 1Gbit/s OR WiFi (signal strength + unit(s) it's connected to)
2) Possibility to see devices connected to specific unit (e.g. printer to deco 1, phone to deco 3..)
3) Possibility to change wifi channels

4) Logging and configurable alerts (just simple logs to help identify problems), e.g.

** Timestamps when unit has lost/gained connection to internet / other decos
** Alert if internet connection is lost (configurable)
 

@RuiCardoso M9+ mobile app has missing info present on other Deco's (signal strenght of source, name of the signal source) so there is no backhaul info for us. There is a long list of complaints about this with the promise that a firmware upgrade is in the works. We can only believe them by word that, when connected by wire, there is an automatic backhaul connection. But as I understood this backhaul thing only works when one of the Deco's is in router mode and the others are slaves. As you say both are in AP mode they should work as simple access points, so they should have separate SSID's. But if that is the case you loose advantage of having a mesh. Idea would be to put one of the Deco's as main router, rest of the wired devices downards connected from the second eth.port through switches and the other one added to mesh through the mobil app through wire or by air. If you want to use another router as your main router, than you can configure one deco as a subnet router but then you'll not see devices inbetween the two routers, so not recommended. If everything is configured correctly and you still encounter connection drop disable 'fast roaming' from advanced mode (I believe that is the name of the service} and try that way.

I have to correct my post, backhaul is described as also  working in AP mode, you'll just loose the some services provided by deco as a router. The way the deco's are connected via wires is described elsewhere (https://www.tp-link.com/us/support/faq/1842/). There are some complains about connections through switches, some can block the wire due to short term loopbacks at setup.

@SRW9 I've had unstable connections with my Decos while the backhaul was through a d-link switch. There is written somewhere on tp-link site that there are some types of switches that are not compatible with tp-link's backhaul. Also, trying to extend the wifi signal with a low cost solution I bought an E3 set, comprising of an E4R and a wifi only slave. As a surprise, the M9 mesh accepts both devices, but E4R is making the whole mesh unstable and I did not find a way to use it as a simple mesh member.

If your M9 plus system is V2, there is a firmware update that cannot be uploaded from de Decos, there is a path described here somewhere. That firmware adds info to your phone app, including what device from where it gets signal, including ethernet