Accepted Manual Signal Source Selection on Deco
Background:
Some users might notice that all satellite Deco units are connected to the main Deco, instead of the nearest satellite Deco.
Typical Layout:
Why does the satellite Deco still keep selecting the main Deco as a signal source instead of the nearest satellite Deco?
Deco will choose the best signal source by itself. The selection does not depend absolutely on the signal strength, but also on the connection rate. Sometimes satellite Deco units may get slower speed due to half-duplex mode and interferences caused by connected devices like phones, or other devices. To ensure the satellite Deco gets reliable speed, the main Deco stays selected by Satellite Deco after comparative analysis.
Some users tested that after moving one of the satellites far enough and not being able to reach the main Deco, they finally get the desired connection map:
However, the speed of the satellite becomes slower than what it could get when connecting to the main Deco directly. Due to the working pattern and protocol/regulation of Wi-Fi technology, the more wireless hops, the slower the speed would be. This rule applies to any kind of mesh or extender system. So it is not always good to connect to the nearest Deco unit.
Solutions
Deco Firmware Updates Adding Signal Selection and VPN for Multiple Models
Related FAQ:
How can I find a suitable spot for my Deco?
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magician wrote
@TP-Link last update: I am getting out of this game. Just returned the Decos to Costco and bought Netgear instead. To be fair, the Netgear RBK753 doesn't allow source selection either. But at least it doesn't cut the speed when I add more routers to the mesh WiFi network.
It is good that you returned it when you had the opportunity, not too late.
3 minutes ago
Re:Manual Signal Source Selection on Deco
Hi, @magician
Thanks for the update.
Besides of moderating our own community, I am also a regular visitor of other communities.
Frankly speaking, the Deco is quite competitive both in price and network performance. I always believe Deco is a very preferable choice of mesh routers at the same level.
@TP-Link I still think the word "mesh", that you are using is misleading advertising. What is the difference between a few TP-Link WiFi extenders and Decos, except the UI? -This is a rhetorical question, I know you can list many differences, but that is not the point....
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@Momcho I got what you mean.
Having dealing with Deco issues for a few years and also owning several Deco M9 plus and M4 in my house, I would not say it is the best but it is not as bad as it has been said.
It is true that we have been fighting for this feature for about two years and now it is so close to the success I don't want to see that you finally give up.
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@TP-Link I think that the source selection its a functionality that should be not so hard to implement and brings a very different user experience. Because in my case the difference when my 3rd deco connect to the 1st(main deco) and to the 2nd is huge. When its connected to the 1st the signal is week because is far away and I experience cuts in Netflix content and its almost impossible to reach 4K Resolution. When I manage to connect to the 2nd deco in the first 5 seconds Netflix reach 4K resolution and stays that way without problem.
The conclusion to this is that getting this functionality would put Tplink deco in a must buy situation in the mesh technology devices without a question.
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@Seba83 Agreed on your points. After a lot of messing about with rebooting the devices I managed to get them to connect how I would prefer (in a daisy chain) and my speed has gone from 20mbs to 100mbs. I know this will be short lived as for some reason Deco decides that the weakest signal from the main Deco is better. Which I know for a fact it isn't.
Even if daisy changing cuts the throughput for each time it hops / links across a node, I'd rather have it like that as the throughput of the device is enough for my incoming connection speed. My biggest gripe, and the the reason I am looking for new units from a different brand, is that I have not been given the option to choose.
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@jl10101 agreed.
I recently gave up and just set the Deco that's in the center as main, and now everything falls in line automatically. Most people can't do this though, so hopefully the feature will be implemented soon.
Even in my situation the speed dropped a bit (due to this, I had to move my LTE modem to a sub-optimal spot), but since I'm getting a 250M fiber a week from now that will connect to the center Deco, I guess I'll survive.
Also people, you gotta realize that the M4 is the cheapest Deco of the whole line, so from a priority standpoint you'd imagine it to get new features last of the bunch... Unfortunately. But hopefully the firmware is similar enough to the others that it'll come out someday soon anyway.
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I did that too, but unfortunately now my devices, just only choose de main deco, and they shouldn't, since i have shellys choosing the main deco, when the 3º deco is at 3 meters. I really just want the option, where we could choose the deco to connect. I'm a developer and for my experience, this can't be so hard to implement.
Main deco: 20 devices.
2º deco: 3 devices
3º deco: 3 devices
4º deco: 0 devices
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@FlabbyPanda I have 3 X20 v2s and an X20 v1. I have a v2 as the master and the other v2s connected via Ethernet. The v1 is farther from the master than any of the v2s and it automatically daisy chained with one of the satellite v2s not the master
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the option to choose the signal source is in the ASUS ZenWiFi AX Hybrid XP4 .... TP-Link, please do this with the Deco P9 software, thank you
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@jl10101 I have been waiting and watching the threads on this subject since November 2020, and I'm truly dumbfounded by the lack of activity from the side of Tp-link. I don't understand why they don't seem to care at all by customer satisfaction. My guess is that they will not fix it. My next mesh is NOT tp-link
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@DezeEnGene feeling exactly the same way
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