@Machineage 

 

With that detailed description and a floor plan it would not be hard to provide proper recommendations.

 

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Type of Deco units (Deco model).

 

For Internet speed of 100Mbps there is no need for WiFi6 mesh, which is X20. WiFi5 mesh, such as Deco M9 Plus, could even be the better choice. I own M9 Plus and extremely pleased by their performance. They are fine up to Internet speed of 500Mbps, more than enough for what she has today. 

 

Unfortunately, M9 Plus appear to be End of Sale. If you can manage to get Deco M9 Plus set, go for it.

 

In case you can no longer buy M9 Plus, my recommendation would be to go with Deco X50 or Deco X55, not X20. X20 is very much budget Deco unit and it might lack on performance and features. 

Both X50 and X55 are so similar that if you decided you want them, just check their prices (one could be on sale while other is not) and buy model that costs less. 

 

 

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Location and number of units.

 

 

Obviously, Main Deco will be on the First Floor in the Guest Bedroom, where VM modem is. For Ground Floor, the best place fo Satellite Deco would be in the Living Room, right under Main Deco.

 

The question how may WiFi mesh units you will need is a challenging one. Usually, one could deploy initial set of WiFi units, check coverage and add more to cover places where coverage is lacking.

Unfortunately, TP-Link does not sell single M9 Plus and X50/X55 units. You can't just buy pair and add one more later.

 

So, to make an educated guess on the initial number of Deco units, you'll need to answer these two questions:

 

1 (First Floor). Current Netgear  AC1900 router, does it provide satisfactory WiFi coverage over First Floor, from Master Bedroom and all way to Bathroom?

 

Yes: one unit per floor is enough.

No: If she wants WiFi coverage extend to Bedroom 4 and Bathroom, one more Deco unit will be required on First Floor, and it should be placed somewhere in Bedroom 3.

 

So, either one or two units on First floor.

 

2. (Ground floor). If answer for 1st question is No, it means one Deco unit in Living Room may not be able to provide coverage for the whole Ground floor. Does she want WiFi coverage reach up to the end of Ground Floor: to pantry and WC?

 

No: one unit per floor may be enough.

Yes: If she wants WiFi coverage extend to pantry and WC, one more Deco unit will be required on Ground Floor, and it should be placed somewhere in the Dining Room.

 

So, either one or two units on Ground floor.

 

Depending how these questions are answered, you are looking at initial 2-, 3- or 4-unit set. TP-Link sells 2- and 3-unit sets. If you find you need 4-unit set, buy two 2-unit sets. In fact, if you think you'll need 4 units, buy single 2-unit set, deploy it and see if by some luck it is enough.

  @Alexandre. 

 

Thank you for such a detailed and comprehensive reply!

 

It’s difficult to give an answer re: the Netgear router. It’s a Nighthawk D7000, which has received a number of negative reviews. It’s been flaky from the start, frequently dropping connectivity etc. So I can’t say how representative the unit is with regards coverage, in relation to what it ought to be capable of.

 

To elaborate on my sister’s usage - she has no real need for the signal to reach Bedroom 3, 4 and the bathroom. She spends most of her time in the sitting room, living room, dining room, kitchen and master bedroom. So the signal needs to be best in those locations. In addition to the master Deco, I had thought about a node in the living room, wired to the TV via ethernet, and a node in the sitting room, wired to her work PC via ethernet. Would this give sufficient signal between the three for catchup / video streaming in the master bedroom?

 

I just spoke to her again, and she asked about future-proofing, and security features. I’m not sure how the earlier M9 Plus compare to the X50 / 55 in those respects.

 

Any more suggestions most welcome!

 

Thanks again.

  @Machineage 

 

I think going with three Deco nodes the way you plan should provide good WiFi coverage for Master Bedroom.

 

In regard to future proofing.

Both M9 Plus and X50/X55 can do just fine with Internet speed up to 500Mbps. If Internet link is gigabit, X50/X55 will do better.

 

Both M9 Plus and X50/X55 run on 5GHz, because WiFi5 and WiFi6 utilize 5GHz. Which means, as long as mobile device supports WiFi6, it'll be backward compatible with WiFi5. It is hard to imagine WiFi6 capable device such as smartphone which will refuse to run on WiFi5.

 

M9 Plus is at its End of Sale, which means it will unlikely to get new features X50/X55 will. Still, for general needs (like mine) M9 Plus has sufficient feature set.

 

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M9 Plus is aesthetically more pleasing. It does not scream "I am home networking gear, I am WiFi node." I have TV wired to one of my M9 Plus sitting on TV stand, it blends very nicely. From the other hand, X50/X55 has three Ethernet ports vs two on M9 Plus, X50/X55 will allow one more device to wire to it before you need to buy networking switch. 

 

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When it comes to security features, M9 Plus uses Homecare which is free. X50/X55 uses Homeshield which might have more features but some of them require subscription. So, it all comes to what security feature set she needs. I suggest you google both Homecare and Homeshield, TP-Link has info pages for them, and decide. 

 

One important thing to mention: if there are or will be people in the house on which she has to enforce parental controls and other security features (read: children, especially teenagers), you must choose X50/X55. M9 Plus has terrible flaw that allows user connected to its WiFi to bypass parental controls with ease, if they want to. X50/X55 has this flaw addressed. It is long story, so maybe for another time, but if there is expected to be people who intent to bypass parental controls - dismiss M9 Plus and go with X50/X55.