I'm planning to also get a TP-Link switch...did you ever get ethernet backhaul working properly?

patatoeswizard wrote

I'm having the same issue with my unmanaged switches. I've tried both a d link GO-SW-5G and a tp link TL-SG1008D. When I try either switch my primary and secondary decos will alternate between blinking red and solid green and are unusable. Has anyone had eth backhaul success with unmanaged switches?

I'm also planning to get a TP-Link switch. Did you ever get things working properly?

After updating my Decos to the latest version (FW 1.1.5 Build 20170820 Rel. 62483) I was able to get two of my units to play nice over ethernet using the tp link TL-SG1008D (modem > deco #1 > tp switch > deco #2). I have not had a chance to get the third unit setup over ethernet, I'll update if I run into any issues with that one.

Same issue on my side with 2 Deco units (haven't tried with the third one yet as I seriously considering returning these).

Both DECO have the latest firmware to date (1.1.6 Build 20171103 Rel. 47257) and I use a D-Link unmanaged switch (GO-SW-8G).

I set-up deco #2 wirelessly next to deco #1 and it works fine.


I tried the setup modem > deco #1 > d-link switch > deco #2 and both units start alternating between green and blinking red when I connect them.

Issue does not come from the switch of my network as modem > deco #1 > d-link switch > computer works fine with 2 different computers on 2 outputs of the switch. Same, if I remove the switch from the setup and connect directly the 2 decos via my ethernet network it works fine.



Anyone knows if any fix has been identified as this issue seems to have been going on for some months ? (apart from buying a switch from TP-Link )
I reached out to TP-Link technical support but they were apparently unaware of the issue and this is when I found this post.


I will try tonight with a different TP-Link switch (TL-SF1005D) that I have at home, although this is not ideal as it is 10/100Mbps.

Might be a bit late in the day, but I’ve just noticed this thread. I have 4 Decos with the same firmware version as mentioned in the previous post. Over 30 devices connected via Wi-Fi or Ethernet. One of the decos is connected via WiFi as I didn’t have a handy Ethernet port other than through a power line adapter which was rubbish. All other units are connected via backhaul Ethernet with multiple unmanaged 8 port switches some of which are TP-Link and some Netgear - all the sub £20 10/100/1000 types from Amazon. The gateway is connected directly to a standard BT open reach modem and therefore acts as the primary router. I am portforwarding an SSH tunnel to a back up NAS device that I host and have multiple IP reservations for cameras and other devices that are permanently streaming data. Cabling is CAT6 which I terminated myself (I am a keen amateur). My Wi-Fi connectivity is superb (using an independent speed test) providing speeds that are a gnats whisker lower than the actual speed of the connection as confirmed by my SamKnows box ie 74Mbps. I rebooted remotely today to associate my connection to a fixed external IP address. The units seemed to take quite a while to reacquire themselves onto the ‘mesh’ (if that is the right word). But connect they did.. My reason for the post? Just to suggest that you can make the Deco work and work very well with excellent performance. I have been pleasantly surprised how well these mid priced units perfrom compared to my previous apple time machine routers. Wiring quality is obviously important when relying on backhaul as indeed is the Wi-Fi performance throughout the premises so each deployment will have its own peculiarities. Customer service has also been pretty responsive to a couple of queries that I raised through the feedback option in the app.

dionysos06 wrote

Same issue on my side with 2 Deco units (haven't tried with the third one yet as I seriously considering returning these).

Both DECO have the latest firmware to date (1.1.6 Build 20171103 Rel. 47257) and I use a D-Link unmanaged switch (GO-SW-8G).

I set-up deco #2 wirelessly next to deco #1 and it works fine.


I tried the setup modem > deco #1 > d-link switch > deco #2 and both units start alternating between green and blinking red when I connect them.

Issue does not come from the switch of my network as modem > deco #1 > d-link switch > computer works fine with 2 different computers on 2 outputs of the switch. Same, if I remove the switch from the setup and connect directly the 2 decos via my ethernet network it works fine.



Anyone knows if any fix has been identified as this issue seems to have been going on for some months ? (apart from buying a switch from TP-Link )
I reached out to TP-Link technical support but they were apparently unaware of the issue and this is when I found this post.


I will try tonight with a different TP-Link switch (TL-SF1005D) that I have at home, although this is not ideal as it is 10/100Mbps.

You can refer to the following thread for a solution:
http://forum.tp-link.com/showthread.php?98898-How-to-set-up-Ethernet-Backhaul-with-Deco-M5&p=226017&viewfull=1#post226017