Costco Members: 3-Pack TP-Link Deco AXE5300 Wi-Fi 6E Tri-Band Home Mesh System Expired

Bottom Line Up Front: I like these Decos and the M9+ Decos I had before these. The Deco product line is super easy to setup, works consistently (no dropped connections), and IMHO is the best value wifi mesh router product line for the money, particularly when you get a SlickDeal! They go on sale regularly. Amazon also sells refurbished/renewed Decos (this same model) on occasion for around $200 for 3. Check Slickdeals posts on that. I bought mine from Costco around 3 months ago on a similar sale. To be clear, you can pick a cheaper Deco product line if your Internet is not at least 400Mbps. Nothing even close to this price range is "future proof". Over the coming years, Wifi 7 will become more available and cheaper (very expensive right now and not supported by most devices). Wifi 7 is a dramatic technology jump but IMHO is not worth the current price point, even for businesses. And this is Wifi6e which has the 6Ghz spectrum, but in my testing was not good for the one desktop I had with Wifi6e. Wifi6e is in the new iPhone 15, but I wouldn't setup this system to take advantage of that.

Details: I am a network engineer and bought these for a 1Gbps Internet connection. I work hard and want my home network to be easy and just work in the background, no problems and no fuss. The Deco product line accomplishes that but does not have the speeds they advertise. For one, they, like most companies, are advertising false Wifi speeds! For example, they will add up the maximum, theoretical speeds for 2.4Ghz, 5Ghz, and 6Ghz, if the router has 6Ghz, and advertise the system as having 5Gbps or whatever their number is. Without getting into semantics and an argument, just know you will never see a single device connect at a speed anywhere close to what they advertise. That being said, on the 5Ghz channel, I was hoping these Decos would support connections of at least a third (800Gbps) of the 2.4Gbps bandwidth they advertise. I only get that with one Asus laptop with a Wifi6 card next to the main Deco or if I'm hardwired to the main Deco. I don't get that on other devices with Wifi6 or Wifi5. My Internet is very high quality and consistent.

My house is about 3000 square feet, one level and open floor plan in the middle with rooms on both sides. The Internet is on one side, unfortunately not in the middle. I originally bought these to add to my existing M9+ Decos, didn't quite work out as hoped so I removed the M9+ Decos and am setting those up for my mom. My neighborhood has low Wifi interference, houses spaced far apart. Eight feet from the Deco that connects to my Internet I get 800-850Mbps on an Asus laptop with Wifi6. Everything (eg iPhone 13) else I tested (same spot) gets 550-650Mbps, about 300Mbps more than I got with the M9+ system. If you don't know the M9+ is an upgraded version of the M9 and dedicates a 5Ghz channel for connections between Decos.

On these Decos, I've tried all kinds of physical arrangements and locations. My best case scenario right now is I get about 600Mbps across the house, not quite what I hoped. I have one desktop with Wifi6e and setup the 6Ghz for devices to connect. The default setting for 6Ghz is to use it strictly for the connections between Decos. Changing it was a waste of time. With a Deco next to that desktop and strong signals between Decos, my speed actually declined compared to 5Ghz - about 600Gbps (5Ghz) to 400Gbps (6Ghz). So I reverted back to the default setting so that only the Decos use the 6Ghz for the backhaul.

All in all, these are good enough for me but not quite what I hoped in speeds. I've seen reviews from people saying they are getting over 800Mbps across their entire house. Given my testing, I don't know how unless you have physical lines to connect between Decos. I don't like attics in the summer but might run some cables this winter, maybe but probably not. lol

a network engineering that didn't just pull CAT6... come on now i know it's work, but one of the first things i did when i moved into our new house was pull cable from the office to almost every room... well worth the time.

i picked up a set of the Deco X75s (AXE5400) a few weeks ago to play with, since Deco put out their outdoor X50 and I wanted to give it a try... we have animals outside, so wifi cameras, and connection for IG live streaming. i currently have a Unifi setup, several U6-LR APs meshing to each other, wanted to see how Deco stacked up. in the same room, their speeds are comparable... throw a wall in the mix and Unifi pulls away quickly, then coverage outdoors isn't even a comparison... Deco just falls apart, and the X50 is absolute garbage.

but for a simple system, that will work pretty well indoors... the Deco stuff works quite well, i did have a good experience setting it up and working with it. the Deco's also handle fast roaming (mesh point switching) very well, seamless switches. the Unifi hardware in comparison is a god damn nightmare to get working just right


on the 800Mb everywhere comment... no, people are lying. i tested with my laptop and iphone 14 pro using iperf3 running on my Linux server all over the house with both setups... you can get 800-900Mb next to the main unit, even if you have a wired backhaul (which i did for all units) speeds drop to ~600-700Mb at the mesh units. going through a single wall drops to 400-500Mb, 2 floors or a couple walls and you're at ~200-300Mb.