Review of the Deco X20 ( with DSL) with Whole Home Mesh Wi-Fi System.
As internet providers have increased their internet speeds in the mobile world going from 4G to 5G and in the landline world bringing fiber into peoples homes, we still have the same issue, keeping as much of your internet speed into every corner of your home.
There's no point having great internet in the room where the router is but you work in the opposite side of the house and you dont get the same speed there thats where Wi-Fi Mesh systems come into play like Tp-Link’s (DSL) X20
Its a very easy setup download the Tp-Link Deco App and using the supplied ethernet cable you plug into your existing Internet providers router and the other end of the cable into the Deco DSL unit which will become the main unit (or if you get your internet via DSL, using the VDSL adapter) and plug the power cable into the Deco DSL and use the Tp-Link Deco app to setup your new Wi-Fi network . Then you plug your other satellite Deco X20 unit(s) around your home and thats it.
Its a super easy setup and if you want to add more coverage you can just buy another Deco X20 unit and add to your WiFi Mesh network.
The Deco X20 units will create a 2.4Ghz (574Mbps) , 5Ghz (1201Mbps) and the WiFi 6 combines both (1,800 Mbps—1,201 Mbps on 5 GHz and 574 Mbps on 2.4 GHz) using the 2 internal antennas and will give a single Wi-Fi network which your devices will see.
The Wifi Standards which are supported by the Deco X20 are Wi-Fi 6, IEEE 802.11ax/ac/n/a 5 GHz and IEEE 802.11ax/n/b/g 2.4 GHz
Blue indicator on the base of the Deco DSL X20 visible during the setup phase
(LED Indicators can be setup via the Deco app) the reset button and label
In the Main box you get Deco DSL X20 Unit, its power adapters (cable length approx 1.5 metres) , a quick installation guide, an ethernet cable (and VDSL adapter with phone cables)
The Deco DSL is approximately sized 105mm x 105mm x 167mm on base there is a handy notification led (which can be configured in the Deco App) on the rear of the unit there are four Gigabit ethernet ports, the DSL connection and one power socket.
It is powered with a Quad-core CPU and it has 2 internal antennas.
The Deco X20 is compatible with IPv6 and has Bluetooth 4.2.
Rear view of the Deco DSL Unit
Install the Deco the app from your app store and create/sign in to your TP-link account.
The process for adding the Deco X20 is very straightforward and the Deco app guides you through the steps with clear instructions, like the below ones that I followed.
Satellite Deco X20 Units.
You can purchase extra Deco X20 units, I placed one upstairs in my house. I just followed the process below and it was very straightforward to get them added to the network.
If you have ethernet around your house you can use ethernet to connect the Decos this will give you the best performance.
View of the bottom of the Deco X20 unit with 4 rubber feet, reset button and label.
The Unit measures (110 × 110 × 114 mm)
Rear view with 2 Gigabit ports and power connection
Deco X20 Connected Mode
To add other Deco X20 Units to the network was a simple process.
Deco X20 in Setup Mode.
I noticed immediately that places in my house like the bedrooms furthest away from the existing router that previously had very poor/no Wi-Fi now have full signal strength.
The Deco app gives you plenty of options to control how your Internet and WiFi is used in your house. I found the Parental Controls , Quality of Service and the Guest Network the most useful.
In the QoS option I gave my work laptop the highest priority on the network so it would get the bandwidth that it needs and the Parental controls were great to control when and what my kids could access the internet on their devices.
Another advantage of using the Deco’s is that if you switch internet providers, you dont need to login all your devices and re-create Parental rules into that new WiFi network, you just plug your Deco into the new router and all your devices are online again.
I liked the Guest network feature as it was easy to turn on the network when people called over, and there's a blacklist option as well to stop devices connecting to your network.
The Deco app gives you notifications when a device joins your network, and you also have an option to Optimize the Network.
You get a Free Trial of 30 days to HomeShield Pro which gives you Web Protection, Intrusion Prevention and IoT Protection.
Some of the Advanced Options are in the below but there isnt a lot you can configure here compared to other routers.
You also get options to give you a monthly report and setup a manager for the network
Another handy feature that you could make use of is having the ethernet ports on the Decos, I plugged my old smart TV that didnt have Wi-FI into the Deco X20 using an ethernet cable, I would recommend you do this if you have a device your using for work at home as using an ethernet cable will give you a better connection.
As the Deco X20 supports OFDMA and MU-MIMO technology there is plenty of capacity to enable simultaneous transmission to lots of devices.
Speeds Tested via Fast.com on a Mobile device (Internet package 500 Mbps from Vodafone ,Siro )
Downstairs same room as Router and with Deco X20 - 500Mbps , with 13 ms Latency
Downstairs Kitchen ( room without a Deco X20) - 470Mbps , with 14 ms Latency
Upstairs Bedroom (room with another Deco X20) - 490 Mbps with 15 ms Latency
Upstairs Bedroom next to room with Deco X20 470Mbps with 14 ms Latency
Signal Strength was always full strength during my testing.
For people looking to improve their home Wi-Fi and especially if your working from home and want to give priority to your work device the Tp-Link Deco X20 is a great addition to your smart home.
Available to buy from:-
Three.ie Deco X20 ( None-DSL) will give you 4000 sq ft of coverage, if you need more you can add a extra Deco X20 to give you up to 5,800 sq.ft.
And dont forget to use your 3Plus Discount
For more info see here
Deco X20 | AX1800 Whole Home Mesh Wi-Fi 6 System | TP-Link
