Computer Shopper - UK (2020-03)

ISSUE385|COMPUTER SHOPPER|MARCH2020 33

MESHSYSTEMSAREourpreferredmethod
of puttingWi-Fiintoany home,eliminating
dead spotsand getting youastrong wireless
signal everywhere.But whatifyou runinto
problems with thickwallsoryou needto
placeawireless satellitealong wayfrom
the router? In thesecases, mesh systems
tend to fail as they can’tget astrong enough
wirelesssignal to work properly, leaving you
with the option of havingtorun an Ethernet
cablebetween meshsatellites.
With the Deco P9,TP-Link offers adifferent
option: each satellitehas built-in Powerline
networking, letting the satellites connect
using Wi-Fi or your home’s power cables. The
idea is to give you astrongWi-Fi network
without having to run any additional cables.

BOXFRESH
TheP9comes as athree-satellitekit,which
TP-Linksaysisenoughtocover 6,000square
feet. Each satellite is an identical tallbox.
Theyfeel abit light and empty,but lookneat
enough dottedaround the home.
Each satellitehas twoGigabit Ethernet
ports. The first satelliteyou turnonmust be
connectedtoyourbroadband router,which
leaves youwithasingle Gigabit Ethernet port
forwired devices, so you’ll most likely want
to buy aswitch to extendsupport.

Forthe satellites, youcan use both
Ethernet ports forwired devices, althoughyou
also have asecondoption: Ethernet backhaul.
If you find that Powerlineconnectivityisn’t
workingaswellasexpected,you can join a
satelliteusingEthernet. That’spotentially
handy if youneed even morerange, such as
getting Wi-Fitoanoutbuilding.
Once all your devices areconfigured, you
can give your wireless network aname and
set the password you wanttouse.
The Deco P9 is configured andmanaged
entirely through the smartphoneapp.It’s a
simpleapp to use,with aclearlayout, butit
doesn’t quitegive youfull control over your
wireless network,and there’s no option to set
whichwirelesschannels you wanttouse.
Instead, theP9automatically chooses the
wireless channelsitthinksare best.

TP-LINK DecoP9

★★★★★

£199•From http://www.amazon.co.uk

VERDICT

Asmart idea to make mesh networking more
reliable,but this router didn’t deliver the
breathtaking speeds we were hoping for

MESH WI-FISYSTEM

Inaddition,,,asiscom ystems,,,

the P9 presents asingleWi-Fi name forboth

the 2.4GHz and 5GHz networks, pushingclients

to the best channel based on performance

and ability.There’s an option to turnonFast

Roaming, which is worthexperimenting with;

this pushes clients to connect to the nearest

P9 satellite, whichhelps improve performance

on devices that you move around with.

ALL UNDER CONTROL

Parental controls let youcreateprofiles for

each family member,groupingtogethereach

person’s devices. Foreach profile, youcan

selectthe age type(child, pre-teen, teen or

adult)todefine which categories of websites

can be viewed, plus youcan set time limits for

use andbedtimes. Eachprofilecan also be

individually paused,whichisahandy wayto

get attention. This Deco system doesn’t have

the antivirus options that some of TP-Link’s

other systems have,however.

TheDeco P9 has AC1200 wireless, with

867Mbit/s 5GHz networking and a300Mbit/s

2.4GHznetwork. The 1,000Mbit/sPowerline

networking is used exclusively forthe

connection betweensatellites.

Testing the system, we foundthat

performance was aroundaverage at close

range but tailed off significantly at longer

distances. At close range,wegot upload

speedsof223Mbit/s and download speedsof

287Mbit/s. These speedsare just behind the

GoogleWi-Fi. Moving to thefirstfloor,wegot

upppload spppeeds of 115Mbi/s

speeds of 125Mbit/s. On the second floor,

speeds fell awaywith upload speedsof

99Mbit/s and download speeds of 136Mbit/s.

POWER DOWN

To look at how useful Powerline was, we put a

satelliteatthe endofthe kitchen, as faraway

from the router as possibleand obstructedby

an external wall and two internalwalls. Both

satellites were connected directly to awall

socket with no extension cables. Performance

in the kitchen was basic, with upload speeds of

30Mbit/sand download speedsof43Mbit/s.

It’sworth pointing out that Powerline

networking is very susceptible to the quality

of cabling, so you mayexperience better

performance in your own home than we did.

We like the hybrid concept of theDeco P9,

with Powerlinenetworkingthere to give aboost

whereWi-Fican’t reach, yet the performance

in ourhomewasn’tasgood as we’d hoped for.

For£60 more,you can buy the Netgear Orbi

RBK50(Shopper375),atri-band system that

uses adedicatedwirelesschannel to connect

satellites. We’veseen this systempunch

through areally thick stone wall in ahouse,

and there’s Ethernet backhaul if you need it.

DavidLudlow

Seepage98for performance details

MODEMGigabitEthernet•WI-FISTANDARD802.11ac•

STATED SPEED867Mbit/s(5GHz), 300Mbit/s(2.4GHz)•USB

PORTS (^0) • WALL MOUNTABLENo•WARRANTYTwoyears
RTB•DETAILSwww.tp-link.com•PART CODEDeco P9

SPECIFICATIONS

5GHz 2m

5GHz 5m

5GHz 10m

0200 400 600

255Mbit/s

120Mbit/s

117Mbit/s

Welikethe hybrid concept of the DecoP9, with Powerline

networking theretogiveaboostwhereWi-Fi can’t reach