TP-Link AC1900 Mesh Router Deco S7 Review

TP-Link has launched its long pending mesh router. Dual Band AC1900 based mesh router called Deco S7. It a dual band mesh router with 1.2ghz quad core cpu in a 3pc or 2pc setup. This Deco S7 has 3 gigabit auto sensing port on each unit and support 3X3 MU-MIMO.

Brief Specs:

Wifi-5 AC1900 Mesh Router
600mbps 2.4ghz band speed
1300mbps 5ghz band speed
3× Internal Antennas
1.2ghz quad core cpu
Dual-Band, Beamforming
3× Gigabit Ports per node
Deco app setup
Parental control

Pros of Tp-Link Deco S7:

The unit came well packed by the seller. Also, the company dual layered packaging is nice and shock proof. It felt nice to unbox it.
I checked Netgear Orbi, in which there was only one unit supporting internet connection and the other two devices are just extending satellites. But this is not the case of TP link Deco. Here, all units can work as a main unit independently. It means that if you want to install all three routers in a different place, they will work as a main router.
There are a number of different Tp-Link mesh devices under the name Deco ranging from ₹2500 per unit to ₹50,000 per unit. The good news is, all Decos can be meshed together as per your requirement.
Easy setup. Took 15 mins for me to get it working.
It supports ethernet backhaul. It means that you can create wired connection between two Decos to give them a stronger connectivity. I’ll explain you how this feature reduced my networking cost immensely.
Supports 5Ghz network. Today, most of the devices coming to market support 6Ghz network.
Strong & stable connectivity. I must say, one router was enough to give internet access on one floor of 180 sq yards. I installed the router in the center. With 300 Mbps internet connection, I was getting atleast 200 Mbps speed in all rooms. In the most distant spots like balconies, I was getting 50Mbps stable speed with no lagging. It is reasonable for a single router giving internet to a large space. If you want a better speed, just mesh it with another Deco. Also remember that a strong router doesn’t always offer a long range. It also depends upon the WiFi module on your device as both devices need to send data to each other. Both the devices create an ecliptic lobe and the best speed is received where the both lobes intersect.
Feels strong & heavy.
It claims to use high speed CPU and artificial intelligence for better connectivity. I can feel it with seamless connectivity.
Big air vents at the bottom to keep it cool. It still stays a bit warm though.

Cons of Tp-Link Deco S7:

No wall mount. This is very frustrating. However, they have done it strategically because you get a better range if you place it on a table as the walls absorb radio frequency. But still so many people, like me, have no option other than to wall mount the device.
Vertical range is not good. Horizontally, the router will cover a large area. But if you put another router just above or below one router on the next Floor, the range is still not good. My connection speed was dropped by 50%. It works but not as great as I expected it to be. Maybe it was due to concrete slab floor. I am not sure though. Still good till 300mbps speeds anywhere.

TP-Link Deco S7 Review from Another User
Writing this review after 5 days of usage

Have about 50 – 60 devices in home with Multiple TV’s with 4k streaming and all Deco’s connected with Ethernet backbone (Not fan of Wifi backbone since it takes away the bandwidth and inconsistent)
Never dropped signal from day 1 till now
500mbps connection and i could get 250 – 450mbps (depending on the device) inside my home (4k sqft and 3 floors)
I was even able to get wifi 2 houses apart (50-60 feet away) and was usuable as well (speed was about 2-10mbps with 1 bar)

Initially i was skeptical about Fire TV Stick connectivity since it has been a long battle between mesh routers and fire stick but to my suprise, all 4 fire tv Sticks connected to my network automatically without any issues and extra steps needed (Setup the net wifi with same old wifi name)

Have the Deco’s in AP mode since i use PiHole (DHCP + DNS) and ISP Router.

Pro’s
1. Painless setup (was up and running in 5 minutes)
2. Parental control
3. Buffer free experience
4. Upgradability and Mix&Match (Can upgrade the deco network in future by adding any of the deco router models is cool)
5. Fast roaming (Never even saw my wifi bar go below 5 bar when moving through floors)
6. Good range
7. Network optimizer (built in optimizer did fix some roaming issues after initial setup)
8. Triple Gigabit ethernet port is a god send
9. Ethernet backbone (Recommended for all Mesh devices for highest speed available for client without losses)
10. Perfect App (You don’t need to be an expert to have a Deco network)
11. Tp-link support has always been good (Been customer of TP-link for 10+ years)

Con’s
1. No extensive web panel (fan of web panels and would love to have the classic tp-link router panels)
2. Lack of USB port (Would have switched to complete Deco if not for this since i have USB network printers)
3. Better Wifi backbone support (Takes away bandwidth from total bandwidth of the router to communicate between other deco’s as all the Mesh routers do afaik. Would be better to provide dedicated wifi band for communication between deco’s)
4. Half the speed between hops from 1 deco to another using wifi backbone (I recommend you to connect all deco to a switch using ethernet for best experience)
5. No online mode (you can’t login to your deco away from home and can be only accessed if you are connected to same wifi) – Fixed in latest update
6. No manual band assigning for devices (Some devices which should be using 5Ghz isn’t and goes to 2.4Ghz. Should have an option to assign per device band and this helps with Media device not falling into 2.4Ghz.)

A wifi 5 based router launched at time when everyone is moving to wifi-6 routers or even wifi 6E is a surprise. Still not a bad package for features it offers in price range. Being a typical Deco Mesh Router it does what it says however gives very limited control to users.