TP-Link Deco S4 AC1200 Unboxing, Installation and Review - Speed Test
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- Опубликовано: 3 окт 2024
- Link to the Mesh wifi router: amzn.to/2QNTJbF
After one day of starting the homeschool, virtual academy, we realized that our wifi speed and range was inadequate. After doing some research, we settled on a mesh wifi system, made by TP-Link. The model is the deco, AC1200, S2. It was a very nice upgrade from the previous Netgear router. Watch the video for speed testing to see what happens. A product link for what we purchased is above. Thanks for watching.
Finally, a real-world review with real data on video. Thank you, Sir. I'm clicking the buy button now on Amazon.
Sometimes, you don't need fancy lights, a fantastic looking office, HD camera for a great review. This had everything I needed to know. The content was perfect.
Cheers!
Thank you!
thats why everyone should show what they bought
That was a huge upgrade! I recently bought this and it's coming soon, glad I found your video, there's not to much S4 video reviews. Thanks man!
ShadowsGod97 , you’re welcome. I hope yours works out as great and easy as ours.
I hope so! Have you tried use the blackhaul of the Deco? I'm not sure if you can connect one of the Decos wired and the left unit as wireless.
ShadowsGod97 , no. All I did was plug the one tower into my modem and the other two towers into electrical outlets only.
@@smitteninthemitten3777 oh okay! Thank you, I'm just trying to figure out that configuration, I subscribed to your channel!
ShadowsGod97 , great thank you. Please let me know how that configuration works out. I’m curious about it now.
I've been researching mesh wifi systems for a couple of days and with that there are so many choices at so many price points! This video has convinced me that the deco s4 will suit my needs just fine and on top of that save me some money!
Lower Bama Fishing , fantastic. Ours is doing awesome. Soooo much faster than before. I’m glad the video helped.
Thank you a straight forward installation process. Revealing speed baseline testing and then the result after installing the Deco.
I have been researching which mesh to buy your video was the decider for me.
Thanks
Thanks!
Finally someone did a before and after. Thanks!
You’re welcome
Thanks for your video. I just set up my TP Link S4s, three pack also. Before the TP with my Netgear router and repeater, my speed at my pc hard wired was 90 mps and at my laptop wireless was about 10 mps. After the install of the TP, the speed at my pc, hard wired, jumped to 178 mps. At my Toshiba laptop wireless, it was less than 3 mps. But my Chromebook at the same location was 116 mps. I just hardwired my laptop to the pod and now it is at 90 mps.
I agree about the TP Link setup. It is very simple. 100x easier than the router and repeater, which was often headache after headache.
Awesome!
Great REAL review , ordered on the back of this 👍
Thanks
Hi there smitten, setup the TP-Link Deco S4 I purchased and its pretty amazing. Getting upper limit of my speed all over house. Thanks again for your review. Really got what I needed, through looking at your video. 👍👍
You’re welcome. Thanks for the feedback.
Thank you for this video, I watched others but your was the only one that really helped me. Thank you so much for taking the time to make it.
You’re welcome
Wow! That's a huge increase. You are great at making these instructional videos too.
David Pelc, thank you. I was blown away with the speed increase and coverage. I can’t believe how bad the old router was throttling us.
Thanks for the video, just installed mine today with help from you haha. I was confused whether the first one stays connected to the ethernet and then how to set up the others but I got it. Great connection now throughout the home.
This video is a game-changer for my decision to replace my 5-yr old router. Thanks, man!
You’re welcome!
@@smitteninthemitten3777 BTW there's an amazon deal going on now that I will not pass up on this router after watching your video.
Finally a clear and concise run down for this. Cheers.
This video was very helpful, of all the videos i saw your video was the only one the gave all the details i needed. Thanks.
Great review 👍! I actually got the Deco M5 which is amazing as well. Those units are a lot smaller which is why I went with that model. I agree though, by far the easiest wifi setup I've ever done, and I've done a ton.
Thanks!
Did you need a already connected modem to get internet?
I have 225 Mbps in my study and about the same in the kitchen/great room area. It's about 4 Mbps in my wife's study and she is getting prepared for a remote nursing job. I called my local internet service and a young man from the tech department recommended the same system. Hope I get good results like you!
Good luck! I hope it works.
@@smitteninthemitten3777 Oh, forgot to ask, how's it working months later? Any hitches along the way?
@@JohnJakeWilliam, working the same as the day I installed it. Not a single hiccup.
@@smitteninthemitten3777 Thanks Smitten in the Mitten. They arrive tomorrow.
why a thumbs down, we all learn something new everyday. I like the one write I read after I received it from Amazon, poor security. Oh brother, here I go again! What is best MESH?
Well organized and useful review. Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you!! Excellent job my man.
You’re welcome
This was extremely helpful. Thank you.
Thank you very much for your great upload.
Awesome review. Purchased last night . Deco s4 / 3 pack .
How things are going with the deco after this couple months? Would you recommend them?
Nice job appreciate your vid ,very useful and informative.
Thank you!
Amazing review. Thank you very much for your video, I can’t wait to help a friend set this up. I tried a netgear nighthawk router with 3500sq ft coverage but it just can’t repeat a signal throughout a 5-6 bedroom house. Looking forward to implementing this mesh WiFi network.
Nick Goverman, thank you and good luck.
Waiting for this to come was wondering what kind of range outside your getting. Great review Thanks!
jay wallender, thank you. I didn’t measure but I’d say 50 feet more than before. At least.
Great review. I just ordered one
Thanks and good luck.
Great review. Really helpful from unboxing to setup and comparison test, using your old speeds, really helpful.
Just out of curiosity, how did you decide where to position the other 2 units. It would helpful to know where they were positioned in relation to the initial one.
Anyway, many thanks for the review and helpful info. Based on your review I have just ordered the TP-Link Deco S4. Even though I am getting reasonable speeds, they are not consistent over the house, so hopefully this will help that. I have been looking at good WiFi extenders which cost upward of £60, but I think even though this is more expensive, its going to be a bit more reliable, because you are plugging the main unit straight into the router/modem.
If I can, I'll put an update on here of how it goes, if you don't mind me doing that.
Thanks. I just put the three in a triangle in my ranch house.
Excellent review
Thanks
Impressive. Thanks.
You’re welcome and thank you
Great review. I'm curious as to how the network speed is holding up a month since install with the virtual learning & working from home.
Blazing along just as good as day 1.
@@smitteninthemitten3777 after your review I purchased this set. I haven’t heard my kids complain about “lagging “ in their online games. It’s been working great for us so far.
@@debbiehazen657, awesome. Glad to hear it.
4:36 - That's mega bits per seconds, not mega bytes per seconds.
Your getting 2.4ghz speed on your computer. I get 800mb on my netgear night hawk. It’s 5ghzb is that tpllink dual band?
What make and model was the original router? You lost quit a bit only 5 feet away.
Wow that’s a big jump going from 9 in your “trouble spot” to over 100. How much was this system? Where did you get it?
I purchased it on Amazon for $149. I'm thrilled with the upgrade. Here is a link: amzn.to/2QNTJbF
Thanks for the video, I just wanted to point out something, on the original router that you had, how many devices were running from it at the time of the initial test? And how many were running with the new router at the moment of the second test? This is important because the signal gets shared between devices so is usually lower than what your paying for when connected wirelessly so this way would be a better apples to apples comparison, other than that is a good review, and I still bought them 😂😂😂
Also, was that using 2.4 or 5 GHz for the baseline test?
Can I directly connect NBN FTTP to S4 mesh wifi system directly and configure like other routers ? I couldnt find any WAN port for S4 system. Or is it like updated version of extenders?
i got 2 of them connected but cant seem to get the third one hooked up? ive tried 3 different spots in the house, any suggestions on how to fix this?
I’m sorry, I didn’t experience that issue.
Since the newest firmware upgrade has your deco's started reading only 100mbps? Any idea how to downgrade the firmware?
Hi great video, thank you! Just one question...did you connect all towers through cable or air? Regards!
Luis Felipe De la Barra, thank you. One tower is connected to my modem. The other towers are air only.
You can connect them via air or cable. I would suggest cable if possible.
Hi. Can i use them without lan cable? I mean, it can be connected wirelessly ?
As long as one is connected to your modem, the other towers can be wireless.
Not that fast but I know it’s a great product
What speed do you subscribe for with your IP? I too have 4 kids Zooming on their devices plus myself teaching online. I upgraded my internet from 200 Mbps to 400 Mbps but have some dead spots on my second floor of my townhouse. I am in a 1900 sqft home and hoping this will do the trick.
Fernando S., I pay for 100 Mbps and actually see faster speeds than that. I’m with Comcast.
I just got the Deco M4, which looks like the S4 to me. If you have a smart TV do you have to do anything with changing the wifi? Also we have a photo frame which requires 2.4 ghz wifi. Will I be able to use this router, especially if other things are on 5ghz. Can you make the guest the 2.4?
What I would do is set the new network name and password exactly the same as the old one. All devices that have connected to the old network, “should” seamlessly connect to the new one if you do that.
@@smitteninthemitten3777 Thank you, for getting back to me. I will try it tomorrow ..so scared to start the set up that I'll mess things up. But have to say your video did help!
Was your speed test based on the 2.4GHz or the 5GHz connection while connected to the Deco?
Probably the 5 if I was guessing
alright, I have crappy internet. period. I'm paying ~$70/month for 50mbps. I have an old Netgear modem that my ISP says isn't compatible with their higher speed packages. I have a Belkin 1200AC router that worked fairly well for me 'til probably the last year or so when the range started to tank. I don't need blazing fast service, my router just doesn't have any range at all, which is why I'm looking into systems like this one.
I'm wondering if you'd have any insight here... do you think this kind of system would benefit me since I'm mostly looking for coverage? (it'd be a dream come true to have 40+mbps through my whole house) or should I try updating my modem first and see if that's causing a bottleneck?
Micah TheBuss, I’m no expert, but from my experience and research, a mesh system like this will give you better coverage throughout your house.
@@smitteninthemitten3777 I did some more research, and due to the age of my modem, I need to replace it anyway. I'm gonna replace the modem and see if that helps. If it does, then great... If it doesn't, well, it needed to be done anyway.
I'm probably going to update my router soon tho, in which case I'm probably going to go with this system. Thanks so much for making this video and for responding to my comment so quickly :)
Micah TheBuss, good luck. I hope it works and you get some speed and coverage.
I have comcast business, which is good, but the standard wifi/modem is terrible. I bought this and have not installed it yet, but do I need to disable anything within my wifi/modem combo? Or plug in play/connect with the app? Thanks. Ryan in Lowell MI
Ryan Mebert, I found that this was plug and play with my existing modem. I did not use my existing router after this installation. It didn’t add anything and based on my testing was a big bottleneck. Just plug one tower to your modem and have the app installed. It will walk you through it.
Smitten in the Mitten thanks!
Ryan Mebert, you’re welcome.
Thank you for the awesome demo. I have one question. Is it okay to do the default MAC as the selection vs custom MAC? Asking because, after I created a wi-fi network using the Deco setup, in my iPhone settings for that wi-fi network it showed as weak security and asked me to configure the router to use WPA2 or WPA3 security type. Not sure where I can find all the details for my ISP, if i have to make this change as suggested. I do have ATT as my ISP. Any suggestions?
I’m sorry, that’s over my head.
@@smitteninthemitten3777 Np and thanks for your quick response. I did some searching and apple support showed me some suggestions. All I had to do was update the firmware on deco and the wifi network is now not showing as weak any more. I am going to leave this note here as it might help someone else as well
Lets not confuse MegaBytes with Megbits. Small "b" = bits.
Can we plug computer by a ethernet cable to one of the towers ?
İbrahim Çoban, I am not sure, but I think so.
Yeah. Your speed will be fastest if you connect to the tower directly connected to the modem/internet source. But any tower through ethernet will help increase speed better than wifi.
Can I connect deco to my existing router?
You could, but I don’t think that you’d want to. My router was throttling my speed. This takes your routers place.
@@smitteninthemitten3777 thanks. Just found out a friend has the deco S4 hooked up to his router and its working fine. Not sure why you'd want to hook it up to a router though...
What can the app do, options? Does it have support like eero? Eero was bought by Amazon unfortunately, so I'm looking to move on, but eero was king.
I’m not familiar with eero? The only thing I use the app for is parental controls.
So I have to connect each device separately? All to the same network?
Just like connecting to any network. It’s just a network. Yes, each device needs to connect to it.
Hi, do I need to setup all the 3 Deco? Will it work if I only use 2 Deco?
It would work fine with two.
@@smitteninthemitten3777 Thanks! Your review was great!
@@realbigbear , you’re welcome. You can actually buy just a two pack, I believe.
in the unboxing I noticed that there is only one ethernet cable included. would this mean that you don't need the ethernet cable to connect the other mesh routers to another location?
Correct. They only need a power supply. The only Ethernet cord is from your modem to one tower.
@@smitteninthemitten3777 Thanks!
Hi, Did you connect every node to an ethernet cable or just the first one?
Just the one
should i use all three towers or i can just use one?
Unless you only want WiFi in a small area, I’d use all three. It certainly doesn’t hurt to use them all.
@@smitteninthemitten3777 thank you! I'm just living in a small area but i want this prodct
@@mardithpascua8112, you’re welcome
@@smitteninthemitten3777 i bought one and currently im using one tower only haha.
i am now wondering if the other two can connect to my neighboorhood router/internet also haha
@@mardithpascua8112, that would probably work. Good luck.
Do you know what is the difference between Deco S4 to Deco M4?
I do not. Sorry.
As far as i can tell, basically the size, the S4 which is a newer model y quite smaller than the M4.
Do you need to have a modem or would a fiber connection work for it ?
You’d need something like a modem. This is just a type of router.
Can this mesh be used with a VPN?
Fernando S., yes. It is essentially just a router. I use a VPN.
You do an initial speed test for comparison but don’t have a clue what the original speeds were. Your “trouble” spot was around 9-10 mbps, the 2nd spot (5 feet from the router) was 20-24 mbps, and your wired connection was 85-95 mbps. How could you not know this when the main purpose of your video was to compare. Thanks for the video but your presentation is lame.