The IT Nerd

The TP-Link AX1800 Deco X20 Mesh WiFi system bills itself as the “WiFi Dead Zone Killer” among other things. That’s a pretty bold claim as pretty much every mesh WiFi system has some version of that claim. So I guess the question that I’m asking is if it lives up to that claim. Let’s find out. I’ll start with the specs that are on board:

• WiFi 6 speeds up to 1,800 Mbps
• 1,201 Mbps on 5 GHz
• 574 Mbps on 2.4 GHz
• OFDMA and MU-MIMO technology to increase capacity over 150 devices.
• WPA3 encryption
• 2 Gigabit ports per unit
• Amazon Alexa compatibility (which I did not get the opportunity to test for the record)

Well on paper things look good so far. So let’s look at what you get in the box:

In the box you get three units. These three units will cover a staggering 5800 square feet.

Here’s one of the units with the protective wrap still on it. It’s going to fit into any decor without a problem because it doesn’t look like something from space or a Transformers movie.

You get a power plug on the back along with two gigabit Ethernet ports which increases the versatility of this mesh WiFi system. And as part of the deal you get TP-Link HomeCare. That encompasses the following:

• Parental controls
• Built-in antivirus
• Quality of service

Setup is insanely easy. All you have to do is the following:

1. Turn off your modem
2. Connect one of the Deco units to your modem and power on both devices
3. Download and launch the Deco app (Available for iOS and Android. I used the iOS version) to walk through the setup
4. Declare victory and have a beer

Once everything was set up, everything happens through the app. Firmware updates, configuration, setting up TP-Link HomeCare. Everything. You can also get all sorts of stats from the app as well. But if old school web management is your thing, it can do that too as long as you have the most recent firmware version.

So, now that I am through the setup and specs, how does it perform is the next question? Well, I don’t have a 5800 square foot home. But I have a 1000 square foot condo with lots of concrete as well as a ton of competing WiFi access points as illustrated here:

If you come back in 30 seconds, you’ll see more WiFi access points. It is a challenging environment for WiFi to operate in. I used this setup for a week and noted these observations:

• Even though I don’t currently have any WiFi 6 devices, I found that devices that relied on WiFi connected with more consistent speed above roughly 600 Mbps downstream. Which was about 100 Mbps higher than normal.
• The range that I was getting was impressive. I could easily get these same numbers on places like my balcony which is usually a dead spot in my condo. I was also able to get WiFi in the hallway outside my condo. Plus I could also get WiFi one floor above or below my condo. If I had a house with a second floor, there’s no question that this range would be most welcome.
• I noted no connection issues of any sort and moving devices like laptops and smartphones from place to place was a non-issue as the device was able to seamlessly connect from Deco unit to Deco unit without a problem.

So based on all of that, I think that it is safe to say that the TP-Link AX1800 Deco X20 Mesh WiFi system talks the talk and walks the walk in terms of being the “WiFi Dead Zone Killer”. If you want speedy WiFi that will cover your entire home, this mesh WiFi system is worth a look. I found it on Amazon for $400 CDN with free shipping which is a very aggressive price for a mesh WiFi system. That gives you another good reason to have a look at this mesh WiFi system and perhaps set one up in your home.