Name: TP-Link Deco XE75
Brand: TP-Link

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There’s nothing more frustrating than a weak WiFi signal and constant buffering and loading on your phone. This is why a mesh router solution is what you need for your home networking setup and a TP-Link router might be what you’re looking at. So we want to put the Deco XE75 to the test to see how well it performs in what makes a router a good option to install and trust with your broadband.

Mesh routers allow for a combination of them to be connected together and ensure as much of your household is covered with wireless. This particular model uses the WiFi 6E standard, enabling the use of an additional frequency compared to previous iterations. Combined with the mesh, you should get a fast and strong connection across the board, so let’s see how well it performs.

TP-Link Deco XE75 – Three Pack

4 /5

Editor’s Rating

How We Review

Specifications

Standard: WiFi 6E
Frequency band: 2.4GHz, 5GHz, 6GHz
Max speed: 5,400Mbps
LAN ports: 3x 1Gbps

WAN: Same as LAN (auto sense)
CPU: Quad-core 1.7GHz
Memory: 512MB RAM, 128MB storage
USB: None
Dimensions: 105x105x169mm (4.1×4.1×6.7in)
Weight:

What We Think

If you’re looking for a quick, simple, and good-value wireless mesh network, the TP-Link Deco XE75 is a great option to go for. Along with 6GHz capabilities, and lots of control and segregation of your networks, it provides an in-depth choice for covering a vast space. However, the limited LAN connections and performance so it isn’t the best choice for any wired options. But for most, the Deco is the perfect choice.

Reasons to Buy

Easy to unbox and install from the get-go but the app requires an account
Lots of controls and features on the app
Great security with update checks and prompts, scans, and the ability to isolate devices
WiFi 6E enables new frequency with fast connectivity
Meshing is very simple and quick for expanding your network
Can create many networks, including guest and IoT to keep traffic well separated

Reasons to Avoid

Disappointing LAN performance
Insightful app features locked behind a paywall
Web UI is vastly limited compared to the phone app
A single unit is a bit worse for signal performance

Design

This Deco XE75 is certainly is certainly no gaming router, it goes for a tall can-looking tower instead. Keeping things simple and plain with a white coloring and black top for being inconspicuous and not taking up too much space. Measuring 105x105x169 mm does make it quite tall but not too much space to sit. But there are no external antennae or anything standing further out beyond that space.

There are not many standout features on it, with a sleek overall plastic casing, the top is a bit more wavy and ridges, potentially helping with the emissions. However, there is some ventilation you can find on the underside where it has slits in a circle around the middle along with raised edges that keep the vents open and raise up the router from the table.

With the WiFi 6E standard, it does unlock the ability to use 6GHz frequency, which gets its own network. Whilst for the remaining two, 2.4GHz and 5GHz, you can choose to have them both on or off, and one or the other. This does limit the capability of having split networks, but it does make up for that with the ability to run a Guest and IoT network. Combined, that is an excellent way to keep traffic segregated and minimize interference at those frequencies to keep you safe and less frustrated.

For the ports available, it is very limited. The TP-Link is certainly a more wireless-focused router, it doesn’t come with more than the standard you might need. All you’ll get is the barrel power connector and three Gigabit ethernet ports. They are autosensing and so support both WAN and LAN for an easier time connecting everything up. But this isn’t a whole lot of options to connect up and there are no options for quicker than gigabit if you want a faster home network.

Along with 6GHz capabilities, and lots of control and segregation of your networks, it provides an in-depth choice for covering a vast space.

Other features

The hardware is a bit of a mystery, it’s not in the specs page or datasheet, but looking at other reviews from its release we have what the potential hardware is. It has a Quad-core 1.7GHz, 512MB RAM, and 128MB storage, which is a strong setup for what it is made to do. Especially as the higher performances do require a bit more sturdy hardware.

The rest of the extra features you’ll get with the app, although it might require a TP-Link account to work, it does give a lot of control. Starting off with the ease of setup as it almost immediately finds the device and sets up the network. Then on the dashboard, it also prompts you for updates that make the security of the device pretty good making sure you’re not missing out on any safety.

There is also plenty of safety as it also offers network scanning checking for any issues. Along with a lot of control being able to see each device and being able to block it, or isolating it from other devices on the network whilst still accessing the internet. Additionally, there are parental controls and you can set up profiles for a person and add their devices in and control them as a group and see what it’s up to.

But once again there are a few features locked behind a paywall. So you have to subscribe to be able to see and control particular things, although it’s not the basics so it’s not as bad as the Amazon Eero Pro 6 we reviewed previously. That gives the software plenty of control and features that can make up for the lack of hardware. We also find connecting up the other nodes fairly simple as ours didn’t even need to add them manually as it spotted it automatically.

Pricing

For the three-pack, the price does vary depending on the retailer you look at. With a high of $449.99 on Amazon (although $100 less on sale at the time of writing), with Best Buy at $399.99. That does make it a strong contender for setting up a mesh network if you need it. Whilst a single pack is around $169.99, it is a viable option but we wouldn’t recommend it as you can find more featureful single options instead.

Performance

Putting the TP-Link through how we test routers, we got to see how well it performed. Plugged into our office network, we expect a bandwidth of up to 280MB/s, but with other traffic and interference changing between tests, it might vary. Then we performed both wireless and LAN tests to check how well it does. With LAN running Speed Test, whilst wireless uses WiFiman and Speed Test mobile using our Samsung S21 FE. These are done at four distances from the router, at 10ft/3m, 30ft/9m, 60ft/18m with a wall in between, and then 90ft/27m with four walls of two rooms in between.

Signal strength

We start off with the signal strength of the router, which determines how well the phone is connected to the device and the communication between them. Measured in -dBm, the closer to zero the better the strength. For the Deco that seems to be a very solid performance, on par with other options keeping a relatively good strength.

For 2.4GHz that ranges between -38 to -72dBm, and for 5GHz that goes from -39 to -68dBm with 90ft not managing a connection as the other range from 10ft to 60ft. That is fairly good performance considering the router comes with 4 internal antennae and none standing out from the top.

Speed and latency

Now for how fast it actually is we start of with the PHY (physical speed) where it first gives us the speed between the router and phone and max potential bandwidth. Here the router starts off strong at 2.4GHz but drops off rapidly ranging 229 to 8Mbps with even 60 dropping to 25Mbps in download, as upload ranges 258 to 34Mbps. Whilst at 5GHz, that ups to 960 to 288Mbps download at 60ft without a signal at 90ft, as the upload speed achieves 1080 to 432Mbps.

As for the actual achieved speed, it does fall behind the hardcore routers at 2.4GHz but still holds up strong while it relies on the mesh capabilities to extend its long range. As the download spans 62-38Mbps with the upload ranging from 85-10Mbps. With 5GHz spanning 276 to 70Mbps download and an upload speed of 285 to 129Mbps.

We then also checked the latency for the wireless, and how long it takes for data to reach the router and back. Here we also see a good performance as it ramps up with range. So at 2.4GHz that ranges from 10-52ms, and at 5GHz just 5-12ms. Then we tested the LAN speed where the Deco seemed to have an issue and only was capable of 68.4Mbps download and a 56.1Mbps upload speed. There we saw they start off high but quickly throttle down and seemingly not due to our network. With the already limited ethernet that makes it a bit less viable again.

Conclusion

Overall, the TP-Link Deco XE75 is a simple and easy-to-use mesh router. Quick and plain it does fit in quite well and offers a lot of control as well, but it definitely is a wireless router, without offering many ethernet options and not performing as well it does knock its potential to be an all-rounder. But even then the newer standard and wireless performance make it a highly desirable option.