TP-Link Deco M5 Whole Home Wi-Fi System Review

Final Thoughts and Conclusion

Like mentioned above, the setup and configuration of the TP-Link Deco M5 is by far the easiest Wi-Fi router that I have ever set up. This is perfect for those who just want to plug it in and go. There is no need to fiddle with obscure settings or constantly tweak things. It is like the Deco maintains itself.

The parental controls are great too. They’re easy to use and offer some pretty good ways to ensure your children’s Internet time is not only scheduled, but they also cannot access what they shouldn’t be getting at in the first place. I like how you can assign multiple devices to a single profile to ensure that little Bobby Tables cannot access the Internet late at night when he should be sleeping no matter which device he tries to use.

Did I mention the 3-year inclusion of antivirus provided by TrendMicro? There’s no real need to ensure you have an antivirus program on all your connected devices, since the viruses and other threats are taken care of at the entrance to your home network. Besides, who actually installs antivirus software on their mobile devices?

Being able to walk between three floors without dropping a Wi-Fi signal was great. One could potentially use this in a small office too, though with the lack of advanced router features might not be ideal.

The TP-Link Deco M5 mesh Wi-Fi system may seem a bit more on the expensive side compared to a single router solution and not everyone might use all three included Deco units. Even if you only have one floor of living space, you could place the units to optimize your Wi-Fi signal. Place a unit closer to an exterior portion of your home and extend your Wi-Fi signal to the outdoors. TP-Link will be offering single units too, so there is also that option. If you happen to need more than 3 units, you can always add extras!

The lack of a web interface for setup and configuration might bother some people. Aside from the need to use a mobile app to setup and maintain the Deco units, it would be nice to have a web UI. When working on a desktop or laptop computer, I like to do all my configurations via a web UI, especially if my mobile device is not near me. Perhaps TP-Link will include a web UI of sorts even if it’s via their cloud services.

Alongside the web UI (or lack of it) is the lack of the more advanced Wi-Fi router features like port filtering and port forwarding. These can be quite popular if used correctly. I make use of port filtering at home, as I need to be able to access security cameras or personal servers that are on specific ports and can only be accessed when the main router is forwarding incoming packets. Again, most people will probably not use routing features like this, but it would be nice to be able to configure under an “Advanced” setting.

Again, if you’re looking for a Wi-Fi setup that can handle a larger square footage of living space, has great (and ease to use) parental controls, and is really easy to setup and go, then I highly recommend the TP-Link Deco M5.

The TP-Link Deco M5 Whole-Home Wi-Fi System is exclusively available at Best Buy Canada with am MSRP of $444.99 (CAD) for the three-unit pack and $179.99 (CAD) for the single-unit pack. It is also available in the United State on Amazon.com for $249.99 and $129.99, respectively.