Originally Posted: January 5th, 2021

Deco X60 Review and Wi-Fi 6 Mesh Performance

I previously reviewed the Deco M5, which I found to be a good budget Wi-Fi 5 mesh kit. The 3-piece Deco M5 is available for under $170, and the 2-piece is even cheaper. There are plenty of other budget mesh Wi-Fi brands out there, and some truly dreadful kits (Netgear Nighthawk MK62, I'm looking at you), but I found that the Deco M5 was a good balance of cost and features.

Now I want to look at the best Wi-Fi 6 kit that Deco currently makes, the X60. As of January 2021, you can find a 2-piece Deco X60 kit for around $270, making it a tempting step up for those looking to make the jump to Wi-Fi 6. If you're interested in Deco in general, I covered a lot of the basics in my Deco M5 review.

The main question I want to answer in this review is: Is the Deco X60 worth the extra money over the M5? For some people, that answer may be no. Before we begin looking at Wi-Fi 6 performance, it’s important to define what Wi-Fi classes and ratings mean, and what you should expect from them.

Understanding Wi-Fi 6/802.11AX Classes

Wi-Fi products are usually advertised with the Wi-Fi standard they support and a number. The number represents the total hypothetical throughput of all the radios combined. For Wi-Fi 5 (802.11ac) devices, you would see something like AC1300 or AC2200. For Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax), you will see AX1800, AX3000, AX6000, etc. These ratings are an easy way to compare devices, but the truth isn't that simple.

Higher numbers do indicate higher capabilities, either through having additional radios or more spatial streams, but Wi-Fi performance can't be captured in a single number. The class ratings are shorthand for a lot of underlying complexity. The number is not a direct indication of achievable speeds. You always get a fraction of those advertised speeds.

For example, the Deco X60 is a an AX3000 device, meaning it supports a maximum of 3000 Mbps across it’s two radios. The 3000 comes from adding 2402 Mbps on 5 GHz, plus 574 Mbps on 2.4 GHz. Wi-Fi clients will never join both bands at the same time, so already you’re looking at a maximum link rate of 2400 Mbps. So why won’t you ever achieve 2.4 Gbps, let alone 3 Gbps? That 2400 Mbps data rate relies on 2 spatial streams with a 160 MHz channel width, or 4 spatial streams with an 80 MHz channel. In reality, client support for 160 MHz channels or 4 spatial streams is very limited.

The majority of Wi-Fi client devices support up to an 80 MHz-wide channels, and up to two spatial streams. Adding an additional spatial stream requires another antenna, another path for the RF to travel, a better Wi-Fi chipset, and more battery life. That’s why most mobile devices support a maximum of 2. Recent MacBook Pros are one of the exceptions, supporting 3 streams. Support for 160 MHz channels is even less common. A wider channel also offers less range, requires a stronger signal, and is more likely to run into interference issues. Supporting 160 MHz channels in 5 GHz is unrealistic, unless you’re in a very clean RF environment with no other Wi-Fi networks around you.

With that in mind, that 2400 Mbps maximum link rate drops to of 1200 Mbps for a typical 2 stream Wi-Fi 6 device, or 1300 Mbps for a 3 stream Wi-Fi 5 device like the MacBook Pro I tested with. As always, real-world throughput will be around half of that, up to 60 or 70% in ideal conditions. There’s a lot of overhead in Wi-Fi, and all wireless transmissions. If you’re interested in more details, Duckware has a great in-depth overview here. The short summary is that at best, Wi-Fi 6 gives a 10-15% boost in speeds over Wi-Fi 5. Wi-Fi 6 focuses on efficiency and supporting more devices at once. Wi-Fi 6 isn’t the transformative speed jump that Wi-Fi 4 or Wi-Fi 5 was.

Deco Wi-Fi 6 Lineup

X20

The Deco X20 is the low-end Wi-Fi 6 mesh kit, supporting only two 5 GHz spatial streams. In general, AX1800 devices like the X20 don't provide a lot of tangible benefit over existing AC1300-or-better Wi-Fi 5 kits. I tested the X20 briefly to confirm this. I saw nearly identical performance from the X20 as I did from the M5, so I returned that kit and opted to focus on the X60 instead. Even more confusingly, most places I've looked, the X20 and X60 are very similar in price, usually around $270. Even if there is a price difference, I would push budget-conscious shoppers to the M5 rather than the X20. I'm not saying all AX1800 class devices are bad, but unless there is a price cut, the Deco X20 doesn’t make much sense.

X60

The Deco X60 is the highest-end Wi-Fi 6 Deco kit you can currently get. The kit I tested was the 2-piece X60, which includes two of the X60 base stations. Each X60 unit features 2 Ethernet ports, and are AX3000 devices, with a 2 stream 2.4 GHz radio and 4 stream 5 GHz radio. See the right side for the full specs.

Deco X60 Specs

• 5 GHz Radio:

  • Wi-Fi 6: 4x4, up to 2,402 Mbps

  • Wi-Fi 5: 3x3, up to 1300 Mbps

• 2.4 GHz Radio:

  • Wi-Fi 6: 2x2, up to 574 Mbps

  • Wi-Fi 5: 2x2, up to 300 Mbps

• 4 internal antennas per Deco unit

• Qualcomm 1 GHz Quad-core CPU

• OFDMA, MU-MIMO, up to 1024 QAM

• Supports 802.11k, v and r

• Wireless Security: WPA/WPA2-PSK/WPA3 encryption

• WAN Type: Dynamic IP/Static IP/PPPoE/L2TP/PPTP

• FCC Transmit Power:

  • <30 dBm(2.4GHz)

  • <30 dBm(5GHz)

• CE Tranmit Power:

  • <23 dBm(2.4GHz)

  • <23 dBm(5GHz)

X90 and X96

When they are available, the X90 and X96 will form the high-end of the Deco Wi-Fi 6 lineup. These models were announced back in January 2020, but they still aren't available in the US. I'm not sure if this is due to an issue with certification, production, or just from TP-Link changing plans.

The X90 is a tri-band AX6600 device, featuring one 2.4 GHz radio and two 5 GHz radios. Just like the other Wi-Fi 6 Decos, the 2.4 GHz radio is 2x2, supporting up to 574 Mbps. There is also a 2x2 5 GHz radio, and a 4x4 5 GHz radio. Having one 2.4 GHz and two 5 GHz radios makes this a tri-band device. All of these radios are funneled through 6 antennas and 2 smart array antennas.

The addition of a 3rd radio has benefits for the wireless backhaul necessary for good mesh performance, allowing more streams of faster 5 GHz signal to serve clients and transport backhaul traffic to the gateway. The X90 also features a 2.5 Gbps Ethernet port, allowing for faster WAN connections. TP-link claims the 2-piece kit will cover up to 6000 square feet and support up to 200 devices, but I'd take those claims with a grain of salt.

The X96 is largely the same as the X90, but adds support for Wi-Fi 6E and the 6 GHz band that was recently unlocked in the US and a few other countries. If you want more details on Wi-Fi 6E, read my post on it here.

Deco 5G

This is another interesting, but currently unavailable Deco model. The Deco 5G aims to be both a mesh Wi-Fi system and a 5G cellular hotspot. There aren't many details available about the Deco 5G, but when those details are available I'll update this post.

Deco X60

Design

Like a lot of mesh Wi-Fi equipment, the Deco X60 is a bland white cylinder with a single LED status light. The X60 units are a little wider and heavier than other Deco satellites, but they’re small enough to ignore. They don't feel particularly well-made. The power adapters in particular feel like they are made of the cheapest possible plastic they could find. Overall, the Deco X60 definitely looks and feels like budget equipment.

All Deco X60’s have 2 Gigabit Ethernet ports, but you have to choose one as the main gateway. The gateway unit must be connected to the Internet via an Ethernet connection, either from your modem or an ISP device. Ideally, the X60 will replace your existing router, but that depends on the type of Internet connection you have, and how restrictive your ISP is. If you don’t replace your ISP’s router, you should at least disable your existing Wi-Fi, and enable bridge mode on that device. I wrote about knowing how to hook up your Internet connection in my review of the Wi-Fi 5 Eero, and the same advice applies here.

Deco Setup, Management and Features

I covered this topic in my Deco M5 review, so I’ll keep this short. Setup is simple, and relies on a smartphone application. The Deco app has parental controls, antivirus, QoS, usage reports, and most of the settings you would expect. You can easily setup a guest network, update the Deco units, block devices from your network, and other essential tasks. It's basic, but it gets the job done.

Like most mesh Wi-Fi systems, there aren't a huge amount of options or settings. You are limited to a single Wi-Fi network SSID and an optional guest network. The Deco X60 supports common networking features like dynamic DNS, port-forwarding, IP reservation and so on. Don't expect anything fancy here, like a VPN server or advanced wireless settings. If you're a nerd like me, you'll wish it had more Wi-Fi settings, particularly in terms of channels, channel width, and other aspects of the radios. Other than picking the name/password and turning on or off the Wi-Fi bands, there’s nothing else you can customize. For better or worse, most settings are an implied “auto”.

In May 2020, TP-Link made HomeCare free for all of its devices. HomeCare allows you to setup profiles for users in your family, block malicious and adult content, set time limits, and pause the network. These settings are fairly basic, without a lot of options or reporting, but it's good to see them included for free.

Apart from the Deco app, there’s also a very limited web interface. All you can do with the interface is to perform a manual firmware update, manage the router’s time zone, and view a read-only map of your network. Essentially, everything must be done in the Deco app. The Deco app isn’t as polished as others like Eero, but it’s good enough.

Elements of a Fast Wi-Fi Connection

Before we dive into performance, it’s important to remember the elements of a fast Wi-Fi connection:

• Modern Wi-Fi standards: Wi-Fi 5 or Wi-Fi 6

• High RSSI, Low Noise, High SNR

• Multiple Spatial Streams

• Wide channels, usually 40 or 80 MHz

AX3000 Mesh Wi-Fi 6 Performance

Deco X60 iPerf Speed Tests

Best Case Scenarios

Right Next to Gateway

• 2x2 Wi-Fi 6, 80 MHz Channel

• RSSI: -41 dBm

• Noise: -91 dBm

• SNR: 50 dBm

• TX Rate: 1200 Mbps

• Throughput: 600 - 700 Mbps

Right Next to Gateway

• 3x3 Wi-Fi 5, 80 MHz Channel

• RSSI: -41 dBm

• Noise: -91 dBm

• SNR: 50 dBm

• TX Rate: 1300 Mbps

• Throughput: 500 - 550 Mbps

Realistic Scenarios

Kitchen, Connected to Gateway via 5 GHz

• 3x3 Wi-Fi 5, 80 MHz Channel

• RSSI: -71 dBm

• Noise: -91 dBm

• SNR: 20 dBm

• TX Rate: 292 Mbps

• Throughput: 120 - 150 Mbps

Kitchen, Connected to Gateway via 2.4 GHz

• 3x3 Wi-Fi 5, 20 MHz Channel

• RSSI: -41 dBm

• Noise: -91 dBm

• SNR: 50 dBm

• TX Rate: 144 Mbps

• Throughput: 50 - 100 Mbps

Kitchen, Connected to Mesh Unit via 5 GHz

• 2x2 Wi-Fi 6, 80 MHz Channel

• RSSI: -61 dBm

• Noise: -91 dBm

• SNR: 20 dBm

• TX Rate: 877 Mbps

• Throughput: 200 - 250 Mbps

The TP-Link Deco X60 lacks the 3rd radio that a lot of high-end Wi-Fi 6 mesh systems like the Eero 6 Pro have. With a dual-band mesh system, the backhaul and data channel are shared, which reduces the bandwidth available for clients. This makes Ethernet backhaul even more advantageous, and that’s how I would recommend installing any dual-band mesh kit if possible. Ethernet isn’t an option for a lot of people, so I’m going to focus on wireless backhaul performance.

For me, 2 Deco X60 units was more than enough to cover my house. The right number for you depends on your square footage, building materials, and how many Wi-Fi networks you have around you. I live in a modestly-sized drywall/sheetrock house that is relatively easy to cover. Generally speaking, 1 AP per floor is usually a good starting place. Keeping APs a room or two away from each another, away from electronics, and centrally located usually works best. All the same advice for access point placement applies here.

Wi-Fi performance and range depends a lot on your environment, so it’s hard to measure in a useful way. This is especially true when trying to push Wi-Fi 6 equipment to the edge of it’s capabilities. A lot of people use public speed test servers for this, but I have a hard time finding one that’s reliably capable of pushing 1 Gbps of traffic. That’s why I’ve come to rely on iPerf, and testing speed locally. Internet speed tests can be an easy and quick way to assess Wi-Fi speeds, but iPerf is more repeatable, reliable, and customizable.

One more tangent — data rates are only one aspect of Wi-Fi performance. Higher data rates are achieved by giving up redundancy. Just like on a bad walkie-talkie connection, broadcasting “Hello” as “Hotel Echo Lima Lima Oscar” takes more time, but it is more likely to be understood. Wi-Fi works the same way, and higher speeds lack the redundancy found in lower data rates. That lack of redundancy can lead to transmission errors, requiring packets to be transmitted and higher airtime usage. Wi-Fi is all about managing the tradeoffs. Prioritizing maximum signal strength and maximum speed doesn’t always lead to the best experience.

With all that out of the way, let’s talk numbers.

Wi-Fi 6 Performance Numbers

In ideal scenarios, when in the same room as the gateway, my 2×2 Wi-Fi 6 clients saw speeds around 600-700 Mbps. My 3x3 Wi-Fi 5 device saw around 500 Mbps. Keep in mind these are best case scenarios, and real-world usage is hardly ever matches that. The Deco units seem to operate at maximum transmit power all the time. When very close to the unit I saw my RSSI dip into the -30s, which is a very loud signal. Most mesh equipment works this way — transmitting as loud as possible to get maximum range.

While the in-room performance allowed me to easily achieve maximum data rates, moving one room over caused the signal to go through a wall, which imposed a roughly -3 dBm penalty. Speeds and data rates dropped accordingly. 5 GHz Wi-Fi is faster, but it’s signal decays more rapidly, and is not as good at penetrating objects as 2.4 GHz. In my living room, RSSIs typically dipped to -50 or -60, but data rates remained just below maximum. This is typically what I see with Mesh equipment, but it’s markedly better than what I see with my UniFi Dream Machine.

For a more realistic situation, I moved to my kitchen on the other side of the house, around 30 feet and two walls away from the router. There, I reached the point where some devices roamed to the slower, but longer range 2.4 GHz signal. When on 5 GHz, I still averaged around 200 Mbps on my 2x2 Wi-Fi 6 clients, and around 150 Mbps on my 3x3 Wi-Fi 5 clients. When connected to 2.4 GHz , I averaged 50 to 100 Mbps, despite a very high signal strength. 2.4 GHz performance with the Deco was unimpressive, but 5 GHz faired well. Enabling Band Steering in the Deco app helped my clients stay on 5 GHz, but that setting may cause issues for some devices.

When connected to the mesh unit that relied on wireless backhaul, the Deco X60 averaged speeds ranging from some 200 Mbps to 350 Mbps, at best. I’ve seen better performance from some Wi-Fi 5 systems, especially the tri-band Eero Pro. This is where things start to get tricky, and recommendations have to get specific.

If you want more details on the performance of the Deco X60, refer to my Deco vs. eero vs. Velop comparison.

Is It Worth The Extra Cost?

Cheap Wi-Fi 6 kits like the Deco X60 are sometimes hard to recommend. In some ways they are a nice middle ground between older Wi-Fi 5 kits and high-end Wi-Fi 6 kits. In other ways they are awkward middle options. A lot depends on budget, and how much a few hundred Mbps here or there is worth to you.

• If you have an Internet connection less than 300 Mbps, a good Wi-Fi 5 mesh kit is usually around the same price, and will offer similar performance.

• If budget is the most important factor, the 2 or 3 piece Deco M5 kits are around half the price, and give you more value for your money.

• If you have an internet connection over 300 Mbps and want the best performance, you’ll want to use the Deco X60 with Ethernet backhaul, or opt for a more expensive tri-band system like the eero 6 Pro.

• If you’re somewhere in the middle, the Deco X60 is a good option.

More mature Wi-Fi 6 mesh kits and kits supporting Wi-Fi 6E should arrive in 2021. Proper OFDMA support and the addition of the 6Ghz frequency range is going to provide more significant upgrade than the X60. If you can't wait, there's also the eero 6 and eero 6 Pro to consider, which are good Wi-Fi 6 systems with a bit more polish. If you want something with more networking features, something like the 4x4 Wi-Fi 5 UniFi Dream Machine is probably a better fit.

In 2021, we are likely to start seeing Wi-Fi 6E mesh kits that support 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz and 6 GHz. The addition of 6Ghz frequencies will unlock 1200 MHz worth of spectrum, allowing for wider channels and lower interference in dense environments. Wi-Fi 6E should provide a noticeable boost in throughput, although it will require all new devices to fully utilize. This is the reality of most technology buying decisions, should you get what available now, or wait for the next thing?

Overall, I think the Deco X60 is a good deal for a large home that has wired Ethernet, or an Internet connection below 300 Mbps. For higher speed Internet connections, The Deco X60 is a good entry point for Wi-Fi 6, just don’t expect to fully utilize your Internet connection besides when you’re very close to the main gateway. Ultimately, you’ll have decide if the Deco X60 fits your needs and is worth the price.