Setup TP Link X20 Deco with Ethernet Backhaul

tartarus · Thursday at 10:19 AM

So i have been thinking of upgrading my existing network to a Mesh Network since few days. I have zeroed in on X20 (Pack of 3). Since this is first time ill be doing this i just want some inputs/feedbacks from community

I have a TP Link Archer C5 given by ACT Bengaluru and am thinking the below mentioned topology

1- Put the C5 in bridge mode, currently its in Dynamic IP mode put by Act Guys
2- Put One Deco in Master room with ethernet backhaul from the C5
3- Put 2nd Deco in Hall taking ethernet wire from Master room Deco
4- Put 3rd in my Desktop room via another ethernet wire from 2nd Deco

Plus as i understand it would be needed to put the Deco in Router mode (not access point mode) since C5 will now be in Bridge Mode

Will this setup work or am i missing anything here?

Advance thanks for any help _/\_

kiranrss · Thursday at 11:05 AM

This would work, i have my deco m5 (5 of them) in sucj with amain one connected to the router form ISP and all child in individual rooms. one question though, do you really need backhaul? i get decent internet through the mesh (70-80mbps) in all devices without a backhaul and use the ethernet ports to connect the decktop, NAS , EtC in different locations instead of a back haul. if you do need it, then your set up should work fine. with or without bridge mode

tartarus · Thursday at 1:17 PM

kiranrss said:
This would work, i have my deco m5 (5 of them) in sucj with amain one connected to the router form ISP and all child in individual rooms. one question though, do you really need backhaul? i get decent internet through the mesh (70-80mbps) in all devices without a backhaul and use the ethernet ports to connect the decktop, NAS , EtC in different locations instead of a back haul. if you do need it, then your set up should work fine. with or without bridge mode

I just want to squeeze out the max ISP has to offer since i took a 400Mbps plan

Also i think without bridging there would be 2 routers with conflict of NAT management and stuff

Do you think bridging the existing router will be an issue or conflict with ACT connection in anyway?

Also whats your ISP claimed speed?
Also

john1911 · Thursday at 2:29 PM

What is your internet plan speed?
What wire came to your house - Fibre or Ethernet cable?
Do you want to share large files on your local network, if yes, how important is this?

I've been using Deco for few years and will guide you based on the above answer.

tartarus · Thursday at 2:32 PM

john1911 said:
What is your internet plan speed?
What wire came to your house - Fibre or Ethernet cable?

I've been using Deco for few years and will guide you based on the above answer.

I think there is just one ethernet cable connected to router coz i live in a society n am guessing fiber wire is somewhere downstairs for all the houses here

Speed is claimed to be 400Mbps

john1911 · Thursday at 2:38 PM

You do not need to put the C5 in bridge mode. Bridge mode is mostly used to bypass a gateway devices router&AP component and only to use it as a dumb modem device.

Since you already have ethernet coming into your home, you don't need modem.

You can keep using C5 and connect the Decos in AP mode. That way, all the routing will be handled by C5 and Decos will be used only as AP.

I'll write a detailed post after work.

tartarus · Thursday at 3:01 PM

john1911 said:
You do not need to put the C5 in bridge mode. Bridge mode is mostly used to bypass a gateway devices router&AP component and only to use it as a dumb modem device.

Since you already have ethernet coming into your home, you don't need modem.

You can keep using C5 and connect the Decos in AP mode. That way, all the routing will be handled by C5 and Decos will be used only as AP.

I'll write a detailed post after work.

Thanks for the help here

Will wait for the detailed post

Btw what happens if i totally get rid of C5 and replace it with a Deco and connect 2 other Decos with this one acting as primary router

Will that work?

Requesting you to let me know after work

kuduku · Thursday at 3:36 PM

tartarus said:
Thanks for the help here

Will wait for the detailed post

Btw what happens if i totally get rid of C5 and replace it with a Deco and connect 2 other Decos with this one acting as primary router

Will that work?

Requesting you to let me know after work

As you have a LAN cable coming in which would be having a static IP , you require a DHCP server to futher give IP Addreses to you devices
You can remove C5 and only use Deco but then deco cant be in Bridge mode . You can use it as AP which would give out IP addreses to all your devices

kiranrss · Thursday at 4:17 PM

tartarus said:
I just want to squeeze out the max ISP has to offer since i took a 400Mbps plan

Also i think without bridging there would be 2 routers with conflict of NAT management and stuff

Do you think bridging the existing router will be an issue or conflict with ACT connection in anyway?

Also whats your ISP claimed speed?
Also

No there wont be a conflict, i havent expereinced any conflicts in 2 years. the deco simply gets the IP via yoru routers DHCP and works from there, you can also use the deco app to control devices and see their IP to the last mile. i have a 100 MBPS and it works quite well along with one more ISP as redundancy near the main mesh router to which the other devices connect. Use your mesh as the AP and see how it goes especially since you have an ethernet point coming in

tartarus said:
Thanks for the help here

Will wait for the detailed post

Btw what happens if i totally get rid of C5 and replace it with a Deco and connect 2 other Decos with this one acting as primary router

Will that work?

Requesting you to let me know after work

That would work as the deco is capable of beign your main router but i would not suggest it as ACT is in the habit of claiming low speeds are due to router instead of accepting their fault. just connect one of your mesh to the ACT router and then slave all other routers depending on location. attaching my mesh view

john1911 · Thursday at 5:28 PM

I'm assuming that since you have the C5 set in Dynamin IP mode and you need to enter the ACT User & PW and login after every reboot / lease expire of the router, is this correct? To avoid this, you can change the C5 WAN connection type from Dynamic IP to PPPoE and enter the ACT credentials into the router itself. This way, your router can automatically log you in after any reboots.

Coming on to the Deco thing-
Deco can be configured as a router or an access point. In your case, I suggest to keep using C5 as the main router & DHCP server and just connect a Deco with LAN cable. While configuring the Deco, you will be given an option to set the first Deco as a router or an access point. It is recommended that you set the main deco as an access point only and leave the router work to C5. C5 has a much superior web interface WRT Deco M4 and it can do a lot of router things much more efficiently, local static IP binding, port forwarding etc. I'm not sure of web interface of Deco X20 (but Deco M4 has an extremely basic web interface). The other reason is that ACT sometimes claims that the low speeds are because of third-party routers (which is 100% false but you can't do anything).
If the Deco X20 satisfies all your needs as a router, and you are getting the promised internet speeds on it, there is not harm in using Deco as a router.
If you plan to keep C5 as the router, then it is recommemded that you disable the wireless radios on it since you'll be connected to Deco anyway and C5 wireless radios would cause extra congestion.

BTW what is the internet speed you get on device connected to C5 via LAN cable?

tartarus said:
Plus as i understand it would be needed to put the Deco in Router mode (not access point mode) since C5 will now be in Bridge Mode

tartarus said:
I just want to squeeze out the max ISP has to offer since i took a 400Mbps plan
Also i think without bridging there would be 2 routers with conflict of NAT management and stuff

The C5 is just another ordinary router, nothing proprietary ACT stuff. You can remove it and put any router you want. You can directly connect the first Deco to the ACT ethernet wire. There is no need to use bridge mode. There will be only one DHCP so there won't be any IP conflict.

If you plan to keep using C5 as your router and then configure your Deco as a router, then you would be behind 2 NAT layers and basically you wont be able to use port forward. If you don't need it, chances are you won't even notice that you are being double NATted.

tartarus said:
Speed is claimed to be 400Mbps

What is your current speed on a wired device connected to the C5.

tartarus said:
Btw what happens if i totally get rid of C5 and replace it with a Deco and connect 2 other Decos with this one acting as primary router
Will that work?

Yeah, totally but your C5 might have better control / router management options as compared to the Deco.

tartarus · Thursday at 9:49 PM

kuduku said:
As you have a LAN cable coming in which would be having a static IP , you require a DHCP server to futher give IP Addreses to you devices
You can remove C5 and only use Deco but then deco cant be in Bridge mode . You can use it as AP which would give out IP addreses to all your devices

I would lose out plenty of functionality if Deco is in AP mode which i would want to avoid

john1911 said:
I'm assuming that since you have the C5 set in Dynamin IP mode and you need to enter the ACT User & PW and login after every reboot / lease expire of the router, is this correct? To avoid this, you can change the C5 WAN connection type from Dynamic IP to PPPoE and enter the ACT credentials into the router itself. This way, your router can automatically log you in after any reboots.

Coming on to the Deco thing-
Deco can be configured as a router or an access point. In your case, I suggest to keep using C5 as the main router & DHCP server and just connect a Deco with LAN cable. While configuring the Deco, you will be given an option to set the first Deco as a router or an access point. It is recommended that you set the main deco as an access point only and leave the router work to C5. C5 has a much superior web interface WRT Deco M4 and it can do a lot of router things much more efficiently, local static IP binding, port forwarding etc. I'm not sure of web interface of Deco X20 (but Deco M4 has an extremely basic web interface). The other reason is that ACT sometimes claims that the low speeds are because of third-party routers (which is 100% false but you can't do anything).
If the Deco X20 satisfies all your needs as a router, and you are getting the promised internet speeds on it, there is not harm in using Deco as a router.
If you plan to keep C5 as the router, then it is recommemded that you disable the wireless radios on it since you'll be connected to Deco anyway and C5 wireless radios would cause extra congestion.

BTW what is the internet speed you get on device connected to C5 via LAN cable?

The C5 is just another ordinary router, nothing proprietary ACT stuff. You can remove it and put any router you want. You can directly connect the first Deco to the ACT ethernet wire. There is no need to use bridge mode. There will be only one DHCP so there won't be any IP conflict.

If you plan to keep using C5 as your router and then configure your Deco as a router, then you would be behind 2 NAT layers and basically you wont be able to use port forward. If you don't need it, chances are you won't even notice that you are being double NATted.

What is your current speed on a wired device connected to the C5.

Yeah, totally but your C5 might have better control / router management options as compared to the Deco.

Thanks for the lengthy post and clearing all my queries

On wired and in places near the router am able to get
Wired: 380-420Mbps Wireless 380-400Mbps

My main pain point for now has been Master Room where i get 180Mbps (Wireless) on 5GHz from router and i had a TP Link RE 200 extender which i connected to Master Room thinking it will solve that issue but that too ended up giving 180Mbps on the 5GHz mode from extender (Same as router, which is super weird)

I saw the AP mode loses out on some key functionality that X20 has to offer

I think ill stick to your suggestion of C5--> X20 (1) (Router Mode, Master Room)--> X20 (2) Wired backhaul to Living Room (Placed close to Router)-->X20(3) Wired Backhaul to Work/Gaming Room
Since i don't use port forwarding and don't want to be blamed by ACT for poor speed due to removing C5 and using Deco

john1911 · Thursday at 9:59 PM

kuduku said:
As you have a LAN cable coming in which would be having a static IP , you require a DHCP server to futher give IP Addreses to you devices
You can remove C5 and only use Deco but then deco cant be in Bridge mode . You can use it as AP which would give out IP addreses to all your devices

tartarus said:
I would lose out plenty of functionality if Deco is in AP mode which i would want to avoid

There is some confusion here. AP is just a like a wireless switch, kinda a dumb device. It just gives wireless capability to your existing network. An access point is a device that allows wifi devices to connect to a already existing wired network using Wi-Fi. It converts wired Ethernet signals into wireless signals and vice versa. An access point by definiton can not give out IP address to all your devices. There needs to be a router / server / pre-existing network. Think of AP as a wireless-LAN-cable, thats it, nothing more. I hope I was able to clear some confusion and not add to it

tartarus · Thursday at 10:06 PM

john1911 said:
There is some confusion here. AP is just a like a wireless switch, kinda a dumb device. It just gives wireless capability to your existing network. An access point is a device that allows wifi devices to connect to a already existing wired network using Wi-Fi. It converts wired Ethernet signals into wireless signals and vice versa. An access point by definiton can not give out IP address to all your devices. There needs to be a router / server / pre-existing network. Think of AP as a wireless-LAN-cable, thats it, nothing more. I hope I was able to clear some confusion and not add to it

Thanks for clarifying my idea of it, came from this link

What’s the difference between Deco’s Access Point mode and Router mode? | TP-Link

This article tells the feature differences between the Router and AP mode on Deco and their different application enironment.

www.tp-link.com

IDK how much of this is relevant or useful for me, but i guess its just FOMO

	Router mode supported	AP mode supported
Test Internet Speed	Yes	Yes
Network Optimization	Yes	Yes
Block List	Yes	Yes
Update Deco	Yes	Yes
WPS	Yes	Yes
Monthly Report	Yes	No
Managers	Yes	Yes
Fast Roaming	Yes	Yes
Beamforming	Yes	Yes
LED Control	Yes	Yes
Operation Mode	Yes	Yes
Connection Alerts	Yes	No
Smart Actions	Yes	Yes
ECO mode	Yes	Yes
Antivirus	Yes	No
Parental Control	Yes	No
QoS	Yes	No
HomeShield	Yes	No
IPv4/IPv6/LAN IP/DHCP server/MAC Clone	Yes	No
IPTV/VLAN	Yes	No
Address Reservation	Yes	No
Port Forwarding	Yes	No
DDNS	Yes	No
SIP ALG	Yes	No
UPnP	Yes	No
VPN Server/Client	Yes	No
Static Routing	Yes	No
Device Isolation	Yes	No
IoT Network	Yes	Yes
Reboot Schedule	Yes	Yes
Notifications	Support Update Firmware, Security Database Updated, Antivirus Alerts, Parental Controls, Monthly Report, Device Alerts, and Promotional Messages notifications	Support Update Firmware, Monthly Report, Device Alerts, and Promotional Messages notifications

john1911 · Thursday at 10:07 PM

tartarus said:
Thanks for the lengthy post and clearing all my queries

Happy to have helped

tartarus said:
On wired and in places near the router am able to get
Wired: 380-420Mbps Wireless 380-400Mbps

Great, you're getting the promised speeds. Good to know.

tartarus said:
My main pain point for now has been Master Room where i get 180Mbps (Wireless) on 5GHz from router and i had a TP Link RE 200 extender which i connected to Master Room thinking it will solve that issue but that too ended up giving 180Mbps on the 5GHz mode from extender (Same as router, which is super weird)

The Repeaters have to reecive and transmit the data over wifi at the same time. That basically halves the bandwidth. I don't remember the technical details though. In my experience, these repeaters have been mostly useless.

tartarus said:
I saw the AP mode loses out on some key functionality that X20 has to offer

I never used any Deco above E4/M4. Can you please tell me what all functionality loss is there after switching X20 to AP mode.

tartarus said:
I think ill stick to your suggestion of C5--> X20 (1) (Router Mode, Master Room)--> X20 (2) Wired backhaul to Living Room (Placed close to Router)-->X20(3) Wired Backhaul to Work/Gaming Room
Since i don't use port forwarding and don't want to be blamed by ACT for poor speed due to removing C5 and using Deco

If you have the LAN cables in place, then its good but if you're planning to get new LAN cables insatlled for Decos, as @kiranrss suggested, I would recommend to try wireless Deco setup and only get the LAN cables installed if you are not satisfied with the wireless Deco setup. You'll be amazed to know how capable these devices are. But still, wired is way better than wireless, just saying that wireless isn't that bad too.

tartarus said:
Thanks for clarifying my idea of it, came from this link

What’s the difference between Deco’s Access Point mode and Router mode? | TP-Link

This article tells the feature differences between the Router and AP mode on Deco and their different application enironment.

www.tp-link.com

IDK how much of this is relevant or useful for me, but i guess its just FOMO

Router mode supported
AP mode supported
Test Internet Speed
Yes
Yes
Network Optimization
Yes
Yes
Block List
Yes
Yes
Update Deco
Yes
Yes
WPS
Yes
Yes
Monthly Report
Yes
No
Managers
Yes
Yes
Fast Roaming
Yes
Yes
Beamforming
Yes
Yes
LED Control
Yes
Yes
Operation Mode
Yes
Yes
Connection Alerts
Yes
No
Smart Actions
Yes
Yes
ECO mode
Yes
Yes
Antivirus
Yes
No
Parental Control
Yes
No
QoS
Yes
No
HomeShield
Yes
No
IPv4/IPv6/LAN IP/DHCP server/MAC Clone
Yes
No
IPTV/VLAN
Yes
No
Address Reservation
Yes
No
Port Forwarding
Yes
No
DDNS
Yes
No
SIP ALG
Yes
No
UPnP
Yes
No
VPN Server/Client
Yes
No
Static Routing
Yes
No
Device Isolation
Yes
No
IoT Network
Yes
Yes
Reboot Schedule
Yes
Yes
Notifications
Support Update Firmware, Security Database Updated, Antivirus Alerts, Parental Controls, Monthly Report, Device Alerts, and Promotional Messages notifications
Support Update Firmware, Monthly Report, Device Alerts, and Promotional Messages notifications

Thanks for this. When X20 is in AP mode, all the 'No' options are controlled by your current router which is C5.

tartarus said:
I think ill stick to your suggestion of C5--> X20 (1) (Router Mode, Master Room)--> X20 (2) Wired backhaul to Living Room (Placed close to Router)-->X20(3) Wired Backhaul to Work/Gaming Room
Since i don't use port forwarding and don't want to be blamed by ACT for poor speed due to removing C5 and using Deco

I think you should give it a try - disconnect the C5 (dont reset it in case something goes wrong, just disconenct).
Connect Deco X20 and onfigure it as the primary deco as a router (WAN setting - Dynamic IP). Try setting it up and see if you're getting full 400Mbps speed. If yes, you can remove C5 and just keep Deco X20 as the primary router. It is always better to have a single device serving as a router instead of two.

I don't think of any reason why you shouldn't be gettin full speeds on Deco X20 as the primary router when you are getting full speeds on C5.

tartarus · Thursday at 10:52 PM

john1911 said:
Happy to have helped

Great, you're getting the promised speeds. Good to know.

The Repeaters have to reecive and transmit the data over wifi at the same time. That basically halves the bandwidth. I don't remember the technical details though. In my experience, these repeaters have been mostly useless.

I never used any Deco above E4/M4. Can you please tell me what all functionality loss is there after switching X20 to AP mode.

If you have the LAN cables in place, then its good but if you're planning to get new LAN cables insatlled for Decos, as @kiranrss suggested, I would recommend to try wireless Deco setup and only get the LAN cables installed if you are not satisfied with the wireless Deco setup. You'll be amazed to know how capable these devices are. But still, wired is way better than wireless, just saying that wireless isn't that bad too.

Thanks for this. When X20 is in AP mode, all the 'No' options are controlled by your current router which is C5.

I think you should give it a try - disconnect the C5 (dont reset it in case something goes wrong, just disconenct).
Connect Deco X20 and onfigure it as the primary deco as a router (WAN setting - Dynamic IP). Try setting it up and see if you're getting full 400Mbps speed. If yes, you can remove C5 and just keep Deco X20 as the primary router. It is always better to have a single device serving as a router instead of two.

I don't think of any reason why you shouldn't be gettin full speeds on Deco X20 as the primary router when you are getting full speeds on C5.

Cool will try this and see how it works
I do have wired connection setup for living room to gaming room already, so that would be wired and master one ill try wireless first if doesnt work will try wired later

So this is final topology
Will get back to you with results soon

tartarus · Sunday at 1:20 PM

@john1911 and @kiranrss am sorry to bother again

I got rid of C5 given by ACT connected Main deco directly to ethernet wire ACT gave
So this is working fantastic minus Master room (Wireless) i did get improvement from 180Mbps to 230/240Mbps but no where close to 400Mbps which rest of the house is now getting. Other areas across the house am getting 380-400Mbps

Thing is i think there is some issue since even my 5G cellular gets like 4-5Mbps in Master room

There is no way other than making ethernet backhaul from Living Room to Master Room i guess
Do you think wired backhaul will improve the speed to 350-380Mbps ish?

Now issue is X20 comes with 2 ports but 1 is used by ACT main wire, 2nd by Deco 3 in gaming room

Is there any expander/extender or switch which can help me convert the 2 ethernet ports to 3 or 4 or 5 so i can connect one to the Master room ethernet port? That would help me connect Main Deco to Main wire from ACT then 1 to Master room and another to Gaming Room

Advance thanks

MrGordon · Sunday at 1:39 PM

@tartarus Getting rid of the C5 is a good choice, going through the thread, I didn't find a need for you to use the C5.

Now coming to the other question, yes, you can use a basic 5 port switch. Act cable goes into one port, connect switch to other port, now you have 4 other ports (in case using 5 port switch) that you can use for backhaul or other purposes. Something like this - https://amzn.to/3Cj5VMD

tartarus · Sunday at 1:44 PM

MrGordon said:
@tartarus Getting rid of the C5 is a good choice, going through the thread, I didn't find a need for you to use the C5.

Now coming to the other question, yes, you can use a basic 5 port switch. Act cable goes into one port, connect switch to other port, now you have 4 other ports (in case using 5 port switch) that you can use for backhaul or other purposes. Something like this - https://amzn.to/3Cj5VMD

Thanks for jumping in

1- Just researched a bit and found TP Link sites says to put the main ACT Wire into Primary Deco then another to Switch like the one you suggested then to other devices/Deco

2- Do you think Ethernet Backhaul will improve speed from 240-250 and closer to 400Mbps which is claimed speed of ISP and i know they giving it coz other rooms and hall getting it minus this problematic room

Reason am asking is coz i have to call the ACT guy to do wiring for this since i dont have a wire running from Living to the Master room

MrGordon · Sunday at 2:00 PM

Yes, wired backhaul will most definitely give you the full speed. Wireless backhaul will have to share the available bandwidth, I don't think there is a dedicated radio for backhaul on the X20. Secondly as you said, the master room has a known issue with wireless signals in general, could be something blocking the signals from propagating properly.

So if you have existing conduit from the main deco to the master room to pull a cable, by all means go for it, you won't be disappointed.

kuduku · Sunday at 2:02 PM

For wired Backhaul this is what I follow & has worked always

https://confusedbird.com/thread-70.html

Setup TP Link X20 Deco with Ethernet Backhaul

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