Review: Hands-On For A Month With The TP-Link Deco BE65

We’ve written plenty about mesh Wi-Fi as well as network hardware, but this time, we’re getting our hands dirty – figuratively, of course. Today, we are writing our first hands-on review, we’re diving into the TP-Link Deco BE65 v1. This unit is a Wi-Fi 7 mesh system that promises faster speeds, better coverage, and fewer buffering wheels ruining your binge-watching sessions. But does it live up to the hype? Let’s find out

Introduction to the TP-Link BE65

We got our hands on the v1 version of the unit, or the BE9300 unit (There is already a v2 on the market, or BE11000). The TP-Link Deco BE65 v1 is a next-gen mesh Wi-Fi system designed to bring the speed and reliability of Wi-Fi 7 to your home. Equipped with a tri-band setup (one 6GHz, one 5GHz, and one 2.4GHz band), BE9300 speeds, four 2.5G Ethernet ports (with WAN/LAN Autosensing), and AI-driven mesh optimization, this unit is built for seamless streaming, gaming, and smart home connectivity. Whether you’re upgrading from Wi-Fi 6 or just want to future-proof your network, the Deco BE65 v1 packs serious performance into a sleek package. Some features include MU-MIMO, Beamforming, MLOand 320Mhz channels.

Our 2-pack TP-Link Deco BE65 BE9300 units – ready for installing

Unboxing

We got the 2-unit pack as the space we are using it in does not need any more. We should actually be fine with just one unit, but we did not know that these units will have such great coverage compared to Wi-Fi 5 or older network infrastructure, which we are upgrading from. The units arrived neatly backed and displayed is good quality packaging.

Each of the units also had a sleeve around it to support it further as well as a protective film on the top to avoid scratches. It was easy to remove everything and get it good to go for installation and setup.

The sleeve around the TP-Link Deco BE65

Protective film on the top of the unit

The 2-pack also comes with two (fairly large) power adapters that is needed for the units themselves, although they run on normal 12V DC power with the stock-standard connector if you want to use a battery backup solution, like the one we used to ensure connectivity when the power fails or spikes. It also comes with one ethernet cable and a pin that is used to reset the unit by inserting it into the unit’s reset socket.

Setting up the TP-Link Deco BE65

The included quick-start guide assists in installing the Deco App on your smartphone, where the instructions continue. First you are asked to plug in the main unit as well as your internet connection. Seeing as all four ports are 2.5Gbps, it does not matter which port you use. Just remember that your internet needs to come directly into the Deco, it won’t work if you run it via a switch (although if it is a managed switch for a dedicated route I am sure it will work, but that is out of the scope of this review). You are asked to set up your internet connection by selecting the type and extra details (username, password, etc). If you are unsure what to select, please contact your ISP to make sure. From there you are asked to set up your main Wi-Fi network which was also straight forward. And after this you are up and running!

We chose to run a wired backhaul to the second unit, to make sure that we have a stable connection between the two. This time, however, we first ran the cable from the main Deco to a unmanaged switch, and from there to the second Deco unit. Again, no issues here, it just works.The unit was picked up and adopted into the network directly. Unfortunately we couldn’t get screenshots of the setup process as screenshots were disabled, but we got some afterwards:

After setup, a map of the network is shown with both nodes up and running

There are optional extras, some of which are locked behind a paid subscription

Run a network scan as soon as you can

There are quite a lot of functionality in the app

Other Features

By default, the Guest network is switched off. This is easily switched on and can run on all three bands (2.4GHz, 5GHz and 6GHz) or any combination thereof. We opted for only 5GHz and 2.4GHz for range and to keep that 6Ghz band open for the normal Wi-Fi network only. The Guest network also runs on WPA2/WPA3, meaning supported clients will run on WPA3, but if they can’t they will fall back to WPA2. This is not the end of the world as the guest network runs both device isolation (meaning devices can’t see other devices on the network) and it runs in a separate VLAN.

You also have the option to turn on a IoT network which runs on 2.4GHz with the ability to run on WPA/WPA2. This is used for our smart light switches and heaters, and works a charm. This network by default is part of your main network, so I presume the only reason for this is to enable WPA2 on a separate SSID to your main one.

The 6GHz channel has fairly decent performance by itself, we tested with an internal speed test and got very good results.

Speedtest from across the room – in the same room as the main Deco. 6GHz only.

Speedtest on 6GHz only – next to main Deco.

Other Considerations

Here are some other pros and cons after using the Deco for an entire month. They are in no particular order.

It seems you are limited to 3 SSID’s. That is not necessarily an issue, but enterprise level devices normally has more

Dynamic DNS is added and very easy to set up

Parental controls are present and you can add bedtimes as well as general block lists for users (Ex. block all mature content) – within the free tier.

You get an notification on the app when someone joins your network for the first time

No virtual server/DMZ option. You do have port forwarding though

Web interface has no functionality. You can set the date and time, that is it. Is has some mediocre stats, but no settings. Everything is done via App, which means you can update your router while not at home (which is a pro, yes).

LED’s on units can be switched on, off or to adhere to a schedule (Ex. switch off at 10PM and on at 6AM)

WPS is controlled via App, not on the router itself. This might be a security risk, but it does mean you can install the unit out of sight (and out of reach)

You can isolate any unit, on any connection, wired or wireless. This means that you can still isolate your IoT devices, or any other devices if you want.

Connecting an external hard drive to any Deco can enable sharing via the entire network, easily. Can set up with FTP, Network Neighbourhood or Media sharing.

If you have a Dynamic DNS Set up (which is very easy and free) you can access said shared storage device from outside of your network via FTP (if you switch that function on)

The DHCP Server can be set up to hand out from a certain range, like 192.168.1.50 – 192.168.1.250. However, when you want to add an address reservation, which you would want to do to get a node outside of that range, you can only assign an IP address inside the DHCP range. This means you have to change the DHCP range every time you want to add your IoT devices on 192.168.1.11 – 192.168.1.40 and all your networking gear from 192.169.1.2 – 192.168.1.10.

Drive sharing options – Can be locked behind authentication as well

DynDNS and some other options

Conclusion

The TP-Link Deco BE65 is a fantastic networking set with amazing range and penetration and a full feature set. Although some power-user features are lacking, it does not mean that the unit is at all bad. For any home user, this is a perfect setup and highly recommended. This will also form the base of our (soon to come) homelab setup and install series, and we feel this unit delivers more than enough for a proper advanced setup. For absolute new users, the setup process is extremely easy and straight forward, although the internet settings might be a bit daunting – just phone your ISP for assistance on which selection to make here. This unit will stay our main config for the foreseeable future and we can definitely recommend it.

Mesh NetworksTP LinkTP Link Deco