BE22000 Tri-Band Wi-Fi 7 Mesh System | Deco BE85(2-Pack)

This solved my problem with dropout. Unfortunately as a previous owner of 3 Xe75 units having to buy this to update the software was a bit of an issue since I didn't know it would solve my issue or should I go to a different brand? It turned out that this solved my issue with now over 100 Device on and no drop outs. I made The two BE85 the primary and used 2 of the Xe 75 in the MESH. The reason I give it 4 stars is that they could have just updated my old model of Deco to fix it. But I understand they have to make money.

Turned out great.

TP-Link Deco BE22000 Tri-Band WiFi 7 Mesh System (Deco BE85) - 12-Stream 22 Gbps, 2× 10G + 2× 2.5G Ports Wired Backhaul, 8× High-Gain Antennas, VPN, AI-Roaming, 4×4 MU-MIMO, HomeShield (1-Pack)This is a pretty beefy WiFi node. It's double the size of the older WiFi 6e Xe75 NODE units.There's a tonne of reviews out there. So I'm going to offer my thoughts for my deco mesh upgradeI have 8 Indoor xe75 and 3 outdoor x50s in my mesh. One main xe75 malfunctioned in a brownout so I needed to replace it. Luckily it still boots up but for whatever reason it was ultra flakey.I briskly bought this newer be85 as a main node replacement. Deco app allows you to do a "replace main" node procedure. It basically takes you thru a series of boot ups and configuration transfers and then ultimately it makes you swap the Ethernet cables form old deco to new be85. This process was not smooth. The config transfer failed a couple times for whatever reason, but tirs times a charm. It worked!! My entire router setup including vlan and isp login worked flawlessly once the transfer was a success.. I was able to keep all my existing satellites and just swap this main node . Very happy ! Otherwise it means I need to make a new network and re-add all the satellites, very time consuming processThat out of the way my network is humming really well. Able to get full 800mbps from my fiber optic Internet wired. WiFi wise , I get around 500mbps. I setup the MLO wifi (basically carrier aggregation with 5 and 6 ghz bands) and this works however I found it Slower than just 6ghz. With MLO ssid I get around 400mbps. (Tested in same location with my pixel 9 XL pro WiFi support). I'm not sure why MLO is slower. But what MLO offers is a stabler setting with multi band support. I'm happy to have it but likely not going to use it much.With such a complex network I find things seem to work better with this be85. It's likely because the CPU cores are much faster. Things seem to run quicker on my network. File transfers quicker inler load , network reboots make satellites reconnect really really fast compared to older xe75, and oddly enough my 2ghz iot devices seems to drop less and keep stable.Even if you're not needing wifi 7, this is actually a worthy networking upgrade due to the speed of things , in a complex mesh network. I'm very happy to have upgraded to this be85 rather than buy yet another xe75 replacement main node. The 2.5g Ethernet is a nice future proofing . Met network is just 1gbps so I can't take advantage of that .So if there are any folks out there who have similar large mesh network with decos , I recommend buying this newer gen be85 unit to be your one main node whilst keeping your other xe75's or x60's as satellitesSince the time of review , I have bought a be65 WiFi node to replace my busiest satellite node. The extra processing power for be65/85 series is a notificible enough ugorade. It really is that good.

ProsVery easy to setupEthernet ports available to use even in extender modeAnaheim advanced customization settingsDead quietNice lookingConsAdvanced features require a subscription which should be included at this priceNotesIt will disconnect often and cause all kinds of havoc if you increase the width of the 5ghz channel. Turning this off resolves all the issues but the system should be able to notice this on its own and recommend it (I would run the wifi interference scan and the unit would identify congestion and change channels which didn’t help but it never recommended reducing the lanes)RequestI would sacrifice a port to include MOCA for homes without ethernet to improve the range options for the units from each other. Mine are line of sight 20’ apart with 6ghz dedicated to back haul so I have no issues but if you’re trying to push through walls using 6ghz you will encounter huge speed drops.

The quick rundown is: The house is an approximately 3,500 SF single-level home with many brick-solid doors and twists and turns. The modem is in the center of the house in my office. Wi-Fi without a mesh system would drop off in the back rooms to a crawl.I previously had an ORBI RBS850 for my Cox 1GIG Down / 35 Up plan (they just changed to 100 up before I switched). The ORBI did fine for the last three years I had it. However, even though I would move the satellites around, I would still get reduced speeds in the furthest rooms. Based on ORBI, the RBS850 with two satellites should have been overkill, but it wasn’t.I recently received FIBER and opted for the 1Gig Up/Down. Since the speed is overprovisioned, I’m able to get 1,300 Up/Down. My ORBI was limited to 1 GIG port, so I was limited to around 945 with overhead down and the full upload speeds. Since I do a lot of CAD and video work, I am also considering moving to the 2 or 5-GIG plan in the future.I researched many of the new Wi-Fi 7 mesh systems. Note that I currently do not have any Wi-Fi 7 devices, but I might in the future.I narrowed it down to the new ORBI 970, the Deco BE 95, the Deco BE85, and the Eero Max 7. I chose the Deco BE85 due to its two 10 Gig ports and two 2.5 Gib ports and the price factor.The ORBI was way overpriced, and the BE95 offered me nothing extra. Though the Max 7 was tempting, I ultimately went with the BE85 since I would have wired backhaul on both satellites.My out-of-the-box experience:1. The Deco comes packaged in a very nice, easy-to-open container.2. You are presented with three identical Deco units, three power adapters, and a cord for each that can be removed, making it easier to fish power cords for the Deco.3. I appreciate that the plug-in on the Deco is a normal size and isn’t one of those that take up three or four plug-ins due to its shape/design.4. I already had my BGW320-500 modem set to bridge mode and the ORBI as the router.5. I downloaded the TP-Link APP and started to install the Deco BE85 Mesh system.6. The app asked me to scan the bottom of one of the Decos (it didn’t matter which, as it would become the main).7. The app did not list a BE85. Maybe it is listed as a BE2200? Nope.8. I then continue to install but choose Install MANUALLY.9. I turn off my printers (you will really want to do that)10. Unplug my BGW320-500 Fiber Modem.11. I disconnected from all of the ORBIs.12. I take a photo of the bottom of the Deco I choose to be the Main so I can add the MAC Address13. I then connect to Deco’s Wi-Fi through my phone.14. It then tells me that the Deco I chose doesn’t match the one I’m installing. ( I KNOW THAT.)15. It asks me if I want to change it to the BE85. Of course I do. I say yes and click Next.16. It tells me to connect the Fiber Ethernet to my Deco and then to my Switch.17. I connect to the top 10G port on the Deco and then to the switch on the bottom 10G port of the Deco.18. Since I have a switch with two 10G ports and 6 2.5 G Ports, I connect all the drops to my other rooms to my switch.19. Deco warns me that only one 10G port can be used and that the bottom is a combo port. For a second, I thought, why give me two ports if I can only use one? Then, it dawned on me that the warning was poorly written. What they mean is you can use the bottom port as a 10G ethernet port by taking out the plug and using the bottom SFP+ port (if needed), but you can’t use both at the same time.20. I then placed my first Deco satellite Unit in Room 1, connected the wired ethernet drop to the top 10Gport, and connected the lower 10G port to my Switch in Room 2.21. I then plug in the first Deco Satellite, and it connects almost immediately.22. I do the same thing for Room 2, connecting it the same way as Room 1.23. I then change the SSID to match my old SSID and password Exactly.24. Make note that both are case-sensitive.25. It takes it, and Now I don’t have to change all my Wi-Fi log-ins on 50+ devices.26. Before I started, I had an Excel spreadsheet with all my devices' MAC addresses. You should do the same if you can.27. I looked at the Deco app on my iPhone and noticed that most of the devices did not have very good descriptions. I simply went into the app, looked at the connected MAC address, referenced it with my spreadsheet, and copied the name from my spreadsheet into the Deco app. (Note that I had the spreadsheet on Dropbox, so I was able to copy from my iPhone to the Deco app without typing them all out.28. In about 10 minutes, I had all my devices with good descriptions.29. I then noticed that there was a section for devices that were not currently online, like TVs, PS5s, etc. I changed the names of these devices, too.30. I checked everything out and noticed the 6Gz channel had my SSID followed by _6Ghz, I do have some phones that are 6Ghz so I went in and changed the SSID to match my other SSID by removing the _6Ghz at the end of the name.31. My phones were not connecting to the 6Ghz.32. I then found...