The Deco BE68 is the kind of upgrade you feel right away. I dropped a two pack into a tricky townhome where thick walls and a far garage office usually eat signals. After a short learning curve in the app, the system locked in like a grid. Rooms that were dead zones now stream 4K, the office link finally stays stable, and roaming from one end of the house to the other feels seamless.
Setup is mobile only, which I usually side-eye, but TP-Link’s Deco app keeps the steps clear. Power on the first node, scan the QR, name the network, then add the second node. I did run into two small hiccups where a camera and a smart display refused to join on first try. A quick reboot of those devices plus moving the second node closer solved it. Once the mesh mapped itself, handoffs between nodes felt invisible and the problem never returned.
This is a tri-band Wi-Fi 7 kit with 2.4, 5, and 6 GHz radios, rated BE14000. You get the headline Wi-Fi 7 tricks that actually matter in a mesh. The 6 GHz band can act like a clean fast lane for backhaul or high end clients. 320 MHz channel support opens up huge lanes for compatible devices. 4K-QAM pushes a bit more throughput when signal is strong. Multi-Link Operation lets a device use 5 and 6 GHz at the same time so traffic stays snappy even if one band gets busy. In practice that meant my laptop kept top speed while a console and a TV were downloading in the next room.
Each node gives you multiple Ethernet ports, including a 10G capable port for a wired uplink or a NAS. That makes this kit feel more “prosumer” than most living room mesh gear and gives you a clean path if you have multi-gig internet. The system is specced to cover large homes when you go with a three pack, but even two nodes handled my layout easily once I dialed in placement.
Speed tests are one thing, but living with the network for a week tells the story. Phones roamed between nodes without drops, the gaming PC stayed low latency, and the upstairs Apple TV finally stopped buffering during sports. The bigger win was range. I was still getting solid throughput halfway down the block while taking photos, which never happened with my previous mesh. When I added a third node for a day, the system redistributed loads on its own and everything felt even snappier.
It takes a few steps to really get the most out of this kit. The app lets you turn on Multi-Link Operation for clients that support it. You can also dedicate the 6 GHz band to backhaul if you want the mesh links to stay clean, or free it up for devices in rooms that need the extra capacity. TP-Link’s AI-driven mesh features do a decent job on their own, but a little manual placement and one or two toggles in the app made a big difference here.
Older 2.4 GHz devices can be picky on first join with modern tri-band systems. I had two devices that would not connect at first and looked incompatible. Once the mesh fully came online and I nudged those devices to retry, they paired and have been stable since. If you have a lot of legacy gear, consider creating a quick temporary 2.4 GHz-only SSID during setup, then merge back after everything is paired.
Parental controls and network security live in TP-Link’s HomeShield. The basics are free, while advanced filtering and deeper reports require a subscription. The app also exposes simple per-device QoS and a clean client view so you can see what is pulling bandwidth at any time. If you like a full browser dashboard, you will miss it here, but the phone app covers the essentials well. PC Gamer
The nodes are understated cylinders that blend into a media shelf or side table. No fan noise, no light show, and nothing that screams “network gear” in the living room. You will want to give each unit some breathing room, since tucking a node into a cabinet will cut performance.
The Deco BE68 does what a modern mesh should do. It brings Wi-Fi 7 features that matter, keeps the app simple, and gives you multi-gig headroom with the 10G port. Once I took a few minutes to position nodes and tweak a setting or two, it delivered a stable, fast network from corner to corner, even out to the garage office. If you are ready to move to Wi-Fi 7 and want a mesh that can grow with your internet speed and your device list, this one belongs on the shortlist.
