The TP-Link Deco BE95 mesh Wi-Fi 7 system boasts the newest wireless Wi-Fi 7 standard, putting it on the bleeding edge of technology. In this review I’ll go over the Deco BE95’s design, set-up, performance, companion app, and sharing my final thoughts.
Unboxing and design of the Deco BE95
Opening the Deco BE95 feels like opening a treasure chest. The box sits horizontally and folds open to reveal two Deco BE95 routers. Along the side inserts of the box you’ll find two power adapters and one ethernet cable.
The Deco BE95 design is clean and minimalistic departing from the traditional black, boxy router design. Instead, the BE95 has an elegant matte white cylindrical design that blends in seamlessly with your home decor. The matte white finish is a nice touch that won’t pick up fingerprints while being handled. On the front of the BE95 there’s a subtle yet large number 7 signifying the BE95’s Wi-Fi 7 tech. Overall, I like the Deco BE95’s design, it’s classy, simple and blends in with my living space.
Looking at the back of the Deco BE95 is what you’d expect from a router. There are 2x 10 Gbps ethernet ports, 2x 2.5 Gbps ports, 1x SFP+ port, 1x USB 3.0 port, and the power port. The 2x 10 Gbps ports on the back of the Deco BE95 can be used for high end network equipment or as a wired backhaul for other devices. Using an SFP module, the SFP+ and 10Gbps together are able to convert fiber data to be used by the ethernet cable.
At the bottom of the Deco BE95 you’ll see a LED light. This LED is a visual indicator of the BE95’s status. A pulsing yellow LED indicates the Deco is resetting, while a solid yellow LED signifies the Deco is starting up. A pulsing blue LED means the Deco is ready for setup, and a solid green LED indicates normal operation. While the LED is subtle and didn’t distract me, users can easily disable the LED through the Deco application.
Setting up the TP-Link Deco BE95 Wi-Fi 7 system
Setting up the Deco BE95 is incredibly easy. After unboxing the Deco router, all you have to do is connect one of the routers to an ethernet or SFP+ connection and power the device on. From there you need to use TP-Link’s Deco app to find the router, then set-up the network name and password. Once that’s completed the Deco app will instruct you to power on the second Deco router creating a mesh network. Overall, it took me less than 10 minutes to get the Deco BE95 mesh network up and running.
Deco BE95 technology and performance
The Deco BE95 brings the newest Wi-Fi 7 standard to your home. In fact, Wi-Fi 7 is so new that none of my devices could fully take advantage of all the benefits the technology has to offer.
When it comes to speed, the Deco BE95 is capable of blazing fast speeds up to 33 Gbps. This is 300% faster than the already very fast Wi-Fi 6E 10 Gbps speeds. The advantage of Wi-Fi 7 is that compatible devices are able to connect to and operate on all 4 of the BE95’s bands simultaneously (2x 6Ghz, 5Ghz, and 2.4Ghz). Looking at each of the Deco’s wireless band speeds, the 2x 6Ghz bands have speeds up to 11520 Mbps, the 5Ghz band has speeds of 8640 Mbps, and finally the 2.4Ghz has speeds of 1148 Mbps.
Wi-Fi 7 devices that have the ability to connect to all of the Deco BE95’s bands simultaneously will have faster speeds and more stable connections. This makes the Deco BE95 ideal for augmented reality, virtual reality, social cloud-based gaming, and 8k video streaming. In my testing, I didn’t have any 8k videos to stream, but I did have high bitrate 4k videos. I was able to stream these videos to my TV without any buffering or stuttering using the Deco BE95 mesh network.
To keep the Deco BE95 cool and performing optimally, TP-Link included 2x cooling fans inside the case. These fans are incredibly quiet and only once during my testing did the fans become loud enough for me to notice. I was initially surprised to hear fans running inside the BE95. All of the router’s I’ve owned had passive cooling, so it was a nice touch to see cooling fans inside of the BE95.
Wide and robust wireless coverage
The mesh technology of the Deco BE95 is incredible. According to TP-Link’s website 2x BE95 Deco units are capable of covering up to 7800 sqft. For reference 2 Google Nest mesh routers covers roughly 4400 sqft. The strength of the Wi-Fi connection to the BE95 depends on the materials within your living space such as brick, concrete, and metal panels.
My living space is small, so to test the Deco BE95’s coverage I went outside and walked down the street. I passed 3 houses before I began losing connection to the BE95. Within my space the connection to the BE95 was amazing. During my testing I always had a strong connection no matter where I was. Overall, I was very happy with the wireless coverage of the BE95.
Deco mobile application
TP-Link’s Deco mobile app is a great companion to the Deco BE96 router. The Deco app offers users the ability to view Wi-Fi usage, adjust settings, adjust parental controls, and prioritize connected devices.
One of my favourite features of the Deco app is the IoT Network. This creates a dedicated wireless network for users to manage all of their IoT devices such as smart lights and cameras. As someone that has 20+ IoT devices I love this feature. The IoT Network feature ensures that your IoT devices have a dedicated network that’s free from interference of other Wi-Fi devices. The benefit of this is that your IoT devices will have a strong, private, and secure network connection.
I also liked the Network Optimization feature in the app. This feature scans the quality of the Deco network and looks for any signal interferences. The Deco app will then have the BE95 make adjustments to the Wi-Fi network in order to make improvements to stability and speed.
Another feature that I like in the Deco app is the reporting. The Deco app sends a weekly report that lets you know how many devices are connected, new devices, and security risks. For anyone using parental controls you’ll be able to see which user was online the longest, websites most visited, and how much data was used.
Overall, the Deco mobile app brings a lot of control and functionality to the BE95 router.
Final thoughts on the Deco BE95 Wi-Fi 7 mesh router
The TP-Link Deco BE95 is an impressive home Wi-Fi 7 mesh router. It’s incredibly fast, stable, and has amazing coverage. I loved how easy the network was to set-up and also loved how its modern design blended into my living space. TP-Link’s Deco app is user-friendly and gives users complete control over their wireless network. My favourite features of the app was the ability to set up a secure IoT network, receive weekly reports, and set-up parental controls. If you’re looking to upgrade and future proof your home network, I highly recommend checking out the Deco BE95.
The TP-Link Deco BE95 mesh Wi-Fi 7 system is available now at Best Buy.
