Top critical review
1.0 out of 5 starsHorrible product
Reviewed in the United States on July 27, 2022
This mesh is horrible. I've installed a Google Mesh and this one. I'd say this one should be laid to rest, but after 3 months of use and complaints from family members, I looked at what is going on.
I have one of the two connected directly to the router. The second one is upstairs, connected to the first. I'm only getting a 2.4 GHz connection, despite both the 2.4 and 5 GHz enabled. If I shut off the 2.4, I get no bandwidth.
Running speed tests, I get 60Mbps throughput directly to my router, bypassing/not connecting to Deco. If I connect to Deco, I get 28Mbps. THE WHOLE REASON FOR BUYING A MESH IS TO INCREASE YOUR SPEED, NOT DECREASE IT!
I updated the firmware on both units, restarted both units, and the result is this review, warning others to steer clear.
Now about the app that is used to administer the Deco. I am a software developer for over half my life. I know little about developing mobile apps, but I know that this is not what I would ever release to the public. I grade this app an F. Things that expand should have a twist - they do not. The app looks like it's designed with multiple mesh networks - realistically there's only one mesh network that 99.9% of users are going to install.
First screen is an overview. Clients and Location tabs. Clients I understand - those are the clients that are connected. That would not have been my first choice for the home screen. I would have rather see a status reading of the connectivity of the mesh, alerting any problems and suggested fixes. Location tab - lists the network along with a settings gear that takes me nowhere. no settings. what the heck???
Getting to the status of devices is through the image at the top, but you wouldn't know that because there's no indicator that it would take you anywhere. An arrow indicating there's something there would have been helpful. There are icons at the bottom of the start screen that lead the users into a whole other set of confusing paths. The Status of the devices is where I would have expected to have the start screen take me, but enhanced with better status indicators. Again, realistically, a consumer is only going to have 3 or less devices, so one could fit more information at a glance, but apparently Deco app developer doesn't feel the same way. To see information about each device, you have to click into them. That also tells you what computers are connected to individual decos which initially appears to allow you to force individual clients off the mesh, which is what it SHOULD do. Instead, it is a selection to enable (by default) seamless switching between mesh devices, which really shouldn't be an option to the user at all - i mean that's the whole point of getting the mesh! But you really don't know that that's what the selection is for unless you click on the almost-hidden question mark. This screen also tells you the firmware version that the device is on, but lacks the date of the version was updated. To have a set of devices on different firmware is odd to me, and should be self-healing. If one device was offline while the first got the firmware, I would expect them to communicate and update the other when it did come back online.
The navigation icons at the bottom are missing on the screen, so I struggle to find my way back to the main screen. I found two arrows at the top, one that looks like a regular back arrow, one that looks like a go-forward arrow (which takes me to rename the location of the device), and three dots which give me an option of removing, rebooting, and support FAQ. I would expect FAQ and support to be on the main/home screen as it's a central function.
Starting again at the home screen, at the bottom, I click on Smart Actions. This is a dead button for me, as I would never control my smart devices like lights through this app. I would control my smart devices through a smart home device. This app is for the mesh, not smart devices.
Homeshield is another dead button at the bottom, where you can buy their monthly or yearly subscription to protect devices. Again, this app is for the mesh, not anti-virus software. Let's try to stay focused on that.
The last button on the bottom just says "more". THIS IS WHERE THE IMPORTANT SETTINGS ARE! Why do they hide them under the blanket category "more"? In order of importance, the buttons along the bottom should be Home or Overview, WiFi Settings, Deco Settings, and Visitor Settings. Drop smart actions and homeshield as they don't belong.
It would be nice to be alerted when a user is trying to join the network so I can allow them to join, like Google Mesh does. I get no alerts from this system.
Google Mesh was far simpler to install, use, and administer. That's what I'm heading back towards. Even if I'm able to resolve the decrease in speed when attaching to Deco, it still leaves a lot of room for improvement.
