@TP-Link_Deco 

Any updates on this one, I also have big troubles not being able to change the channel, will have to return the product if not possible.

Hello Antonymous @TP-Link_Deco Employee,

If I may, I would like to address each point you made about why we cannot select our own channels one by one. While I appreciate you taking the time to write such a response, it feels like I am being talked down to buy someone who can't do anything but come up with excuse after excuse and non of them are based in reality.

Firstly, what each Deco can see around it is virtually meaningless since the devices we use to connect to our network are in completely different places than our Deco routers. For example, while each Deco might see nothing on the 2.4GHz channel 3, the phone and TV in my bedroom is able to see my next door neighbor's Wi-Fi that is on channel 3. If I was a cynical man, I would say that it's because your company simply wants to be able to sell more mesh routers to cover spots like the one I just mentioned at my home.

Second, rumors of a, "seamless, unfettered, and performant experience for wireless networking" is impossible to pull off due to the router's inability to look at anything other than what it sees as explained previously. Furthermore, I'm looking at the networks around me, and my Deco has chosen channels that are the same as what my neighbors have. So, the only way to guarantee a, "seamless, unfettered, and performant experience for wireless networking" is to give people the choice to override the automagical settings that fail.

What's more, it's extremely easy for anyone to use a free stumbler app on their iPhone or Android (Apple for example builds one into their AirPort Utility app for iOS) and walk around their property to see what other networks are near by and what channels they are broadcasting on. Maybe... if the Deco app had instructions telling a user to walk around their property as it scanned, did that work I mentioned, and actually chose a channel that was actually not in use in the area? Maybe then I could let this feature slide. But that feature does not exist and there is absolutely no way you or your engineers can promise that a feature like this would work as evident by the fact that the Deco doesn't even do the automatic stuff it's supposed to already.

Last but not least, I don't care what other mesh Wi-Fi routers are capable of. If other mesh routers jumped off a bridge, would yours jump too? I would never willingly use a Google router. Your excuse here is summed up by saying, "we just copied what other have done and thought no one would care as long as we did what Google did." It requires absolutely ZERO "research in the market" to implement a feature that has long been standard with wireless communication. The people who just want to get online and don't care or notice these types of issues will just use the app and mesh network as per usual and continue to praise the setup process over traditional routers. Meanwhile, the people like us who actually care will be happy because these are our routers and we should be able to do whatever the heck we want with them. If that means taking them to an eWaste recycler and buying something better? So be it. It's that simple.

You have successfully answered no question and have successfully raised more in the process. I am not a fan of this tone. I feel like I'm being talked down to. Honestly, you would have been better off not saying anything. Because with this response, it feels like you guys don't take this request seriously at all. You are stuck in your ways and this feature will never chage. I currently have four M5 Deco mesh routers (two at my house and two at my girlfriend's) and plan to upgrade to a Wi-Fi 6 option within the next six months. Stubborn issues like this just make me more comfortable going with a different solution altogether.

Sincerely,

Rob

@oldearlyadopter 

Try rebootiing the mesh.
To do so in the App: Click on the "Internet" symbol => Select the "Main Deco" device => click on the "3 dots" in the upper right, then, finally, select "Reboot".

@Dan_C. 

And that's what's ridiculous. I have to reboot my Deco X60's about once every two weeks because all the phones and tablets in my household suddenly start to loose internet connection while having full signal reception (a problem none of our laptops are suffering from, probably because these use a much better antenna and less integrated hardware).

But every time I have to reboot 4-8 times before both 2.4GHz (for my two oldest tablets and my domotics sensors) and 5GHz are at the right channels.

It has come to the point that my wife (who is not a tech person at all!) actually starts asking to sell the Deco's and to buy a reliable mesh system.

Farrokhi wrote

Let's be realistic. This device does not pick the best channel, it always picks a default channel on each band which is usually the busiest (channel 4 on 2.4GHz and channel 36 on 5GHz in my case, and probably yours). No matter what you do or how many times you reboot it, it always picks the same channels. 

@Farrokhi 

Right now my Deco mesh, consisting of two M9 Plus and one M5, runs 5GHz on channel 44 and 2.4GHz on channel 9.

Meanwhile, out of five strongest 2.4GHz WiFi network signals I am getting from my neighbours, four are running on channel 6, interfering with each other.

@Hami 

Any idea when will this be done? The TpLink APP very helpfully shows that the current TPLink Mesh Network is using similar channels as my neighbours which is becoming very congested. But it does NOT automatically select channels that are less congested as TpLink claims that it will.

When will this be patched? Otherwise I'm giving up on my TpLink system and switching to a new Wifi 6 Mesh. Probably using Xiaomi.

@TP-Link_Deco Where developers in implementing manual channel change functionality?

@TP-Link_Deco I appreciate your comment that this may not be the best, but it's not as bad as we are telling you it is... We are real users, consumers of your technology. Using these technologies in the real world, outside of labs and office spaces you may use to test. 
 

The truth, we are all experiencing the same issue. These deco devices choose the most congested channels. The software doesn't appear to choose the least congested channel. We have no way to override this channel selection and are asking for a solution. 
 

Your competitors features are either working correctly or they offer the ability to manually override the channel selection. 
 

My guess is that we will not see a resolution. I suspect all R&D efforts are focused on newer technologies. 
 

From my perspective I will not buy additional tplink products, nor will I replace my M9's with a newer tplink technology. The experience with these has been poor from the start, and support has been terrible. I also will not recommend tplink products to friends and family, or my customers (I work in tech and am often consulted). 
 

Lastly, the advertising by tplink stating these devices choose the least congested channels automatically is simply not true. I call this false advertising.