@TP-Link_Deco when are you going to release the promised 1.6.0 firmware to fix this crap?

@atca 

Bin their junk and move on. I sold mine and got some ASUS devices (ASUS ZenWiFi AX (XT8)), does exactly what they are supposed to in AP mode. I.e. nothing but wireless transit.

@phobb 

This was raised on 2019-02-19, and 25 months in @tplink have done nothing at all. not even a toggle option to fully disable network services when in AP. They don't even acknowledge that this is an issue. No one wants or expects any form of network service when in AP mode, yet this is ignored by the vendor. The Deco range is junk, poor software, low volume of updates and so basic in terms of configuration options for the price.

This problem won't be fixed, it's over 2 years now and it is clear from a product perspective they don't see this as an issue. Sell your devices and go elsewhere. ASUS have some nice powerful mesh kit.

@GPGeek 

Hi, All your feedbacks have been forwarded to the senior engineers already.

After confirming with them, There is already a plan to add the DHCP on/off switch on the access point mode;

And It is estimated to be optimized on firmware 1.6.0.

Thank you very much.

@TP-Link 

It's over 2 years since this got reported and you're still telling people "engineers have been informed", yet nothing at all is made available. You don't even share an ETA for 1.60 or offer some beta firmware for people to actually test FOR YOU, and in the meantime get some potential relief from the mess this feature creates.

25 months for essentially nothing.

@GPGeek totally agree with all the posters here : I've had problems with M5 deco's several times in the last few weeks, each time them causing DHCP problems in AP mode and kicking my (Huawei) router off the 192.168.8.x range onto 192.168.9.x,  only solution being to disconnect the decos and reassign.  Shocking that such a simple, core, function should be wrong for so long and that denial and failure to address be the response.  These are going back and another warning not to trust cheap tp-link gear.  Over the years I've phased out over TP-Link AP point hardware - guess it's my fault for getting bitten by this again.

winter98 wrote

I've had problems with M5 deco's several times in the last few weeks, each time them causing DHCP problems in AP mode and kicking my (Huawei) router off the 192.168.8.x range onto 192.168.9.x,  only solution being to disconnect the decos and reassign.  

@winter98 

Are you sure it is not different issue? In all my tests when ISP router was off but Deco stayed on, Deco mesh keeps assigning IP addresses in same IP range ISP router did. 

My home network runs on 192.168.0.* range, ISP router is 192.168.0.1, Main Deco is 192.168.0.131, when I power off ISP router and reboot desktop, this is what desktop gets:

@Alexandre. thanks for responding - yes.  Each time this happens I have to disconnect the decos from the network for the router to return to the 192.168.8.x range - otherwise it goes onto 192.168.9.x and if I attempt to force DHCP to the 8 range it refuses.

The weird thing is that if i use fing to scan the network none of the deco's seem to have taken the 192.168.8.1 address - but they do seem to block the router / force it to go to another range.  Turning them off / disconnecting the ethernet cable and restarting the router does work each time.

@winter98 

I see. So it is ISP router that moves to different IP range, not Deco mesh.

Check your router settings - perhaps, it sees different DHCP server (Deco) and moves to another IP range to avoid conflict. If it does, there might be a configuration setting in a router to prevent that from happening.