Official How to set up Ethernet Backhaul with your Deco devices

Ethernet Backhaul is a feature that makes it possible to wire the Deco units together.
Thanks to this feature, every two Deco units can be wired with an Ethernet cable. And Deco will transmit data between the two units through the Ethernet connection, which is more stable and faster than Wi-Fi. Once Ethernet backhaul is established, the Wi-Fi backhaul connection will disconnect automatically.
Here are two typical connection structures for Ethernet Backhaul:
Notes:
1. Please note that the main Deco unit will act as a NAT router by default.
2. Please add the Deco units on the same network at first through the Deco app before you wire them together.
3. Please make sure there aren't any other DHCP servers behind the main Deco. Otherwise, it will cause the second and third Deco units to obtain an invalid IP address that doesn't have internet access.
4. If you have switches on the network and find Ethernet Backhaul not working, please check the management IP address of your switches. It's possible that some switches adopt 192.168.0.1 (which is the same as the LAN IP address of the main Deco) as the management IP, which may cause some conflicts on the network. In this case, it's recommended to change the management IP address of switches to another subnet.
Frequently Ask Questions
Q1: Can I connect all the Deco units directly to my home modem/router?
* In Router mode
Only the main Deco could be connected to your home modem/router. Other slave Deco units should be connected behind the main one, just as the Star Network shows. If not, they may be in a network loop and cause unexpected dropout issues.
* In Access Point mode
You can connect all the Deco units directly to your home modem/router/switch as you want. The system will work as expected.
Q2: How to turn on the Ethernet Backhaul feature?
No need to switch on this feature manually.
Just add your Deco units in the same Deco network and wire them together as per the above network structure. Then Ethernet Backhaul will take effect automatically.
Q3: How do I know if Ethernet Backhaul takes effect?
Launch the Deco app, tap on "Internet". Then tap on the slave Deco unit which is wired to other Decos and you can see its backhaul status.
Q4: To use the Ethernet Backhaul feature, do I need to wire all my Deco units?
Nope. You can set up one for wireless backhaul, and the other one for Ethernet backhaul as what you want.
For example, if you have three Deco units and want to create Wi-Fi not only in your house but also in the garage, which is a little far from the house and without Wi-Fi coverage. Then you can put the main Deco and slave Deco 1 in your house (wireless backhaul). As for slave Deco 2, you can place it in the garage with a long Ethernet cable connected to the main or slave 1 unit. In this case, the slave 2 unit will work through Ethernet backhaul, while the main and slave 1 will work through wireless backhaul.
Q5: Why my Decos become unstable once they're connected via a switch?
It's probably that you're using a D-Link switch.
The Deco Ethernet backhaul feature is based on the standard IEEE 1905.1 protocol. However, we find that some D-Link switches will not forward packets based on IEEE 1905.1 protocol, causing all Deco units in a loop and become quite unstable. If you have a D-Link switch and encounter unstable issue with Ethernet backhaul, we recommend to change another brand of a switch or contact D-Link support directly for a fix.
If you're not sure which switch to use, TP-Link switches may be a good choice.
Q6: Can I set up Ethernet Backhaul through a powerline connection?
That's okay if the powerline connection doesn't block any data flow.
Typical topology is, modem ---- main Deco ---- Powerline unit~~~Powerline unit ---- slave Deco
Q7: Can I set up different Deco models such as M5 and M9 Plus together through Ethernet backhaul?
Yes, just configure and add different Deco models in the same Deco network. After that, you can wire them to set up the Ethernet backhaul connection.
You could refer to the link below for how to add different Deco models in the same network.
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My router is a Fritzbox FttH router.
To test your theory, I've installed DHCP on my home server and disabled it on the router.
This gave the same effect (few hours good)
On the DHCP server, I don't see any errors in the log.
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Hello,
Maybe the problem for my specific switch is already answered, since this thread is very long a didnt read it whole.
So im having issues connecting my Deco M4's via ethernet backhaul through a switch.
Ive got a Cisco SG200-26 and could get it to work (btw: direct connection work fine, so the M4's are ok).
Ive tried connecting the to the switch without any configuration, as well as connecting them on a seperate VLAN - same result: the M4's connect via WiFi.
Any help/tipps?
BR
mihi
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HI, did you need to set up a separate VLAN tag on the IPTV hypptv?
If yes, I am afraid the hypptv needs to be connected directly to the main Deco X20 since the current firmware 1.0.6 did not support IPTV VLAN tag on the satellite Deco;
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Hi, the information on this thread has been summarized on this FAQ:
https://www.tp-link.com/support/faq/1794/
For your issue, it is more like the Q4 and Q5 mentioned on the above link;
Thank you.
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@TP-Link Deco
I got a question about setting up the deco's all wired after a switch.
Is it possible to connect the deco's this way:
From the main deco UTP cable to Switch then UTP cable to Slave 1 and then UTP (out of slave 1) to slave 2?
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Please help ,
I purchased my setup only 2 months ago , earlier when i set it up everything worked perfectly and like a charm
I have connected all of my Deco device through Ethernet Backhaul , 2 are Deco X60s and 2 more are Deco M5s
Recently i faced an Solid red light issue on one of my deco devices , and had to call TP-Link India Support , it was a hellish experience , as i had to wait on hold for 15-20 minutes only to be connected to an "Engineer" who had no knowledge of the deco systems , and would be assured that a call back would be arranged in an hour or two to sort my issue . It has been a month since my first call i am yet to receive any such call-back .
After several days of calling and facing the same issue , one of the support staff tried to help me out , and through troubleshooting hit and trial , we came to the prognosis that i have to switch my deco network to an access point mode for this issue to be resolved . And it did get resolved , but in the days leading up to today i have been facing slow speeds on my 2.4 Ghz network and frequent and random falls in connection in devices , it it more noticeable because , it usually can take a whole 2-3 minutes to get internet connection back on those devices . What usually happens is , i will be watching content or doing research , the device will slow down , then when i go into the the network settings of the device it will show connected , i then run a speed test and it will show an error , then the device will loose connection . Then i open settings to see what has happened , it will show disconnected , i click on the network name in my settings to connect again , it will either say " failed to connect to the network " or connect and give very slow speeds of 0.01 mbps on the 2.4 band all while signal strength is strong to excellent .
I don't know what to do i have done basic trouble shooting , doing network optimisation from the app , anything and everything i can do i have done , but this does not happen once or twice a day it happens multiple times and each time i get flustered , and regret spending soo much money on a deco system . All day as soon as the service centers open , i try to call the TP-Link India Support , they just give me the same story of a miraculous call-back and i am left in despair , felling mentally drained , and regretting buying TP- Link Deco system .
One more thing i noticed is that the speed issue is overall prevalent on the 2.4 band i turned off the 5ghz band to test this theory , and turns out i was right , when 5 ghz is turned off , most devices only get speeds of 20 mbps max not above that , earlier in the router mode there was QOS to handle this but now in access point mode what do i do ?
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Hi, May I know how many devices that connected to Deco’ s network?
How much bandwidth that you subscribe from the Jio Fiber?
If possible, could you please refer to the following suggestions:
1. enable the guest network for 2.4ghz only and connect most of the smart home devices and other devices that did not require higher bandwidth.
2.leave the host network for 5ghz only with a different SSID.
Then reboot the whole Mesh system and check again what happened.
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ANSWERS
Approx 40 devices max on the network in day day time when everyone has classes and work
Bandwidth subscribed 150mbps up and down
Will try suggestions and update you in a day or so , in the meantime , the 4th deco (office) that i had setup again on advice from phone help engineers , and switched my entire network from router to access point mode has stopped working ,
It was working till yesterday , but not it is red solid light , tried rebooting my entire network and modem , nothing seems to help . How to proceed ?
I have not changed anything in my network as of yet .
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