TP-Link Deco X50-5G AX3000Mbps Whole Home Wi-Fi 6 5G Router With Sim Slot, 5G/4G+Cat 6 Mesh WiFi Router, 2.5G Port For Ultra-Fast Speed, 230 m2 Seamless Coverage, Works with Alexa, HomeShield

Purchased as an emergency router to cover for loss of home broadband (TalkTalk, again, and there's a 3 week wait for an engineer). Some tips and observations:The house in question (my other half's) is also in a mobile not-spot, so you might be wondering if this was a good idea. Well despite no reception at all (not even 2g, for texts or calls) downstairs, we found one corner of one room that had 4G. Fancy that! Turns out it's more or less in line of sight with the distant cellphone tower some miles away. Also 4G in one corner of the loft.We quickly tired of taking turns to stand in the corner on our phones, so I looked into mobile 4G options. Initially looking at small Mifi units which work the same and are portable, but actually, what we wanted was wifi around the house and the same features as our landline router. Some reviews of the small Mifi units say they have limited wifi range - great for in a car, caravan or around a table - but not for a whole house. And they don't have ethernet out connectors (critical if you want to extend wifi with powerline adapters for example, or connect a wired network item like a printer or camera).So that led me to purchase this unit, as for all intents and purposes, it's just like your normal landline router, but takes a sim card.I decided to stick with the network that works up to 4G on my phone which in this case is GiffGaff. Some reviews and some Q&A state this takes a smaller SIM card, it does not, it takes a FULL sized SIM card. But don't worry because assuming you're ordering a SIM card for this from your preferred network, most are full sized with easy snap outs for the smaller sizes, so all eventualities are covered.Now one tip... I suggest you set this up somewhere where reception is guaranteed, I did mine at home in the city where 4G is full power and full speed. It just makes it easier to get started, then install where it's needed and if it doesn't work well you know it's the reception.Installation was easy. Quick start guide included. Note that for GiffGaff it didn't automatically work, you need to connect to the router (in my case I just did it via wireless and typed in the router URL as shown in the quickstart guide) to go through the wizard, GiffGaff was selectable from the drop down menu. Once selected it then magically connected. Once done, just power off then power back up where you want it - no more setting up needed, it just connects by itself, like your phone would.Second tip.. ignore the coverage maps. The place this is installed is not in a 4G area according to the GiffGaff/O2 maps but works in one corner of one room. Initially 2 bars of 4G then 3 bars when I rotated it 90 degrees!! You can either order free SIMs from the various networks and try them or see where your phone gets coverage and stick with the same provider.The speed... wow... I mean you don't expect 4G internet in a rural "not spot" to be faster than the landline and yes we are lucky to get it from one location upstairs, but 13Mb to 14Mb download and 1.5Mb upload and 35ms ping... TalkTalk landline is 12Mb tops. That's measured, by the way, over wireless on an old 2010 Macbook downstairs in the kitchen so I am sure the actual speed is higher (I will speedtest on ethernet at some point to check).The range of the Wifi is really good. Fast connection downstairs under the router, and fast one room either side downstairs. Patchy in the lounge which is downstairs and two rooms across on the 2010 Macbook, but fine on my Moto phone there and the iPad (assume they have newer and better wifi chips built in).Fast enough to handle two people surfing. Little in the way of drop outs etc but that would be quite network dependent anyway.But data usage... OMG. My final tip. If you have been offline for a while and are using a limited data package (say up to 2Gb a month), PLEASE disable auto updates on your devices and PC and iPads etc. Because when they finally connect they will slurp updates and that can be 1Gb gone. One phone alone used 200mb updating. You will need to educate the household about NOT playing video. Or explore a 20-30GB plan so you don't need to worry.One downside of this sort of internet connection... you WILL get irritated when surfing because every freaking advert and auto play video will cost you money. An adblocker is a must with a 4G router.I never thought I'd say it, but this is a viable alternative to landline mobile in terms of speed and uptime, on all aspects apart from ongoing cost of the data. And it's a pretty useful backup to have if internet is critical to you and your landline provider is flakey.

I bought this to replace an aging ZTE MC801A that I'd been using as a 5G router for the past few years.Having fairly recently bought a different TP-Link WiFi router that completely resolved the previous WiFi issues we'd been having, I had high hopes for this with it being another of TP-Link's brands.The setup was incredibly easy, insert the SIM card, plug it in and download the Deco app. From there, the app guides you through and it was up and running within a couple of minutes. I've used this with both a Vodafone and Three SIM and both times it automatically picked up the APN settings and connected quickly.This has been flawless so far, providing fast speeds and good coverage. It's definitely a step up from the ZTE which was needing a restart fairly regularly to reconnect to 5G.My only complaint is that Amazon dropped the price significantly within a couple of weeks of me buying this for the Spring Sale!It's not cheap but it's a very capable bit of kit.

Update Jan '24----------------Well, this TP router worked well for three years....until recently. My mums 4g router went on the blink, it would drop out every half an hour or so and became more and more frequent. No use when you're trying to get tasks done online. I troubleshooted all the usual things; reboot, reset, firmware updates, tweaking settings, others experiences online....nothing worked, whatever I tried.Strangely, I have the exact same make and model of router but 'with less miles on the clock'. I swapped the routers over at my mums, yet the problem still exists, it kept dropping out. Maybe it was the SIM? Nope, it worked fine in my phone.Ultimately I never got to the bottom of the problem. Other users echoed similar problems but with different models of the 4g routers....I got frustrated and fed up, bought a Huawei 4g router and haven't looked back.Such a shame. TP Link I thought had high standards, but this device fell low of my expectation. 3 years and it goes wonky. Not good enough.Update 3 Jan 2021------------------Only one minor problem that my mum has reported with the router; it does slow down after a few weeks andtherefore a reboot of the router is required. After a reboot, everything is back up to speed. Otherwise, no problems.Original Review - Oct 2020-----------------I recently purchased this for my aging parents who live rurally. As most people know, landline broadband out in the sticks is as much use as a chocolate teapot. Before purchasing this 4g router, my parents were subscribed to BT for their broadband, and it was expensive, slow, unreliable, kept dropping out, and there was a 'fault' somewhere along the lines that - with countless engineers visits - failed to resolve their internet issues.I had enough of it and purchased them this 4G router.All I can say that this 4G router is BRILLIANT! A complete 180 from before! It has totally changed my parents experience of accessing the internet now. They can now watch HD films and YT videos without constant loading and buffering, and pages load super quick now. It's incredible! They can fill in forms and do their shopping online more reliably now than ever, and video call family which is essential for these Covid restricted times we live in.I bought them a GiffGaff SIM to pop in, let them choose what they want from it and they were good to go.4G worked flawlessly from the get-go!__________A few pointers to be mindful of though:Even though the product description says 'just plug in and play', I don't find that *entirely* true. There is an element of some quick setting up to be done before you can surf.- Stating the obvious, you have to buy a SIM card. And depending on who you decide to go with, you may well have to activate the SIM before you can use it. I bought a GiffGaff SIM from a supermarket, activated it online and then popped it into the router when it arrived. It worked perfectly.- When you set up your router for the first time, you have to go to the routers settings 192.168.1.1 and do some quick set up stuff before you get going. It only takes 5 minutes if that, then you're online - but if you're a total geek, you can rummage through all the other advance settings and set up the router to your liking.___________In short, this router is A MUST for those of us who live out in the countryside and have lousy landline internet. Also, in the long run, I very much suspect that this will save my parents £££ from going into BT's coffers, which was very costly and wholly unreliable service. This 4G router has blown them right out of the water.Touchwood, so far so good. I hope to update my review in the coming months and see what my parents think of it too.So far 10/10. Happy bunny indeed.