How to Manually Update TP-Link Deco Firmware

by Rian

It’s less a how-to, but a PSA for Deco mesh routers users — the online automatic updates for firmwares on smartphone apps or web management are not working. In my case, automatic update said the version 1.2.13 is the latest, but the support page from TP-Link website clearly states v.1.2.14 is the latest with the patch I am looking for.

Solutions

1. Login to the router web management either via the IP address of the router or by http://tplinkdeco.net address.
2. From TP-Link website, download the right firmware* for your device. If it’s in a zip file, it needs to be opened.
3. Under Advanced > System > Firmware Upgrade, click “Browse” and select the downloaded firmware bin. The process will start automatically and update all nodes.
   

*It’s only anecdotal, but it’s better to set the website to the region where you bought the router from. In my case, TP-Link showed options for v1, v2, v3 for the hardware and further asked the US or EU variant. The label on the bottom of any node had the information on which version hardware and which variant.

Afterthoughts

This isn’t the first router I’ve used that has dysfunctional update system. But I find it weird that for a product that is smartphone app-focused, it doesn’t have an on-app method way of manually pushing updates to the device. If it started on the app, I think it’s best if it finishes on the app as well. The only distinction from other brand would be having one unified firmware for all nodes, instead of one for main and one satellites.