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TP-Link Deco XE5300 Router Review

Tested using Methodology v0.8
Reviewed Jul 22, 2024 at 10:27 am
TP-Link Deco XE5300 Picture
N/A
Apartment/Condo
N/A
Multi-Level House
N/A
Speed
N/A
Range

The TP-Link Deco XE5300 is a tri-band Wi-Fi 6E router with 2.4GHz, 5GHz, and 6GHz bands. It's designed for use in a mesh system and is sold in a three-pack. Like TP-Link's other Deco routers, it has a simple design with a small footprint, and you set it up and manage it through the Deco app. It's compatible with Amazon Alexa-enabled devices for voice control.

Our Verdict

N/A Apartment/Condo

The TP-Link Deco AXE5300 is a great router if you live in an apartment, condo, or single-story home. It has a simple design and a small body that easily fits into your living space. It provides impressive network coverage and speeds fast enough for high-bandwidth activities like streaming 4k video and even game streaming. While it has three networking ports, they're only rated for 1Gbps, so you can't use multi-gigabit speeds.

Pros
  • Small and sleek design.
  • Wi-Fi 6E support.
  • Great top speeds.
Cons
  • Lacks multi-gigabit networking ports.
N/A Multi-Level House

The TP-Link Deco AXE5300 is a very good router if you live in a multi-level home with a backyard. It provides great coverage throughout your home with fast enough speeds for high-bitrate 4k video streaming. It's also compatible with every other TP-Link Deco model, so you can easily add more access points for better coverage throughout your home or in your backyard. It has three networking ports, but they're only rated for 1Gbps, so you can't take advantage of devices capable of multi-gigabit speeds.

Pros
  • Small and sleek design.
  • Impressive range performance.
  • Wi-Fi 6E support.
  • Can add additional mesh access points to improve range.
  • Great top speeds.
Cons
  • Lacks multi-gigabit networking ports.
  • 6GHz band is slower than the 5GHz band when connected to the satellite unit.
N/A Speed

The TP-Link Deco AXE5300 delivers impressive speeds suitable for an internet connection of up to 1Gbps. It also supports DFS (Dynamic Frequency Selection), so it can take advantage of less congested DFS-only channels, which is especially useful if you live in a noisy wireless environment.

Pros
  • Great top speeds.
Cons
N/A Range

The TP-Link AXE5300 has great range performance. Since it's a mesh router, satellite access points help it maintain impressive average speeds over long distances, making it suitable for high-bandwidth uses and high-speed downloads over a wide area.

Pros
  • Impressive range performance.
  • Can add additional mesh access points to improve range.
Cons
  • 6GHz band is slower than the 5GHz band when connected to the satellite unit.
  • N/A Apartment/Condo
  • N/A Multi-Level House

Performance Usages

  • N/A Speed
  • N/A Range
  1. Updated Jul 22, 2024: Review published.

Differences Between Sizes And Variants

The TP-Link Deco AXE5300 is only available in a three-pack, which we bought and tested in dual mesh and standalone modes. Here's a photo of our unit's label.

TP-Link also sells the nearly identical Deco XE75 and XE75 Pro, which are available in one, two, or three-packs. The XE75 Pro has a 2.5Gbps networking port and two gigabit ports.

Compared To Other Routers

The TP-Link Deco AXE5300 is a tri-band Wi-Fi 6E router with 2.4GHz, 5GHz, and 6GHz bands. It's designed for use in a mesh system and is sold in a three-pack. It's compatible with every other TP-Link Deco model so that you can add more access points for better coverage. Other integrated mesh routers, like eero, have this functionality as well.

Overall, it performs pretty similarly to other Wi-Fi 6E mesh routers. That said, it doesn't reach quite the same top speeds as the eero Pro 6E, but it's faster than the Google Nest Wifi Pro and has a better range than both competitors.

Test Results

perceptual testing image
Design
N/A
Design
Dimensions
Height
Lock" (Lock cm)
Width
Lock" (Lock cm)
Depth
Lock" (Lock cm)
Depth With Cables
Lock" (Lock cm)
N/A
Design
Network Ports
WAN Port Speed
Lock Gbps
LAN Port Count
Lock
10 Gbps Ports
Lock
2.5 Gbps Ports
Lock
1 Gbps Ports
Lock
10 Gbps Ports (SFP+)
Lock

This router's networking ports automatically detect whether you're using a WAN or LAN connection.

Design
USB Ports
USB-A 3.0 Ports
Lock
USB-A 2.0 Ports
Lock
USB-C Ports
Lock
USB-C Speed
N/A
Design
In The Box

  • Ethernet cable
  • Power adapter x3
  • User documentation

N/A
Design
Wall/Ceiling Mount
Mount Type
Locked
Wi-Fi
N/A
Wi-Fi
Interior Long Range
Lowest Speed
Lock Mbps
Average 5GHz Speed
Lock Mbps
Average 6GHz Speed
Lock Mbps

We tested this router in dual mesh mode. While there's a slight speed penalty when connected to the satellite, this is expected, and the additional access point helps deliver more consistent speeds over very long distances.

Note that this test's average 6GHz speed was slightly slower than the average 5GHz speed while connected to the satellite unit. While we don't know precisely why this occurs, our best guess is that the mesh system uses the 5GHz band for wireless backhaul between the main router and the satellite unit when it detects usage on the 6GHz band, bottlenecking the speeds. That said, this is just a theory. We encourage you to reach out in the comments section if you have any feedback on this or any theories of your own.

N/A
Wi-Fi
Interior Short Range
Highest Speed
Lock Mbps
Average 5GHz Speed
Lock Mbps
Average 6GHz Speed
Lock Mbps

We tested this router in dual mesh mode. There's a slight speed penalty when connected to the satellite, but this is expected, and the router still delivers impressive speeds up to 60 feet.

N/A
Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi Specifications
Wi-Fi Version
Locked
6GHz Band
Locked
Multi Band
Locked
DFS Channels
Locked

Wi-Fi 6E gives access to the 6GHz band, which takes advantage of less signal interference for faster speeds, but you'll need devices that support it to benefit from it.

Wi-Fi Coverage
Wi-Fi Coverage
Indoor Coverage - Same Story
Wi-Fi Coverage
Indoor Coverage - 1 Story Above
Wi-Fi Coverage Map (Dual Mesh)
Wi-Fi Coverage
Broad Coverage