TP-Link joins Securifi and Samsung in building smart home hubs right inside their mesh routers. And why not? You’re going to connect the two devices anyway, so it’s smart to have just one box. The all-new TP-Link Deco M9 Plus is fast and offers good range, but like Securifi’s Almond 3 mesh router, the Deco supports only the ZigBee smart home technology. And unlike Securifi, TP-Link doesn’t offer a Z-Wave dongle for those who want it all.
Samsung’s Home Connect mesh router does support both ZigBee and Z-Wave, but as you can see from the benchmark charts, that router’s Wi-Fi performance is nothing to write home about. I quizzed a TP-Link product manager about the absence of support for Z-Wave, and he said the platform was more popular with service providers than the DIYers TP-Link is targeting. I don’t agree with that assessment, but he did say the company could create a Z-Wave dongle if the market asks for it. And the Deco M9 is outfitted with a USB 2.0 port, identified as “reserved.”
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