Equipment field guide
Wi-Fi and mesh placement, routing, and recovery
Checked guidance for eero and TP-Link Deco placement, backhaul, gateway outages, red lights, double NAT, bridge mode, and mixed-model compatibility.
Start with the system
Identify before you change.
Map the modem or ONT, routing owner, gateway mesh unit, wired and wireless backhaul, node locations, LEDs, and affected clients. Preserve topology, firmware, and logs before rebooting or resetting a recurring failure.
- 01ISP service, modem or ONT state, handoff cable, and gateway role
- 02Routing owner, DHCP and NAT mode, bridge state, and provider requirements
- 03Main-unit and satellite LEDs, app diagnosis, firmware, and saved system log
- 04Wireless placement, obstruction, backhaul quality, Ethernet path, and power
- 05One-client, one-node, or all-network failure scope and controlled swap result
Ownership paths
Choose the job in front of you.
Each path states its model scope, diagnostic order, stop conditions, and the official material used to build it.
Choose it
What fits the need?
Mix eero generations without hiding the tradeoffs
Confirm gateway eligibility, Ethernet needs, performance limits, and Wi-Fi 7 settings before adding an older or newer eero.
Wi-Fi & MeshChoose between eero routing, double NAT, and bridge mode
Decide which router should own DHCP and NAT, then preserve one gateway eero and understand the features lost when eero is bridged.
Set it up
How should it start?
Fix it
Why is it failing?
Fix an eero red light by locating the failed network hop
Use the app, LED pattern, gateway role, modem link, WAN address, ISP settings, and DNS result to find where the network stopped.
Wi-Fi & MeshFix a TP-Link Deco that disconnects or turns red
Use the affected unit and its exact LED pattern to separate an ISP, main Deco, satellite backhaul, client, or reboot problem.
Common failure pattern
Avoid the shortcut that hides evidence.
- Resetting the mesh before saving topology, logs, firmware, and live LED evidence
- Placing a satellite or extender inside the dead zone it is expected to repair
- Changing DNS, NAT, backhaul, and node placement in one uninterpretable test
- Treating an ISP handoff failure as proof that every mesh unit is defective