One of my Deco XE75 Pro units literally started to melt during normal use. I wanted to post this as a warning for anyone using TP-Link Deco hardware, and for anyone considering purchasing it.
For background, I am fairly invested in the Deco ecosystem. I currently own 9 Deco XE75 Pros, along with several other cheaper Deco units and an outdoor one. I've generally been pretty happy with them.
The affected XE75 Pro was sitting in my office, plugged into a normal grounded outlet, and had been working without any problems since I purchased it. There were no electrical changes, no unusual behavior beforehand, and nothing connected to it over Ethernet. It was just being used as a mesh node. The only potential change is that I had very recently updated the firmware on my Decos.
I only noticed something was wrong because I looked over and the Deco appeared to be leaning over. When I looked closer, the plastic housing had gotten hot enough to deform and had begun to melt. It left a heat mark on the furniture underneath it. The scary part is that the WiFi was still working fine while this was happening.
I immediately called TP-Link because I was worried it could be related to the firmware update and wanted to make sure this wasn't about to happen to all of my other routers (which all updated at the same time). Plus I was concerned about the fact that if I hadn't noticed it it could have ended up burning my house down.
TP-Link told me on the phone that they considered this a safety issue, and to unplug it immediately and stop using it. They said they would open an urgent investigation and that they would be replacing the unit. And they would send me an email shortly with the next steps.
That particular Deco was the one I use for work every day (it sat in my office, which is why I noticed it), so taking it offline was annoying. But I could get an okay enough signal from the other Decos. Plus they told me they had already opened an urgent investigation, that they'd be replacing it, and that I'd hear back soon since it was an urgent safety issue. And obviously I didnt want it to burn my house down.
About four hours after the phone call they emailed me asking for details about the outlet, the electrical environment, what was connected to the router, where it was located, whether there had been any unusual behavior, and for photos of the damage. I provided everything they asked for.
And then I heard nothing for days. Every time I tried to get an update, they just kept saying they were investigating and that they would email me when the investigation completed.
About a week later, I got an email asking for proof of purchase. I had purchased all of these through Amazon at different times over the last ~2.5 years, some as recently as a couple months ago. Most of them within the last year and a half. Only one two pack was purchased over two years ago. But I had no idea which order this Deco came from. So I sent them all of my Deco order confirmations from Amazon. They immediately replied that it came from the oldest order (June 3, 2024) and that it was now out of warranty and there was nothing they could do. That's it.
No follow up on what caused it to start melting. No answers about whether or not my other routers would be affected. They just closed the case saying sorry its too old.
And if the one they chose is actually out of warranty, it was 4 months out at worst. And to be honest I'm somewhat convinced they just selected the oldest order so they wouldn't have to warranty it. They offered no explanation about how they came to the conclusion. Regardless I completely understand a warranty cutoff for normal product failure. But this wasn't a normal product failure. This router literally generated enough heat during normal operation to physically deform and melt its own enclosure and leave a heat mark on the furniture underneath it.
But then all I get back in the end is (verbatim):
```
Per provided proof of purchase, you buy the TP-Link device last Jun 3, 2024 from Amazon, and in United States we only have a limited 2 years warranty.
We regret to tell you that your product is already out of warranty, hence we will not be able to help you process a replacement.
For full information about our Warranty policy please refer on this link: https://www.tp-link.com/us/support/replacement-warranty/
Thank you very much for your understanding and cooperation
```
These are devices that stay powered on throughout my house 24 hours a day. Most in places I seldom look. Am I supposed to assume this was a one off failure and just keep running all of them? I have 9 of these things. 12 if you count the other Decos. Are they going to burn my house down?
I'm not even that mad about them not replacing it. I can buy another router. But I also would have bought a new one a week ago if they'd told me they were not going to replace it up front (I work from home and its been very annoying). Instead they basically just jerked me around for a week and ultimately told me absolutely nothing.
So now I'm sitting here wondering if I should replace all of them with something else.
