TP-Link Archer C5400 v2 vs TP-Link Deco M series (2017)

The TP-Link Archer C5400 v2 was loved by reviewers at Tom's Guide, a highly trusted source that performs reliable in-depth testing. It did great in its "Best gaming routers of 2023" roundup where it was named its "The best Wi-Fi 5 gaming router", which, in itself, makes it a product worth considering.

Moving on to the TP-Link Deco M5: it has performed really well in a handful of roundups done by reliable sources that perform their own objective testing, like PCWorld, PC Gamer, Techradar, and Windows Central - it was awarded the "The best budget mesh Wi-Fi system" title by PCWorld, "The best budget complete mesh solution" by PC Gamer, and "Ranked 2 out of 10" by Techradar, which marks it as a worthy candidate.

To get a better idea of how they fare when compared directly to each other, we analyzed review scores of sources that tested both. Techradar, for example, preferred the TP-Link Archer C5400 v2, while Expert Reviews and PCmag rated both of them the same.

We also took a look at which sources had the best things to say about them. We learned that the TP-Link Archer C5400 v2 got reviewed the highest by Expert Reviews - it gave it a rating of 10, while the TP-Link Deco M5 most impressed reviewers at Expert Reviews, which gave it a score of 10.

Lastly, we averaged out all of the reviews scores that we could find on these two products and compared them to other Wi-Fi Routers on the market. We learned that both of them performed far better than most of their competitors - the overall review average earned by Wi-Fi Routers being 7.4 out of 10, whereas the TP-Link Archer C5400 v2 and TP-Link Deco M5 managed averages of 8.7 and 8.4 points, respectively.

Due to the difference in their prices, however, it's important to keep in mind that a direct TP-Link Archer C5400 v2 vs. TP-Link Deco M5 comparison might not be entirely fair - some sources don't take value for money into account when assigning their scores and therefore have a tendency to rate more premium products better.