How to Use Wi-Fi Heatmap on a TP-Link Deco

Configuration Guide

Last updated: May 26, 2026

This article introduces Wi-Fi heatmap feature in the Deco app, covering from creating floor plan, deco placement, simulation to signal test.

Before You Start

Download the Deco app from the Google Play Store, the App Store, or by scanning the QR code below. Then follow the app instructions to set up your Deco network.

The App Store and Google Play logo, a QR code, and the Deco app logo.

Make sure the device and app version support the feature. Firmware upgrades may be required for certain models.

Note: The steps may vary depending on your device's operating system. Here we take the iOS system as an example.

Wi-Fi Heatmap

What is Wi-Fi Heatmap
How to Create Your Whole-home Wi-Fi Heatmap
How to Read Your Wi-Fi Heatmap
How to Highlight Key Areas on Your Heatmap

Generate A Floor Plan

How to Quickly Generate a Wi-Fi Heatmap from an Existing Floor Plan
How to Edit a Room On Your Floor Plan
How to Split a Wall On Your Floor Plan
How to Merge Rooms On Your Floor Plan

Device Placement

How to Place Devices Accurately On a Heatmap
How to Preview Your Wi-Fi Heatmap

Placement Simulation

What is Placement Simulation
How to Optimize Device Placement with Heatmap Suggestions
How to Add a Virtual Device for Simulation On a Heatmap
How to Compare Simulated Data with Your Actual Network Data On a Heatmap

Signal Test

Which Devices are Compatible with the Signal Test Feature
Why Signal Test Is Important for Accurate Heatmaps
How to Run a Signal Test On a Heatmap

Wi-Fi Heatmap

What is Wi-Fi Heatmap

The Wi-Fi heatmap in the Deco app is a color-coded visual representation that displays signal strength, quality, and overall performance of your wireless network across your house or office.

With a clear visual overview, you can quickly identify weak or dead zones that might need an additional Deco unit or repositioning of existing devices. The heatmap enables you to test different layout configurations, reduce interference, and optimize bandwidth distribution—ensuring reliable Wi-Fi performance throughout your space.

To make a heatmap, you can start by drawing or uploading your floor plan. Then mark physical obstacles—such as walls and doors—to simulate how they affect the Wi-Fi signal. After placing your Deco units on the plan, the heatmap visually reflects how the signal propagates, allowing you to adjust device locations for better coverage.

To locate the option, you may open the Deco app, go to More > Deco Lab, and select the Wi-Fi Coverage Heatmap card.

Locate Deco Lab in the More tab in the Deco app. Locate Wi-Fi Coverage Heatmap card in the More tab in the Deco app. The Heatmap page displaying a floor plan with a green heatmap indicating "Excellent" Wi-Fi coverage at 100%, with labels for different rooms like "Main Bedroom," "Room 1," and "Room 2."

How to Create Your Whole-Home Wi-Fi Heatmap

Step 1. Open the Deco app, go to More > Deco Lab and select the Wi-Fi Coverage Heatmap card. Get started by tapping Create Floor Plan.

Locate Deco Lab in More tab in the Deco app. Locate Wi-Fi Coverage Heatmap card in More tab in the Deco app. The original page displayed the first time you access the heatmap feature.

Step 2. Choose a way to start. You can either import an existing floor plan or create new ones from scratch.

Upload floor plan: Quickly start by uploading an existing floor plan photo.

The Create Floor Plan page which offers two options for a user to begin, and "Upload Floor Plan" is selected. A page which offers tips and requirements for uploading a floor plan with a clear outline. Below the tips are two prominent buttons: "Take a Photo" and "Choose from Photos".

Draw from scratch: Start from a blank canvas and build your ideal layout step by step.

The Create Floor Plan page which offers two options for a user to begin, and "Draw from Scratch" is selected. A floor plan displayed over a blank grid background, allowing for custom drawing.

Step 3. Customize your floor plan including adding floors, rooms and doors.

A floor plan including newly added rooms and various room shapes.

Step 4. Place your devices on the floor plan and save. Then the heatmap is created successfully. You can check the Wi-Fi signal status on the heatmap.

The Device Placement page displaying a floor plan with a device icon within the Main Bedroom area. A Wi-Fi coverage heatmap for a home floor plan with five rooms. The map indicates "Excellent" coverage with "100% Wi-Fi strength and virtually no dead zones." The screen suggests using a "Placement Simulation" tool to boost the signal.

How to Read Your Wi-Fi Heatmap

Step 1. Open the Deco app, go to More > Deco Lab and select the Wi-Fi Coverage Heatmap card.

Locate Deco Lab in More tab in the Deco app. Locate Wi-Fi Coverage Heatmap card in More tab in the Deco app.

Step 2. On the heatmap, you can perform the following actions:

Tap the floor button to switch floor views.

Locate the floor button on the heatmap.

Tap the View icon and select the content you want to display on the heatmap.

Locate the View icon on the heatmap.

Tap the icon to enter the Simulated Placement page.

The Simulated Placement page for the heatmap.

Tap the icon to find the Help Guide.

Locate the Help Guide icon on the heatmap. The Help Guide page for the heatmap.

Tap the Edit icon to configure the floor plan, place devices, and highlight key areas.

Locate the Edit icon on the heatmap.

Tap a room to check the room Wi-Fi signal status.

A heatmap page displaying the Wi-Fi status of the selected rooms.

Tap the icon to refresh the heatmap page.
Tap the icon to position the heatmap in the center of the screen.
Slide up on the Heatmap page to check the current Wi-Fi coverage status.

A heatmap page displaying the Wi-Fi coverage and signal of the heatmap.

How to Highlight Key Areas on Your Heatmap

Step 1. Open the Deco app, go to More > Deco Lab and select the Wi-Fi Coverage Heatmap card.

Locate Deco Lab in More tab in the Deco app. Locate Wi-Fi Coverage Heatmap card in More tab in the Deco app.

Step 2. On the heatmap, tap the Edit icon The edit icon. and select Key Areas.

Locate Key Areas option in the Edit list.

Step 3. Tap the rooms where you frequently use the internet to mark them as key areas (with a star symbol). Then the Wi-Fi coverage analysis will focus on these areas to provide more accurate placement guidance.

The Key Areas page displays two rooms highlighted in blue, indicating that they are key areas.

Generate A Floor Plan

How to Quickly Generate a Wi-Fi Heatmap from an Existing Floor Plan

Step 1. Open the Deco app, go to More > Deco Lab and select the Wi-Fi Coverage Heatmap card. Get started by tapping Create Floor Plan.

Locate Deco Lab in More tab in the Deco app. Locate Wi-Fi Coverage Heatmap card in More tab in the Deco app. The original page displayed the first time you access the heatmap feature.

Step 2. Select Upload Floor Plan and upload an existing floor plan photo of an existing floor plan that meets the requirements. Then it’ll automatically detect and draw the floor plan based on the uploaded image.

Step 3. Select the units and set the scale according to the actual situation, including wall length, ceiling height, and floor area.

The Scale setting page for a floor plan, where you need to set the wall length, ceiling height and unit.

Step 4. Customize your floor plan, including adding floors, rooms, and doors.

A floor plan editing page with a room is selected, displaying a menu with options for Rename, Size, and Shape.

Step 5. Double-tap a device icon to place your devices on the floor plan and save. Then the heatmap is created successfully. You can check the Wi-Fi signal status on the heatmap.

The Device Placement page displays a floor plan with no equipment placed on it yet. A heatmap preview page for this floor plan.

How to Edit a Room On Your Floor Plan

Step 1. Open the Deco app, go to More > Deco Lab and select the Wi-Fi Coverage Heatmap card.

Locate Deco Lab in More tab in the Deco app. Locate Wi-Fi Coverage Heatmap card in More tab in the Deco app.

Step 2. On your heatmap, tap the Edit icon A edit icon. and select Floor Plan.

Locate the Edit icon and Floor Plan option in a heatmap.

Step 3. Tap a room and you can edit the following:

A floor plan editing page displays a selected room with a pop-up menu with 'Rename', 'Size', and 'Shape' options.

Rename a room.

Room name editing page, containing input fields for the room name.

Edit room size.

Room size editing page, containing input fields for length, width, and units.

Change room shape.

Room shape editing page, offering multiple standard shapes for the room.

Duplicate room.

A floor plan editing page displays a room that has been duplicated.

Rotate room.

A floor plan editing page displays various rotation options, including "Rotate," "Horizontal Mirror," and "Vertical Mirror."

Delete room.

A floor plan editing page displays a selected room with a pop-up window asking 'Delete Room 11?'.

Step 4. Tap the wall between two adjacent rooms allows you to merge rooms.

A floor plan editing page with a confirmation dialog box asking to 'Merge the Room 3 and Room 6?'.

How to Split a Wall On Your Floor Plan

Step 1. Open the Deco app, go to More > Deco Lab and select the Wi-Fi Coverage Heatmap card.

Locate Deco Lab in More tab in the Deco app. Locate Wi-Fi Coverage Heatmap card in More tab in the Deco app.

Step 2. On your heatmap, tap the Edit icon The Edit icon. and select Floor Plan.

Locate the Edit icon and Floor Plan option in a heatmap.

Step 3. Tap a wall of a room and tap Split.

A floor plan editing page displays a selected room with a pop-up menu with 'Split' and 'Delete' options.

Step 4. Drag the handle or enter a value to set the wall length and tap Done.

The Split Wall page to set wall lengths by dragging a handle or entering a value.

Step 5. Then you can set the two walls separately.

A floor plan editing page to customize the separated walls for the selected room.

How to Merge Rooms On Your Floor Plan

Step 1. Open the Deco app, go to More > Deco Lab and select the Wi-Fi Coverage Heatmap card.

Locate Deco Lab in More tab in the Deco app. Locate Wi-Fi Coverage Heatmap card in More tab in the Deco app.

Step 2. On your heatmap, tap the Edit icon Edit icon. and select Floor Plan.

Locate the Edit icon and Floor Plan option in a heatmap.

Step 3. Tap the wall between two adjacent rooms and select Merge. Then the solid line between the two rooms will turn into a dashed line, indicating that the rooms are merged successfully.

A floor plan editing page with a confirmation dialog box asking to 'Merge the Room 7 and Room 6?'. A floor plan editing page displaying Room 7 and Room 6 has already merged.

Device Placement

How to Place Devices Accurately On a Heatmap

Step 1. Open the Deco app, go to More > Deco Lab, and select the Wi-Fi Coverage Heatmap card.

Locate Deco Lab in the More tab in the Deco app. Locate Wi-Fi Coverage Heatmap card in the More tab in the Deco app.

Step 2. On the heatmap, tap the Edit icon Edit icon. and select Device Placement.

Locate the Edit icon and the Device Placement option on the heatmap.

Step 3. Double tap the device icon to locate the device accurately by entering the straight-line distance between the device and its four nearest surrounding walls. Then tap Done and save the settings.

The Locate Device page displaying a floor plan with a device icon and green lines indicating distances to surrounding walls. Input fields below show the measured distances.

How to Preview Your Wi-Fi Heatmap

Step 1. Open the Deco app, go to More > Deco Lab, and select the Wi-Fi Coverage Heatmap card.

Locate Deco Lab in the More tab in the Deco app. Locate Wi-Fi Coverage Heatmap card in the More tab in the Deco app.

Step 2. On the heatmap, tap the Edit icon Edit icon. and select Device Placement.

Locate the Edit icon and the Device Placement option on the heatmap.

Step 3. Tap Show Heatmap to preview the current heatmap. Then you can adjust the device position according to the real-time heatmap status.

The Device Placement page with an icon in the center indicates a device location, and a button to 'Show Heatmap' is visible at the top center. The Heatmap Preview page displaying the majority of the visible areas are covered in green, suggesting strong Wi-Fi signal coverage. A color gradient scale at the bottom indicates signal strength from Weak (orange/red) to Strong (green).

Placement Simulation

What is Placement Simulation

Step 1. Open the Deco app, go to More > Deco Lab, and select the Wi-Fi Coverage Heatmap card.

Locate Deco Lab in the More tab in the Deco app. Locate Wi-Fi Coverage Heatmap card in the More tab in the Deco app.

Step 2. On the heatmap, tap the icon Settings icon. to enter the Simulated Placement page.

Locate the Simulated Placement icon on the heatmap.

Step 3. On the Simulated Placement page, you can perform the followings:

Add Virtual Devices: Tap the Add icon and then a virtual device will appear on the heatmap. You can move the virtual device to observe changes in the heatmap and then choose the optimal location for that device.

Locate the Add icon on the Simulated Placement page. A floor plan with a virtual device added on the heatmap.

View placement suggestions: Tap the Bulb icon to view the placement suggestions for this floor. Tap the device icon to view the suggestions for the device. Then you can adjust the device placement accordingly.

Locate the Placement Suggestions icon on the heatmap. A floor plan with a pop-up suggestion window to instruct how to place the device.

Check Comparative heatmaps: Press and hold the icon to display the actual Wi-Fi coverage of the current network.

Locate the compare icon on the Simulated Placement page. The Simulated Placement page displays the actual Wi-Fi coverage of the network.

Check Comparative Statistics: Tap Wi-Fi Coverage Data to display the comparison data about the actual Wi-Fi coverage for the current floor.

A Wi-Fi Coverage Data card displaying the statistics like “Weak Signal Area” and “Avg Signal” compared with the actual Wi-Fi coverage of the current floor.

How to Optimize Device Placement with Heatmap Suggestions

Step 1. Open the Deco app, go to More > Deco Lab, and select the Wi-Fi Coverage Heatmap card.

Locate Deco Lab in the More tab in the Deco app. Locate Wi-Fi Coverage Heatmap card in the More tab in the Deco app.

Step 2. On the heatmap, tap the icon Settings icon. to enter the Simulated Placement page.

Locate the Simulated Placement icon on the heatmap.

Step 3. Tap the Bulb icon to view the placement suggestions. Tap the device icon to view the suggestions for the device. Then tap the highlighted area to adjust your device.

Locate the Placement Suggestions icon on the heatmap. A floor plan with a pop-up suggestion window to instruct how to place the device. A floor plan with a highlighted area for adjusting the device position.

How to Add a Virtual Device for Simulation On a Heatmap

Step 1. Open the Deco app, go to More > Deco Lab, and select the Wi-Fi Coverage Heatmap card.

Locate Deco Lab in the More tab in the Deco app. Locate Wi-Fi Coverage Heatmap card in the More tab in the Deco app.

Step 2. On the heatmap, tap the icon Settings icon. to enter the Simulated Placement page.

Locate the Simulated Placement icon on the heatmap.

Step 3. Tap the Add icon and then a virtual device will appear on the heatmap.

Locate the Add icon on the Simulated Placement page. A floor plan with a virtual device added on the heatmap.

Step 4. You can perform the following actions for the virtual device:

Tap the virtual device to view the placement suggestions.

A floor plan with a pop-up suggestion window to instruct how to place the device.

Tap and hold the device to move it according to the heatmap.

A floor plan with a virtual device added.

Tap the icon to remove the virtual device.Alt text:

A floor plan with a pop-up suggestion window with a Remove Device button.

How to Compare Simulated Data with Your Actual Network Data On a Heatmap

Step 1. Open the Deco app, go to More > Deco Lab, and select the Wi-Fi Coverage Heatmap card.

Locate Deco Lab in the More tab in the Deco app. Locate Wi-Fi Coverage Heatmap card in the More tab in the Deco app.

Step 2. On the heatmap, tap the icon Settings icon. to enter the Simulated Placement page.

Locate the Simulated Placement icon on the heatmap.

Step 3. Press and hold the icon Comparison icon. to display the actual Wi-Fi coverage of the current network.

Locate the compare icon on the Simulated Placement page. The Simulated Placement page displays the actual Wi-Fi coverage of the network.

Step 4. Tap Wi-Fi Coverage Data to display the comparison data about the actual Wi-Fi coverage for the current floor.

A Wi-Fi Coverage Data card displaying the statistics like “Weak Signal Area” and “Avg Signal” compared with the actual Wi-Fi coverage of the current floor.

Signal Test

Which Devices are Compatible with the Signal Test Feature

Our signal testing heatmap feature is now verified and supported on several mainstream device models, including the iPhone 13 mini, Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra, and Google Pixel 9 Pro XL.

Note: In certain scenarios, the heatmap’s practical measurement function may become unavailable. This can occur when using newer versions of iOS devices and operating systems, or when encountering autonomous roaming stations that do not respond to the 11k requests from the Access Point side.

Why Signal Test Is Important for Accurate Heatmaps

Although we can generate our home Wi-Fi heatmap with uploaded floor plans and predictive simulations, real-world signal performance is influenced by numerous environmental variables. On-site signal testing is important for capturing actual signal behavior and ensuring the accuracy and reliablity of the final heatmap.

Physical obstructions such as concrete walls, metal frames, or thick brick can significantly weaken Wi-Fi signals in ways simulations may not fully account for. Conducting a physical walk-test measures the true impact of these materials, providing data that may differ from the simulation settings. Signal test turns a predictive model into a validated, actionable heatmap—giving you confidence that your Wi-Fi design will perform as expected in the actual environment.

By testing on site, weak or dead zones can be precisely identified. This allows for informed, targeted adjustments to our device placement—reducing overlap, eliminating coverage gaps, and ultimately optimizing network performance.

How to Run a Signal Test On a Heatmap

Step 1. Open the Deco app, go to More > Deco Lab, and select the Wi-Fi Coverage Heatmap card.

Locate Deco Lab in the More tab in the Deco app. Locate Wi-Fi Coverage Heatmap card in the More tab in the Deco app.

Step 2. On the heatmap, tap the Edit icon Edit icon. and select Signal Test. Alt text:

Locate the Edit icon and the Signal Test option on the heatmap page.

Step 3. Ensure your floor plan and device placements are accurate, then tap Start Test.

Locate the Start Test button on a floor card in the Heatmap Overview page.

Step 4. Go to areas where you frequently use the network and place the location icon to your current position. Then tap Get Signal to run the test for this location. Please stay still during the test.

Note: If you're unsure where to test, tap 'Show Recommended Locations' for more suggestions.

Instructions on how to choose a location to run the signal test. Instructions on how to place the location icon at your current position. Locate the Get Signal button for starting the test at your current position.

Step 5. Move to other rooms and run the signal test following the same steps above. After completing all tests on each floor, generate a heat map.

Instructions on how to run the signal test at each location. Instructions on how to test the signal strength at your current position. Locate the Generate Heatmap button when finished the signal test.