Powerline ethernet lan adapters for 220v. How Powerline Adapters Differ

A fast network for the entire apartment - this desire can rarely be fulfilled only with the help of Wi-Fi. Thick walls and ceilings obstruct the passage of radio waves, which reduces the speed and quality of the connection. But this is not the case with technology: it transmits data over electrical wiring that has already been installed throughout the house. The latest generation of adapters promises speeds up to 1000 Mbps. This speed is realized due to the fact that the new devices use all three wires of the 220-volt network, while the devices of previous generations reached speeds of no more than 500 Mbit / s over two wires.

The principle, however, remains the same: the Powerline adapter receives a data packet from its LAN port and sends information over the wiring. This is due to the fact that the device splits a high-speed data stream into several low-speed ones and transmits each of them on a separate subcarrier frequency. The adapter then modulates each signal before sending it over the electrical network and combines them into one. The adapter transmits this signal through the wires of the home electrical network. Another adapter, connected somewhere else to the same power supply, recognizes and decodes the signal, and then sends the data further through its LAN port. Thus, Powerline works like Wi-Fi, only the signal is transmitted not by radio, but through the electrical wiring.

Standard update to increase speed

New adapters that work according to the Homeplug AV2 standard use a wider frequency range, and some of them use not only the phase and neutral conductors of the mains, like previous devices, but also an additional ground wire. Modern adapters calculate on which of the three wires the signal is stronger, and use it exactly. As in the case of Wi-Fi, the developers are promoting such a solution on the market under the name (Multiple Input Multiple Output). In addition, this principle can indeed significantly increase the data transfer rate, especially over long distances, since the neutral wire and the ground wire use the same lines for the whole house. Phase cables can be either one or three: in the latter case, they usually cover different parts of the apartment. Transmission between two traditional adapters connected to the mains in different phases is possible, but subject to certain conditions and at a reduced speed.
In addition, the new Homeplug AV2 devices make better use of the legal frequency bands and, thanks to improved coding methods, transfer data even faster. Last but not least, it should be mentioned that this standard also reduces energy costs through new energy-saving modes.

All the adapters mentioned in the article support the Homeplug AV2 standard, but only the AVM FritzPowerline 1000E model operates at a nominal speed of 1 Gbps. Despite the fact that this adapter does not demonstrate the declared indicator in practice, it is still the fastest among similar devices, bypassing them in this respect by more than 50% on average. If you want to use Powerline technology as a replacement for Wi-Fi for long distances, we advise you to take a closer look at one of the sets that I indicated at the end of the review.

ZyXEL-PLA5215 Starter Kit

Application and connection

The Powerline kits in this review consist of one or two adapters (included in the starter kit), each equipped with a Gigabit Ethernet port. Thus, two adapters replace one long network cable when connecting the computer on the upper floor to the router on the first floor. In theory, up to 250 Powerline adapters can be used on a single network, which will, however, share the available channel. Therefore, I recommend connecting as few adapters as possible, and implementing additional branches using LAN switches and Wi-Fi for each individual adapter. If there are many devices in the same room or on the same floor, it is better to connect them using a LAN cable to a Gigabit LAN switch, which in turn is connected to the router using a Powerline adapter. The survey participants are not equipped with a Wi-Fi function, so in order to improve wireless communication in hard-to-reach places, you will have to connect a router configured as an access point, or use a dedicated Wi-Fi signal booster instead of a regular Powerline adapter.

All of these adapter models are easy to customize. To make it easier to start up for the first time, first plug both adapters into adjacent outlets, if necessary into an extension cord. When the devices are ready for use, press and hold the Pair button on the first adapter for a second to put the device into pairing mode, and then repeat the same procedure with the second adapter for two minutes. It is advisable that the adapter has a built-in socket, such as the devolo, Zyxel and Edimax HP-6002ACK Kit models. This allows you to use it to connect other devices. The adapter will also filter out interference from these devices.
The PC software supplied with the adapters is optional. First of all, the program gives an idea of ​​the Powerline network and the nominal speed of specific devices included in this network, you can also use the software to find the optimal outlet for the adapter in the room. In addition, it is intended for updating the device firmware.
Do not forget also about the power consumption of the devices: since the adapter is usually constantly plugged into the outlet, thus the power consumption during the operation of several adapters is summed up. The devices have become much more economical in comparison with previous generations and are turned off simultaneously with the LAN device connected to them. This will save you from unnecessary expenses on electricity and bundles of wires in your apartment.

conclusions

As a result, Powerline adapters, even in adverse conditions, became fast enough to stream HD video from a NAS or computer to a content playback device located at a completely different point in the apartment without delay. On the other hand, when copying large amounts of data, this technology is twice as fast as a gigabit wired network, and only if you do not need to travel long distances, and there are no sources of interference on the way - otherwise it is better to use a network cable. An interesting option for the home would be to combine the high speed of the Homeplug AV2 standard in Wi-Fi signal amplification and fast devices.
The best is the AVM FritzPowerline 1000E adapter, this is the model I use for a remote IPTV set-top box at home. Among the models I got my hands on, it is the only one that provides high performance up to 1000 Mbps. However, it consumes the least power. You can close your eyes to the lack of a built-in socket.
The best option would be Zyxel PLA5215 - an inexpensive device demonstrates decent performance and is equipped with a built-in socket.

Top Devices

1. AVM FritzPowerline 1000E
2. DEVOLO DLAN 650 TRIPLE + STARTER KIT
3. ZYXEL PLA5215-EU0101F KIT

Source: www.techlabs.by from 19.02.2010, Alexey Gromyko

We already once had a chance to talk about wonderful HomePlug devices that can turn ordinary building wiring into a real computer network - the Powerline network - without any side effects and consequences for household electrical appliances powered from this electrical network. Today we will talk about another such device, an adapter TL-PA101 production of the company TP-LINK.

Using multiple TL-PA101 Powerline adapters, you can quickly and conveniently connect to your home network or the Internet in areas of the room where it is undesirable or impossible to lay new cables, and the wireless Wi-Fi network does not provide the necessary coverage or is ineffective in terms of speed and reliability communication. In this case, the length of the wiring section between the most distant adapters can reach 200 meters. Perfect for Freshoffice CRM .

Delivery set and appearance

The TL-PA101 Powerline Adapter comes in an orange colored cardboard box. The striking design is typical of all TP-LINK SOHO devices. The package contains a picture of the device, its model and name, key features, technical data, delivery set and other useful information.

The delivery includes:

• the TP-LINK TL-PA101 adapter itself;
• patch cord RJ-45 for connecting to a computer;
• quick installation guide in English;
• CD with software and documentation.

The disk, in addition to the electronic version of the manual, contains the TP-LINK Powerline Utility for configuring and managing adapters.

The adapter body is made of plastic and consists of two halves with different colors - a white base and a black cover. For convenience and aesthetics, the corners and edges of the base are rounded.

On the sides, on three sides, there are cooling and ventilation grilles, and on the fourth there is an RJ-45 network interface. Considering that the adapter heats up noticeably under significant load, there could be more cooling holes on the sides, since there is free space for this.

A power plug is built into the bottom of the base, which simultaneously acts as a Powerline interface. There is an information sticker under it, which contains the serial number, MAC address, model and name of the device, country of manufacture, which is China, power parameters and conformity marks. Among other things, the factory password for the operation of the device in the Powerline network is also indicated here.

The black front panel has a decorative embossed projection with the TP-LINK logo, adapter model and a maximum possible speed of 85 Mb / s. Below are three LEDs - one for power and one each for the status of the Powerline and Ethernet networks.

The Powerline LED comes on when another or more HomePlug adapters are detected within 200 meters of the power grid. Blinking of the indicators indicates the reception / transmission of data on the corresponding port.

Key features and technical data

• Powerline network speed - up to 85 Mb / s;
• transmission distance - up to 200 meters on wiring;
• the ability to work without additional settings, according to the Plug-N-Play principle;
• work in networks with alternating voltage from 100 to 240 V;
• low power consumption;
• the channel adaptation mechanism improves performance in conditions of strong line interference;
• QoS facilities and priorities allow you to transfer video and game traffic without losses and delays;
• 56-bit DES encryption for secure Powerline communications.

Standards support	IEEE 802.3 10/100 Ethernet; HomePlug 1.0 Turbo
Signal modulation algorithm	OFDM (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing)
Protocol support
Operating system support	Windows 98SE, 2000, XP, 2003, Vista
Interfaces	1 * RJ-45 Ethernet LAN 1 * 220V HomePlug Powerline plug
Indicators	Power, Ethernet, Powerline
Compliance with the requirements
Dimensions (L * W * H), mm
	165 grams
Working temperature range
Humidity	10% - 90%, non-condensing
Mains power
Power consumption	Up to 6W in operation, up to 2W in standby

HomePlug technology and how the network worksPowerline

The issue of wiring data transmission arose with the advent of home computers, when it was necessary to organize a home network using improvised means. In those days, even the usual twisted pair cable was not affordable for everyone, not to mention the organization of a wireless Wi-Fi network. Through the efforts of the international alliance HPA (HomePlug Powerline Alliance), by June 2001, the first version of the HomePlug v1.0 standard was approved, providing for data transfer at speeds up to 14 Mb / s. Later it was upgraded to the HomePlug v.1.0 Turbo version, which provided speeds up to 85 Mb / s. It is this specification that is supported by the TP-LINK TL-PA101 adapter we are considering.

The operating mechanism of the TL-PA101 adapters is quite simple. The HomePlug standard, which describes their work, provides for the conversion of data arriving through the Ethernet network port into a high-frequency signal using the widely used OFDM algorithm, which is also used in Wi-Fi and ADSL networks. The main idea of ​​this coding algorithm is to divide the available frequency spectrum into several narrow zones through which signals are transmitted at a relatively low rate, but in total to obtain a higher rate. Each of the frequency zones of the spectrum can be modulated for data transmission in different ways, and 84 equal zones are used for the HomePlug technology in the frequency range from 4.3 to 20.9 MHz.

Since data is encoded in a high-frequency range, the main interference for their transmission is the suppression of the useful signal in line filters, converters and voltage stabilizers, as well as the presence of uncontrolled noise and interference in the line from household appliances, fluorescent lamps, motors, etc. As a result, the signal can be severely distorted and attenuated, which leads to a decrease in the data transfer rate. The use of algorithms for channel adaptation, error correction (FEC - Forward Error Correction), and automatic repeat requests (ARQ - Automatic Repeat Request) helps to combat this problem.

So, the combined signal formed in the adapter is transmitted through the power plug to the electrical network. Somewhere in a nearby outlet, another such adapter receives not pure 220 V, but in combination with the transmitted data signal. It extracts the RF component from this combination, converts it back to data, and feeds the result to the Ethernet port.

The amplitude of the signal transmitted through the wiring does not exceed several volts, which is comparable to natural noise and fluctuations in the voltage level in the outlet, therefore refrigerators, televisions and other devices located in the area of ​​the Powerline network do not notice such a slight voltage deviation from the nominal 220 V.

A typical diagram of a Powerline network built on the TL-PA101 HomePlug adapters is shown in the figure:

As you can see from the diagram, the network built on HomePlug adapters is a kind of data transmission network with a shared transmission medium. This means that the total bandwidth at any given time will be divided among all the adapters participating in the transmission, and the more there are, the lower the real speed will become and the less reliable the network as a whole will be. Therefore, even though up to 32 adapters are supported in one Powerline network, their number should be minimal for maximum performance.

Configuring and managing adapters

As already mentioned, the TP-LINK TL-PA101 adapter we are considering is a Plug & Play device, that is, it starts working immediately after plugging into the network and does not require additional mandatory configuration. Basically, if you do not care about the security of data transmission, then you can build a Powerline network on the "plug and forget" principle. Otherwise, you need to refer to the internal settings of the adapters.

For the purpose of configuring, diagnosing and managing a network of several TL-PA101 and similar HomePlug devices, the TP-LINK Powerline Utility program is provided, which is supplied on the disk along with the adapter. To work, it must be installed on the control computer by running the distribution kit from the CD. The installation process is completely simple and takes a matter of seconds.

To access the settings, run the installed program. Its interface has four tabs, the first of which, in the upper window, displays the MAC address of the local adapter through which the controlling computer connects to the Powerline network. When you press the Connect button, the control program tries to connect to the adapter, and if successful, a corresponding entry appears above the button, and the program starts periodically scanning the Powerline network for other HomePlug devices within reach. Their list can also be updated by clicking the "Scan" button, or manually replenished using the "Add" button. Each adapter can be given its own name.

For each adapter from the list of found ones, detailed information about it is displayed - name, MAC address, current connection speed, quality of the received signal, network password. At first, the password field is empty, and there you should enter the DAK (Device Access Key) code from the sticker on the case using the "Enter password" button. When entering a password, be sure to enter hyphens between groups of four characters.

The network type is indicated above the list of adapters - public or private. By default, each adapter is configured to participate in a shared insecure network that is factory-named "HomePlug". It is thanks to these settings that the adapters can exchange data immediately when they are plugged into the network. If at least one of them has a different network name from "HomePlug", then the network type will be private. To enable security mode, refer to the "Privacy" tab.

It contains tools for managing the security of the Powerline network and allows you to select the devices that will be included in the secure network. To enable 56-bit DES encryption, simply change the factory network name "HomePlug" to any other and assign it to either only the local adapter or all at once.

In the first case, only the local adapter will become a member of the secure network, while it will lose the ability to communicate with the others, and they will disappear from the list on the main tab of the control program. To add adapters to the secure network under construction, you need to connect them to the computer one by one and change the network name and password for them. In a closed secure network, each adapter must have the same password, otherwise communication between them will not be possible.

By repeating the procedure, you can add only the required adapters to the closed network. If you need to build a secure network from all available devices, then when you change the network name, you just need to click the "Set All Devices" button, thus entering all the adapters into the private network at the same time. In this case, passwords still have to be changed manually on each of them.

To view additional diagnostic information, including, among other things, the firmware version and the date of the last appearance of each adapter on the network, use the "Diagnostics" tab. The resulting report can be saved as a text file, printed or sent by e-mail.

Finally, the last tab is mainly intended for information about the management utility itself, and how the option to enable autoscanning, which is more appropriate on the main tab, got here, is not entirely clear.

As it turned out during testing, TP-LINK Powerline Utility is universal, i.e. suitable not only for TP-LINK HomePlug adapters, but also for similar devices from other manufacturers, in particular Gembird.

Testing

For testing the TP-LINK TL-PA101 HomePlug adapter, an HP 530 Core Duo laptop with an Intel (R) PRO / 100 VE Ethernet card and an Intel Celeron 2.8 GHz desktop computer, 2 GB RAM with a Realtek RTL8139 / 810x Ethernet card were used Family Fast Ethernet NIC. The second HomePlug adapter was Gembird NIC-HP1.

With the help of two adapters, a laptop and a stationary computer were connected to each other through the wires of the building's electrical network in different outlets.

To begin with, we connected both devices through one wall outlet, away from other current consumers, and then through different outlets within the same room and plus through a surge protector.

The initial speed was at the peak of about 26.2 Mb / s. A surge protector that wedged in between the TL-PA101 and the second adapter reduced the data transfer rate by about 200 Kb / s, or 1%.

Then we connected a laptop with an adapter at a distance of about 15 meters in another room to an outlet, where the working TV was turned on. The speed decreased a little more (by about 4%), and the resulting graph lost its uniformity, teeth and significant speed dips appeared. It seems that this is how the neighborhood of household appliances affected.

After that, we tightened the testing conditions even more - the adapters were plugged into sockets belonging to different electrical panels at home, but to the same phase. The fact is that the Powerline network can only be built within one branch (phase) of the electrical network.

It can be seen that the speed decreased even more, but the absence of nearby household appliances working helped the schedule to be more or less even.

To demonstrate the impact of home appliances on the Powerline network, we tried to plug the refrigerator, microwave oven and other devices into the same outlet with the TP-LINK TL-PA101 adapter while transmitting data through it. The resulting graph is shown below.

It is clearly seen here that household appliances operating nearby leads not so much to a decrease in speed as to its instability, turning the schedule into a "comb". Therefore, when building a Powerline network, you should try to avoid such an unfavorable neighborhood as much as possible.

If you believe the readings of the TP-LINK Powerline Utility program, all this time the computers were establishing a connection through the sockets at a nominal speed of 85 Mb / s, but from the graphs it can be seen that the real speed was much lower, about 26 Mb / s at peak.

However, there is no need to be upset about such low results. The fact is that the speed of up to 85 Mb / s, described in the standard, fits not only useful user information, but also service data for signal recovery and error correction. Manufacturers do not like to talk about it, but due to the specifics of the transmission medium, the share of service traffic in HomePlug technology reaches 60%. Therefore, at best, about 30 Mb / s remains for useful purposes, which "dry up" even more from the effects of various kinds of interference. And in our case, the features of the interaction of adapters from two different manufacturers were probably added to the above reasons.

Based on the results of testing the TP-LINK TL-PA101 HomePlug adapter, it got the impression of a completely high-quality and convenient product. Although it is inferior in speed to traditional Ethernet, its performance is quite enough to, for example, provide a comfortable connection of computers anywhere in the house to one common Internet connection or organize access to shared network resources - printers, media servers, etc. .d.

At the same time, in most cases, TL-PA101 will outperform traditional wireless technologies, since the drop in speed with distance is much slower than in a Wi-Fi network.

Finally, another plus is the ability to work even without configuration, which makes it possible to use advanced technologies without bothering to learn the technical subtleties.

In general, the TP-LINK TL-PA101 HomePlug adapter will be a good choice if, for whatever reason, you decide to find another interesting application for wiring in your home. The price of the device at the time of this writing is about $ 50.

Photos were taken in the TECHLABS studio, photographer Ekaterina Makhankova

Powerline adapters are a special line of devices in the broad category of devices for extending WiFi networks. There are also Wi-Fi signal boosters, but their principle of operation is completely different. The amplifier is usually installed on the border of the coverage area of ​​the access point or router, catches the signal and, having amplified it with its own antennas, distributes it already within its zone. In this case, both reception and transmission of data occurs via a wireless protocol, and the total length of the network coverage area is limited by the total length: router zone + amplifier zone.

Powerline adapters work differently. Devices:

• receive a signal from a router or access point via a wired connection (for this they are usually installed at a short distance from them);
• decode it for transmission over the wires of the electrical network;
• at the output, they reverse the signal conversion and broadcast to end devices either via an Ethernet cable or using WiFi.

Adapters are produced by most manufacturers of network equipment - D-Link, Asus, Edimax, TP-Link, which have products for the SOHO segment. The picture at the beginning of the article shows the expected novelty from TP-Link, a gigabit Powerline adapter.

Connection diagrams

To organize a network using Powerline adapters, the first device is connected using a LAN connector and a network cable to a router, modem, access point, etc. and plugged into an outlet. The second device is connected to the network in the immediate vicinity of the devices to which the Internet will be distributed.

Here, for example, is a simple distribution of the Internet from room A to rooms B and C:

Pay attention to the crossed out power filter - adapters cannot be connected through it (as well as through a UPS).

Here is a network in a multi-storey cottage. The red lines indicate the wiring cable, the yellow lines indicate the network cable.

Benefits of Using Powerline Adapters

To transfer data via electrical wiring, you do not need to lay a separate network cable around the apartment, cottage or office - drill walls, tear off the baseboard, etc. For the same reason, adapters can be used, for example, on projects under construction, where there is still nothing but the power grid.

Wi Fi signal bumping into obstacles such as walls, furniture, etc. is weakening, and therefore in premises with a large number of rooms, as well as multi-storey ones, it is difficult to provide remote devices with good speed Internet access. Powerline adapters solve this problem.

The length of the network based on Powerline adapters is limited only by the length of the home or office wiring (up to a meter or transformer). Thus, the Internet can be carried to such remote premises, where the Wi-Fi signal from the router would never reach, and the number of amplifiers "on the way" would be simply unprofitable.

Many manufacturers produce plug adapters. Those. when the device is plugged into the network, the used socket is practically free. For example, TP-Link TL-PA551KIT (picture below) (UPD Discontinued):

Disadvantages of Powerline adapters

When you turn on / off power-hungry devices in the power grid, the speed of the Internet connection may drop for a while;

Powerline adapters cannot be connected via UPS or power filters, which can be inconvenient;

When organizing a network of several adapters, the initial network bandwidth (from the router) is evenly distributed among the rest.

What is the bottom line? The use of Powerline devices can be the best solution for organizing a local network in multi-storey cottages and large offices, especially if there is no desire or opportunity to lay a network cable. Modern adapters are compact, convenient and provide a good connection speed - you can watch videos in high definition, for example.

P.S. Despite the fact that in our assortment there are, frankly, not enough of them, we find and deliver any and in any quantity for your order.

Dedicated to Powerline technology, we talked about a set of adapters TL-PA4020PKIT... KIT means that it is a kit that is known to be ready for use. The article itself can also be called a kind of "HowTo" with a step-by-step description of actions with a digression into theory in order to create all the conditions for work Powerline networks... However, it was on this modification that the light did not converge like a wedge, especially since manufacturers from time to time practice updating the model range, so we will talk with you about the fundamental points that you need to pay attention to when choosing Powerline adapters.

Let's start with the standards.

Currently, the most popular standards on the basis of which Powerline networks operate are the standards HomeplugAV and HomeplugAV2... And this is very good, because allow the use of adapters from different manufacturers within the same network. This is the same as if it is written on a Wi-Fi access point, then any device with a Wi-Fi label should work with it (if only the frequency matches, and Wi-Fi, as we know, works at 2.4GHz and 5GHz).

Although, to simplify the network setup, I would still recommend using adapters from the same manufacturer. And preferably one line. Depending on the chipset used, 6, 8, 16, 64 and 254 devices can be added to the network (if using TP-Link branded devices). At the same time, different devices support different data transfer rates. With a "heterogeneous" network, all devices will be guided by the capabilities of the weakest.

There was also a standard called HomeplugTurbo... But this standard can be called "pilot", because it is extremely moody, slow and does not scale well. It is unlikely that you will find it in modern equipment.

What is the difference between all of the above standards?

We will not delve into the design features of data transfer protocols, since this is a whole science, but let us pay attention to those factors that are clearly visible and perceptible to us - the end users.

Let's start with HomePlug 1.0... Communication speed according to specifications is up to 14 megabits per second. Real speed ... within 1 megabit.

HomeplugTurbo The maximum data transfer rate between devices in the standard is up to 85 megabits per second. The real speed is about 18 megabits per second - the maximum.

These standards are already "fossil" despite their relatively young age - Homeplug 1.0 was developed by the Homeplug alliance in 2001. I brought them only because you can't throw out the words from the song. Moving on to modern standards.

HomeplugAV- the communication speed between devices according to this standard is 200 (AV200), 500 (AV500) and 600 (AV600) megabits per second. Two conductors are used for transmission.

The real maximum speed between devices is as follows:

AV200 - about 100 megabits

AV500 - about 240 megabits

AV600- about 280 megabits

This should be taken into account even at the planning stage of your network. If the network will be used only for browsing the Internet, then you can purchase AV200 standard devices, if you actively use various shared resources on the network, download torrents and use other benefits of high-speed communication, then you will need AV500 or higher-speed devices.

HomeplugAV2- the communication speed of adapters supporting this standard reaches 1200 megabits per second. Naturally, when we talk about this standard, we are talking about gigabit devices.

But, unfortunately, the possibilities of a copper pair (and to ensure the best possible connection, it is copper wiring that is needed, we already talked about this in the article about creating a Powerline network) is not unlimited, therefore, to ensure such high speeds, the third wire is already involved - grounding.

Therefore, if you live in a Soviet-built house, in order to organize such a network, you will have to redo the electrics. So it's easier for you to forward the twisted pair and everything will work stably and regardless of the various interference with which the power grid is overcrowded.

If you live in a new house, or you have an office in which the wiring is of a new type, you can freely use these devices, mindful, however, about all possible interference, such as surge protectors, UPSs, circuit breakers, RCDs, etc. - all these interference should not be in the signal path. Well, there should be one phase. At home, this, as a rule, is not a problem, but if you have an office on different floors, then you already need to find out if everything is on the same phase, because they are often scattered among different ones so that there are no drawdowns.

Below I will publish a scheme for circumventing the restriction associated with the restriction on different phases in the corresponding section.

Determine how many adapters you might need

In addition to the communication standard, the adapters have the following differences:

1. Number of portsEthernet. Popular models typically have one to three Ethernet ports. Moreover, even whale kits can be completed with one adapter with one port, and one adapter with two Ethernet ports. This is convenient if you have two or three devices nearby - you do not need to purchase a switch (switch) in addition to the adapter.
2. AvailabilityWi-Fi module... Some models have such advanced functionality as a built-in Wi-Fi access point. I will not dwell here in detail on the effectiveness of such a solution. I can only say that the range of such a Wi-Fi network is not very large due to the proximity of the electrical network, which can cause interference. However, since it is produced in large quantities, then it has the right to life.
3. Maximum technologically possible number of adapters in one network... I want to make a reservation right away that several logical (private) Powerline networks can function simultaneously in one power grid. Naturally, they have to share the bandwidth of one power grid, so the connection speed may not be a fountain. At this point, we are talking about the maximum number of adapters in one private Powerline network. Depending on the chipset on the basis of which the adapter is assembled, as a rule, the number of devices in the network can be 6, 8, 16 and 64 (regarding TP-Link equipment). You can get information about the capabilities of each device on the manufacturer's website . For example, from TP-Link, information on the number of devices can be obtained in the form of a table at the link http://www.tp-linkru.com/article/?faqid=434 (for some reason it became English-speaking for a couple of days, but there so everything is clear). Information about other devices (Zyxel, Cisco, D-Link, etc.) can be found on their websites.

Another important point to make the right choice

In addition to technical characteristics, it must be remembered that there are features that the manufacturer may not know, or carefully hide them. You can identify such things by studying the reviews. Of course, there is no difference between the review and the review, I recommend that you read the article, which says, and do not fall for the bait of dishonest "writers" with their customized reviews.

You will find an overview of the device in a popular publication - of course, you just need to read it.

How to get around the "different phases" limitation for Powerline?

In order not to reinvent the wheel, I will give a picture from the TP-Link website from the technical support section about bypassing the restrictions.

If someone does not understand, I explain what we see in the diagram. On one phase, we have two devices, one of which is connected to the computer, the second to the switch. From the switch we have a wire to the Powerline adapter, which is connected to a different phase.

Keep in mind that, in order to avoid collisions, it is necessary to make sure that its own private network is created for each phase (you can see this in the diagram). The point is that communication between different phases is possible, but slow and unstable. Despite the slowness and instability, the adapters will still "see" each other, and this will be enough for the network to stop functioning correctly. Therefore, we strictly separate the adapters over different private networks.

How do I route adapters across different private networks?

The easiest way to do this (if you have TP-Link equipment) is to first connect one group of Powerline adapters to neighboring sockets and then press the Pair button on all of them. At this point, the adapters will generate an encryption key and create their own private network.

After that, disconnect this group of adapters, plug in another one and press the Pair buttons in the same way. They will also create their own private network. That's it, now you can safely hang the adapters in their places and fully use the Powerline capabilities.

conclusions

As you can see, choosing Powerline adapters for each specific purpose is not very difficult. The main thing is to keep in mind a checklist of questions that need to be worked out when designing a Powerline network. Let's recap this list:

1. Check whether copper or aluminum wiring is used... If it's aluminum, it's best not to mess with it. If copper, then go further down the list.
2. How many clients will connect to the network? Based on this, we look at the comparison table to determine the suitable models.
3. For what purposes will the network be used? If you surf the Internet, download almost nothing - you can take the budget version of the AV200, in the end you can save some money on this. If high speed is required, look towards the AV500 +.
4. Do you need a gigabit network? If yes, then see if the wiring is equipped with grounding. Remember, following the fashion, modern sockets with a third contact can be installed. This third pin should be connected to ground and not just formally present in the outlet. Otherwise, you can forget about AV2.
5. How many phases will be involved in the network. Each phase is +2 Powerline adapters, which are used for switching between phases, as indicated in the diagram above.

Yes, of course, we must not forget about the cross-sectional area of ​​the conductor. I have not indicated it here, because Usually no one can use telephone noodles for an electrician, and standard 2.5m 2 is quite enough.

If you still have any questions - write in the comments, I will try to answer or supplement the article so that others can also be helped.

Since there have been no reviews of network powerline adapters on the pages of the site for a long time, it is worth reminding you first what it is. The idea of ​​all such systems is very simple - if we already have a ready-made cable infrastructure, and in general, just a medium for transmitting information, then why not use it for something else. And what kind of infrastructure is this? Well, for example, a regular telephone line, which was originally designed for voice transmission, but over which you can run xDSL. Or use the cable TV networks that have grown so rapidly over the past quarter century. The essence is still the same: a cable ("noodles" or "coaxial") has already been laid to the subscriber, therefore, to provide additional services, and most often it is Internet access, instead of laying another cable, an existing one is used. The additional data transmission channel only works, roughly speaking, in a different frequency band. Well, the PLC technology (Power-line communication) uses power lines as the basic environment. It can be both ordinary household wiring and high-voltage power lines. Actually, it was on the latter that this technology began to be applied almost a hundred years ago, and even now in many places it is used for telemetry, voice communication and other tasks.

TP-LINK TL-PA6010 (left) is much more compact than the old adapter TL-PA551

It is curious that right before our eyes, in a sense, a completely opposite process is taking place: in the first place is not access to the Internet through traditional communication channels, but, on the contrary, the replacement of these very channels with Internet services. Well, who can you surprise with VoIP or IPTV now? What is the cost of the transition of one large Moscow telephony and ADSL provider to the GPON network! (The idea is correct, but there are, of course, many complaints about the implementation.) As for the development of PLC technologies for home use, everything here happened as usual - a bunch of incompatible standards, completely depressing speeds at the initial stage and many other problems of technology growth. Now it is more correct, of course, to talk about Broadband over power lines (BPL) - broadband access through power lines. Eight years ago, when the author of this material first managed to try out the PLC live, the impressions from it were just awful. Low bandwidth, sensitivity to the slightest interference and general instability of the connection, coupled with a rather large cost, pretty much spoiled the impressions of the technology, which seems promising at first glance. It was all the more surprising to hear that in some places Internet providers began to use it to create the "last mile". There were even plans (p. 90) to use a wired radio network!

However, the conversation is now about home networks, and not about providers. For the SOHO segment, one of the dominant standards has become the HomePlug AV standard, which relatively recently grew to version 2.0, which brought many improvements to the network. True, not all of them will be available with us. This, of course, does not prevent some manufacturers from creating their own, shall we say, offshoots of the standard, and in general, the development of HomePlug in many ways resembles the life path of Wi-Fi. The TP-LINK TL-PA6010 adapter is somewhere between HomePlug AV 1.0 and 2.0, that is, it is compatible with both standards, but only some of the capabilities of version 2.0 are implemented in it, since it is based on the Qualcomm QCA7450 SoC. The average user is interested, by and large, only in the increased speed and noise immunity. The specifications indicate that the TL-PA6010 adapter can provide speeds up to 600 Mbps and works at a distance of up to 300 meters. In fact, both indicators are not entirely fair. 600 Mbps is the channel speed in ideal conditions, and the actual data transfer rate will be noticeably lower due to overhead costs. In addition, this channel is divided among all network participants.

TP-LINK TL-PA6010 KIT - set of two adapters

The range and speed of communication directly depends on the state of the electrical wiring in the house. The first and obvious requirement is line integrity. In the case of an apartment or a house, there are no special problems, but in an office building it will be necessary to clarify how the electrical cables are laid. The second requirement is the quality of the line itself and its installation. With this it is unlikely that it will be possible to do something before the next repair, except perhaps to "twist" or replace the sockets. Finally, the third condition is the absence of obstacles for the signal passage and interference. In general, one cannot immediately say how good the PLC will be in each particular case. Powerful electrical appliances, devices with electric motors, energy-saving lamps, power supplies and many other devices, especially without protection from interference, can "make noise" when switched on / off. However, modern powerline equipment is quite successful in dealing with them, so problems do not always arise. However, the opposite is also true - PLC devices are also “noisy”, but they mostly interfere with radio amateurs. The instructions mention washing machines and air conditioners as possible sources of problems, and the company's engineers also talk about refrigerators. Do not plug in the adapter next to them.

An ordinary surge protector (LC), often built into an extension cord, or a UPS (there are already models with PLC support), or a transformer can become an obstacle to the passage of a signal. Do you have a lot of free sockets? After all, none of this should be between any two powerline adapters. It is quite easy to verify this. Take a look at the baud rates at different points shown in the table below. In the first case, the length of the wiring between the adapters is about 8 meters, and they are plugged directly into the sockets. In the second case, they are connected to the same sockets, but through good extension cords (each 2 m long) with a surge protector. The difference in speed is obvious! But the parallel connection of a fluorescent light bulb and a working jigsaw did not give any obvious negative effects. In the third case, the distance between the points is about 10 meters, and the second point is on a separate cable, which was additionally routed to connect the washing machine. These are, of course, not "gigabit" speeds, as the advertising brochures assure us, but also very, very good. As a replacement, Wi-Fi will work fine, and the promised transfer of streaming content will pull. Connecting two adapters to one tee is not that interesting. They give out the promised 300 Mbit / s with a tail - and okay.

PowerLine adapter TP-LINK TL-PA6010
Streams	1	2	4	8	16	32
Average speed at point 1, Mbps
A1 → A2	182	201	209	206	222	222
A1 ↔ A2	219	237	239	241	250	253
Average speed at point 1 (filter), Mbps
A1 → A2	64	67	69	61	60	57
A1 ↔ A2	59	65	60	59	51	48
Average speed at point 2, Mbps
A1 → A2	118	134	156	153	195	180
A1 ↔ A2	159	150	148	150	167	207

To test the network, we used stands with Ixia IxChariot 6.7 software (High Performance Throughput profile). Configuration of the first: Intel Core i7-2600K, 12 GB RAM, Killer NIC E2200, Windows 7 SP1 x64. Configuration of the second: Intel Core i7 4700HQ, 12 GB RAM, Realtek RTL8168, Windows 8.1 Update 1 x64. The adapter settings are left by default, although there are very few of them. TP-LINK TL-PA6010, like most other PLC solutions, works as a network bridge. It is assumed that you will buy two adapters, one of which connect to the LAN port of the router, and the second to the LAN port of the client device: PC, laptop, TV, player, set-top box, NAS or whatever else you have. In general, to everything that does not have a wireless module. Either in the case when you don't want to lay another "whit" or there is no possibility, or when the Wi-Fi signal is too weak or there is none at all. No, no, no one bothers to make a full-fledged local area network based on PLC, but in general it will be more expensive. However, the same TP-LINK has powerline equipment with a wireless signal amplifier function.

A big plus for the average user will be the ease of installation and configuration. You just need to plug the adapters into sockets, connect the network cables that are included in the delivery set (length 2 m), and press a single button on any two adapters. The devices will find each other on their own and establish a connection protected by AES-128 encryption. If gadgets that are compatible only with HomePlug AV 1.0 appear on the network, then the entire network will go into this mode, that is, the speed will be lower. Optionally, you can install a utility to configure additional parameters, of which there are very few here. The program requires winpcap to work. The most useful option in the settings is the choice of one of four pre-configured QoS modes for web surfing, online games, audio and video streaming, or VoIP. An alternative option is to specify the priority by ToS field or VLAN tags. The name of the network is also indicated there. Within one "wire", you can create several such networks from different adapters, and there should be no more than 64 devices in the network.

The utility also displays a list of all available adapters with an indication of the supported standard for each of them. Any device can be renamed and assigned a password. The password is indicated on the case of each adapter, and it is needed by and large only in order to remotely add devices to our local network. From the program, you can start the process of pairing adapters. In addition, the current connection speed with other powerline devices is shown here. Also, the utility is needed to update the firmware. All other information about the TL-PA6010 operation can be obtained by looking at the three light green indicators located on the front panel. Power indicates the presence of power, connected to the network, and goes to sleep mode when there is no data transfer. Poweline and Ethernet signal the status of the respective interfaces. The indicators, of course, are not very bright, but their constant blinking can be annoying.

The TL-PA6010 itself is very compact, albeit weighty. The body is made of glossy white plastic. There are ventilation slots on the sides and ... Get a fly in the ointment! The adapter under load heats up at its peak to a completely insane temperature under 60 ° C. It is in a room with a room temperature of around 25 ° C. The operating temperature range is indicated as 0–40 ° C at a relative humidity of 10–90% (non-condensing). So you have to take care of the air flow to the adapter right away and in no case place it near any heating elements or block the ventilation holes. The other basic safety rules are pretty obvious. Since the adapters are powered from the mains, it is not necessary to spill liquid on them and do not climb to them during a thunderstorm. Therefore, the second serious drawback will be the lack of complete instructions or at least a list of safety rules in Russian. Standard excuses like "Why translate something if the device is so simple?" not accepted. Well, the third noticeable - albeit not for everyone - drawback is the periodic appearance of a barely audible, but still discernible high-frequency squeak during operation.

Powerline adapter (bridge) TP-LINK TL-PA6010
Standards	HomePlug AV 1.0 (partially 2.0), IEEE802.3 (u / ab), IEEE1901
Chipset / Controller	Qualcomm QCA7450
Memory	RAM 16 MB / ROM 1 MB
Encryption	AES-128
Maximum speed	up to 600 Mbps; support for QoS, IGMP; distance up to 300 m
Interfaces	1 x 10/100/1000 Mbps; plug CEE 7/16
Indicators	Power / Status, LAN, Powerline
Hardware buttons	Pair
Dimensions (WxDxH)	63x47x40 mm
Weight	105 g
Nutrition	AC 100-240V, 50 / 60Hz; up to 3 W, power saving mode
average price	1,400 rubles

⇡ Conclusion

In fact, the main drawback is still very high heating. Alas, many modern powerline devices suffer from it. The rest of the adapter is good: compact, fast, easy to set up and not very expensive. Now it costs about 1,400 rubles, which is quite humane for equipment that is not very often purchased. It is wiser, of course, to immediately take a set of two TL-PA6010KIT adapters for 2,600 rubles. It will come out a little cheaper, and if you do not have other powerline equipment, you still have to take two devices.

The main thing is not to forget that for a good connection you need high-quality electrical wiring in the house and the absence of interference. Perhaps, in your case, it will be possible to do without a PLC by using a Wi-Fi repeater or a good wireless bridge. But you always want to try something new, right? Just remember about safety precautions. This is generally a universal rule.