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Trendnet TPL-401E2K

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mogulman

Regular Contributor
I've really searched and played with a lot of devices to get networking from my internet connection (upstairs) to my home theatre (downstairs). They are about 25 feet apart and separated by 2 walls and a floor.

I've used Wireless-G, Powerline 85,200 and Wireless-N. My current solution in a Trendnet TEW-633GR and a Linksys WET610N (wireless-N). I had been getting somewhere between 40-80Mbs (using jperf) on this solution, but the speed has been deteriorating over the last few months. Also, the speed was inconsistent, which is not good for streaming video. I measured the speed using jperf (1 way) right before I disconnected it tonight. I was only getting about 17Mbs. I assuming the lack of speed has been because of other neighbors purchasing 802.11n equipment, which caused interference that wasn't there about a year ago. Another issue I was trying to overcome is the Linksys WET610N has a problem (that Cisco won't fix) that makes machines hooked up to it, unable to print to HP Laserjet networked printers. (there is another thread about this on this forum and in Linksys own forums).

Anyway.. so the Trendnet was simple to hookup. Plug it in to AC, plug in ethernet. There is also a little utility that you can setup on your PC that allows you to change the network name (for powerline) and monitor the speed of the powerline connection. It came with 2 Cat5e cables, 2 powerline devices, a quickstart manual, and a CD with the full manual and the utility for monitoring/changing the password.

I didn't bother testing in the same room. I know Tim will probably do this. This was irrelevant for me, as that wasn't what I needed it for in the real world.

I tried plugging in the devices in different power outlets in the room that had internet, and the HT room. I plugged directly into outlets (no powerstrips or surge protectors). According to the Trendnet utility, the worst connectivity I had was around 50Mbs. I measure a little using jperf and got a little better then my current wireless-n connectivity at 20Mbs.

After moving around to different outlets, I was able to find some that were listed in the the Trendnet utility at 150-160Mbs. That's the highest I could get without stringing ethernet between the locations (eliminating the need for these devices). At the 150Mbs (by the Trendnet utility) I got 31Mbs throughput using jperf (1 way). While this is better then my current Wireless-N setup, it isn't what I was hoping for. I was really hoping for at least 60Mbs.

At this point I'm not sure what to do. It is better than my wireless. My internet speed is pretty fast though (65Mbit) , and I'd like to make sure I can take advantage of it. Also, I'd like to get more speed transferring video between PCs.

I think I've exhausted all my choices at this point. I guess I really need to find someone to do some wiring for me. Any recommendations in the Denver area for someone that isn't too expensive??? :)

BTW... while these may be better then the 200Mbit powerline devices... I still think its pitiful that devices that are rated at 500Mbits, can only achieve 30Mbits with 25 feet of distance between them. My house was built in 1992, so the wiring isn't the newest, but it isn't old either. I'm probably in the sweet spot for what these were designed for, and they aren't that great.
 
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Any chance your house has one of those breakers they mentioned in a few of their power line articles as causing a 50% throughput reduction? Also, how far away from the breaker box are you? If it's on different breakers the signal has to travel back to that box, then back up the wire to the other room right? I was thinking of getting this, and for me it would be plugged into an outlet that is right next to the breaker box. It's not worth the money for only 20Mbps though.
 
Not sure how to tell this. My house has a single breaker box though. Neither one of the rooms has any special kind of breaker.

One room is about 25 feet from the breaker box. The other is about 50 feet away from the breaker box.
 
NO AFCI...

Anyway.. after a few years of trying all kinds of wireless and powerline, I finally gave in and wired Cat5e to my HTPC and another PC in my house through the basement.

Took me all day but the speed is awesome. Just wish alternatives worked as well as advertised.
 
I hope smallnetbuilder puts it's review up soon. Cnet's is up, but they're showing speeds of 79Mbps compared to 21-22Mbps with the older powerline adapters.
 
Struggling with power mains phase bridging and/or power line noise (intermittent), is why I chose to use MoCA.
 
Smallnetbuilder's review is up. I wonder if the poor results are something that can fixed in a firmware update, or if there's something not working right on the hardware/design side.
 
I am currently using the Western Digital Livewire powerline and I am getting 40-50mbps, but I'd love to get the increased speed from the new crop of "500 Mbps" powerline devices (e.g., TrendNet, Netgear or D-Link). I have two questions that hopefully someone here can answer:

1. Did I understand SNB's review of the TrendNet TPL-401E2K to say that I can get increased throughput if I attach multiple adapters directly to my router, with the other adapter(s) connected to my TiVo, PS3 and Mac Mini? My Netgear WNDR3700 router has 2 free ports, so I can attach 2 powerline adapters to the router if that means increased speed to the adapters connected to my home theater components.

2. Since the TrendNet and Netgear powerline adapters have only one ethernet port, will any ethernet swith work to connect the adapter to multiple devices? I was looking at the Netgear GS605AV but have not found any confirmation it will work with a powerline adapter. Does anyone have any experience using that switch with a powerline network?

Thanks for any advice!
 
1. Did I understand SNB's review of the TrendNet TPL-401E2K to say that I can get increased throughput if I attach multiple adapters directly to my router, with the other adapter(s) connected to my TiVo, PS3 and Mac Mini? My Netgear WNDR3700 router has 2 free ports, so I can attach 2 powerline adapters to the router if that means increased speed to the adapters connected to my home theater components.
The total bandwidth available for HomePlug AV is a bit higher than you can get from a single traffic stream. In other words, if you have multiple clients sending and receiving traffic, you get a bit more bandwidth.

You do not get higher bandwidth by using more adapters. All adapters use the same spectrum, so you just share bandwidth among the networks.

2. Since the TrendNet and Netgear powerline adapters have only one ethernet port, will any ethernet swith work to connect the adapter to multiple devices? I was looking at the Netgear GS605AV but have not found any confirmation it will work with a powerline adapter. Does anyone have any experience using that switch with a powerline network?
All powerline adapters act as bridges, so will support attachment of multiple devices via switches at both ends.
 
Smallnetbuilder's review is up. I wonder if the poor results are something that can fixed in a firmware update, or if there's something not working right on the hardware/design side.
It may be possible that a firmware update will improve performance. But do not buy any product based on the possibility of a fix coming in the future.
 
Firmware

While I'm not a big fan of power-line devices, but I could use them in one room.
it's disappointing that the performance was so poor. I went snooping around, and I saw a firmware update on Trendnet's site;

http://www.trendnet.com/downloads/list_subcategory.asp?SUBTYPE_ID=1431

The firmware they have listed is 5.0.1.02, and it was released on 12/21/2010
(edit: The page says 5.0.1.02, but the file says 5.0.1.01 Now that i'm looking at the review again, you mention the firmware you used. I thought it was the Atheros current firmware.)
 
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The powerline utility reported the version as
Dec 20 12:08AM Atheros INT7400-MAC-5-0-5010-01-650-20100818-FINAL-B

So, hard to tell. I'll try installing it to see if it makes a difference.

Why are you not a "fan" of powerline?
 
The powerline utility reported the version as
Dec 20 12:08AM Atheros INT7400-MAC-5-0-5010-01-650-20100818-FINAL-B

So, hard to tell. I'll try installing it to see if it makes a difference.

Why are you not a "fan" of powerline?

It's hard to beat gigabit networks speed. I know it's quite a pain to run wire, but sometimes it can be well worth it. I was really looking forward to the GbE gigle networks equipment, because i could finally wire up those rooms that I can't (or won't) fish wire to, but who knows when that stuff will come out.


I think they may be the same firmware. The review was great though, just makes me want to wait for the review on the netgear 500 stuff.
 
While I'm not a big fan of power-line devices, but I could use them in one room.
it's disappointing that the performance was so poor. I went snooping around, and I saw a firmware update on Trendnet's site;

http://www.trendnet.com/downloads/list_subcategory.asp?SUBTYPE_ID=1431

The firmware they have listed is 5.0.1.02, and it was released on 12/21/2010
(edit: The page says 5.0.1.02, but the file says 5.0.1.01 Now that i'm looking at the review again, you mention the firmware you used. I thought it was the Atheros current firmware.)

Looks like whoever put that Trendnet page together screwed up.

Decipher the page source, find the download link and you find this:
fw_tpl-401e_v1.0r(5.0.1.01).zip

Now, you know the 5.0.1.02 is suppose to have 'Improved performance', and 'Fixed - Intermittent device startup issues.' according to the update notes, but for whatever reason the download link goes to 5.0.1.01.

After exploring a bit I found this which leads to the newer firmware:
http://downloads.trendnet.com/tpl-401e2k/firmware/fw_tpl-401e_v1.0r(5.0.1.02).zip

Could Smallnetbuilder test with this newer build that states 'Improved performance' as the change? /crosses fingers and hopes you see 100Mbps+ performance even at range tests
 
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Tried the upgrade. It failed with both devices. I've let TRENDnet know.
 
We've been using PLC for years to have the living room connected. Our house was finished in '99 and the plans were done just a year or two before LAN cabling became the standard in residential buildings. So we're "stuck" with Cat3 on the phone lines (converted to RJ45, the cables didn't move in the conduits so no-go for cat5e/6 replacements), bad for WiFi heavy constructions (steel enforced concrete and granite for walls, concrete floors with hydronic heating and parquet, etc), and no-go for surface cables.

The old setup was Linksys PLE200. Within the same room it gets ~120 Mbit/s (up & down) and from the living room to the basement (two floors down) 50-60 Mbit/s. It had just 100M ethernet, though.

I recently received the new Netgear XAV5001. Within the same room it gets ~340 Mbit/s and from the living room to the basement, ~130 Mbit/s. I tried it around the house a bit and got 100+ Mbit/s pretty much everywhere.

The speeds are from the Linksys & Netgear tools, my router that did DHCP among other things broke during the xmas trip and I haven't restored everything yet. In the past, ftp transfer was usually about 10-15% less than the speed on Linksys' tool.
 
The speeds are from the Linksys & Netgear tools, my router that did DHCP among other things broke during the xmas trip and I haven't restored everything yet. In the past, ftp transfer was usually about 10-15% less than the speed on Linksys' tool.
Thanks for the report. I think you are quoting link rates, which is what powerline utility programs show, not actual throughput.
 

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