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HomePlug AV500 Adapter Roundup

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bigpapae35

Occasional Visitor
Very strange, why the NETGEAR XAVB5001 tested so poorly in the AV 500 roundup, especially since there was no firmware update since the original review.

Did you receive a different set of adapters? or did some other variable change in your testing, because in the orignal NETGEAR XAVB5001 review, it blew away the competition, but in the roundup review it got crushed.
 
Same adapters. Different computer, but I don't think that would make a difference. I even did the Location A tests with separated outlets to minimize front-end overload.
 
The Trendnets seem to have improved a lot too. Is there a new revision of the product or just a firmware update? Might have to pick up a pair instead of the Netgears.
 
The Trendnets seem to have improved a lot too. Is there a new revision of the product or just a firmware update? Might have to pick up a pair instead of the Netgears.
Just the firmware update I noted. I used the same adapters.
 
I wonder how many chipset vendors there are for HomePlug AV, and what product makers use what chip. I suppose one can dig this out of the FCC filings.
 
I believe for Powerline Av there was only two mass market chipset vendors one was Intellon, which was acquired by Atheros, which was later acquired by Qualcomm. The other was Gigle Networks which was acquired by Broadcom.

Broadcom just announced last month BCM60321 powerline av 1.1 200mbps chipset based on 40nm manufacturing process. But I do not think this product will compete well against the latest powerline av 500 products in this roundup. But this chipset will bring lower power consumption on load and idle compared to qualcomm, and it will enable networking gear to be much smaller.

The recently announced Gigafast PN928-EB is based on this qualcomm chipset, so hopefully Tim will be able to test one of these new units and how it compared in performance, and in performance per watt.
 
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We'll see when these chipsets make their way into real products. Honestly, though, it's diminishing returns. 500 Mbps loses throughput pretty quickly once you get some distance between adapters. Gigabit will probably be the same.
 
There's also the stuff about using the three conductors to sent the powerline signal (main+neutral+ground) instead of two. It could, depending of the implementation, provide more bandwidth ou a kind of "error correction"...
Some new chipset would be needed though.
 
Phase Jumping?

Most houses in the US have 220V in that is split in the breaker box into two 110V phases. Did you try any tests across phases? Generally I have seen huge performance drops for PLN gear when they have to jump across the phases.
 
Final Thoughts

So what would be your choice if you had a pick one brand of 500 Mbps Powerline adapter for your usage? The reason I ask is because I have been using 4 Netgear AV500s for about 2 weeks now (bought after your first review) and been relatively happy with their performance. My basic need is to be able to stream 720P video as flawlessly as possible throughout a 3000 ft home. After seeing you new roundup, I think I may be able to return what I have, and get better performance at a cheaper price.
I was leaning toward the Trendnets, they seem to very consistent in all areas. Let me know what you think?


Thanks.
 
Especially with networking methods other than Ethernet, stick with what works.

If you are determined to change, use the Powerline Charts and pick your poison.
 
It's interesting to see each product has their own board design and cooling methods despite using the same chipset. Do some of these units run hotter than others? Some reviews on a popular online store suggest the Trendnets running hot, but I take those with a grain of salt. How is it really though compared to the others?
 
I'd say the NETGEAR ran the hottest. But I did not specifically look at this during testing.
 
By coincidence, I also did a 500Mbps Homeplug Shootout around the same time of this article.

My results are quite a bit different! I performed literally hundreds of tests, plugging in back and forth, in order to be sure these were consistent and repeatable results. Bear in mind though, I am in the UK at 230V.
 
Not even sure the 500Mbps adapters are even worth the upgrade.
I got the Trendnet 200mbps kit with another single adapter and they work fine.
I have my router and modem at the top floor.
Connecting at 144Mbps (basement), 109Mbps (basement but at different outlet), and 153Mbps on the main floor.

I find it very stable but still not enough for 1080p streams. Also when I'm copying files over the network the highest I get was 4.5 mb/s
 

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