TRENDnet TPL-402E2K Powerline AV Adapter Kit w/ Pass-through Up to 500Mbps TRENDnet TPL-402E2K Powerline AV Adapter Kit w/ Pass-through Up to 500Mbps

Pros: Plug and play. If you just want to connect 2 network devices, the installation was simple and it worked. The speeds from one side of my house to the other side is about 108 MBPS.

Cons: The software Powerline Utility, which lets you enable security, change from public to private, rename devices, and MANAGE your network, IS A FRUSTRATING AND USELESS PIECE OF JUNK!!! I emailed support and they responded in a couple of days with suggestions. Unfortunately, their suggestions for using the Powerline Utility were as ineffective as the utility itself. But now, after a couple of months, the Powerline Utility doesn't even run. It says to reinstall.

Other Thoughts: I hope my neighbors can't see my shared folders!!! These powerline devices surely will not be able to stop them!
GOOD HARDWARE. FRIGHTFULLY POOR SOFTWARE.

Manufacturer Response:

Dear valued customer,

Please accept our deepest apologies for any inconvenience this may have caused you. Please note that this item qualifies for a full replacement under it’s current warranty program. Please contact us at sales@trendnet.com, reference "Newegg TPL-402E2K Product Review" , and one of our helpful experts will contact you immediately to start the RMA process . We stand behind our products and hope we can restore your faith in TRENDnet.

Warmest regards,

TRENDnet Sales Team

Pros: Works as expected.

Cons: A little pricey. My first computer wouldn't recognize the unit using the software. My second one did.

Other Thoughts: Better than opening a wall to run cables.

Pros: two 5' CAT5 cables
3 LEDs for power, powerline, ethernet
sync and reset buttons
128-bit network security
can network up to 16 adapters
coverage up to 984ft
extra outlet on the front of the adapter

The packaging came with 2 adapters, one to connect to your router and one to connect to a device for network connectivity. It also came with 2 5-foot CAT-5 cables. The 3 LEDs on the front of the unit indicate power to the unit, powerline which is the quality of the network connection, and ethernet connection.

The TRENDnet Powerline Utility software allows you to view all the adapters within the same network. It displays the device name, connection quality, connection rate, and MAC address of each adapter. When you first install the adapters, the network is set to public. Each adapter has a password assigned to it and is located on the back of the unit. In order to use a private network, the adapter's password must be entered under each device name prior to changing the Private Network Name. Alternately, you can change the network name and security key by using the sync buttons on the adapters. The network name and security key will be randomly generated.

The network name can be changed; however, the security key, which is part of the 128-bit data encryption, cannot be changed and cannot be viewed anywhere. The security key is separate from the adapter's password. The passwords also cannot change.

The software utility also contains a diagnostics section that shows system info and a remote device history that you can print or save. You can also upgrade firmware manually from the main tab.

Overall the adapters are very useful when you want connectivity in rooms that aren't network accessible. As long as there's no power interference, connectivity rates are decent, even from two stories down.

Cons: The adapters are a bit big and awkward to plug in.

The user guide is a separate file from the installation guide. The user guide provides step-by-step instructions; however, what it states and how the adapters behave are two different things. Changing the network name/security key using the sync buttons was a bit confusing and became increasingly frustrating, even when following the detailed step-by-step instructions. After erasing the current network name/security key, I was unable to sync the other adapter to the new network. The adapter's power LED never blinked as the instructions said it would. I tried the procedure several times without any success. I eventually gave up, reset both adapters to factory settings, and used the software utility to change the network name.

It think it works well enough but I'm not sure I'd pay the price for just 2 adapters, which is actually connectivity for one device since one of the adapters is for connection to the router.

Other Thoughts: This may seem like a very simple install, but there are a couple things that you should keep in mind. As the 5-page installation booklet states, only plug the adapter into a wall outlet and try not to plug it into an outlet that has large appliances or surge protectors.

I first tried plugging both adapters into a power strip. The powerline LED was red, which is the lowest connection quality you can get. From a few feet away on a gigabit ethernet card, the Powerline Utility software showed a connection rate of 29Mbps and my download speed was 9.8Mbps, only 17.5% of what I should be getting. Transfer speeds were very slow averaging 1.15MB/s. From two floors down, I couldn't get the adapter to connect to my network at all because the signal strength was so poor.

Plugging both adapters into a wall outlet, however, made a huge difference, even with UPS's and power strips plugged into the same outlets. The powerline LED was green, which is the highest connection quality you can get. From a few feet away on a gigabit ethernet card, the Powerline Utility software showed a connection rate of well over 300Mbps, even as high as 450Mbps. Transfer speeds averaged 12MB/s. From two floors down, the Powerline Utility software showed a connection rate of 46Mbps, which is a much higher connection rate than my wireless connection at that distance.

I also use CAT5's for video. So out of curiosity, I plugged these adapters into a video card and a video switcher. Unfortunately, it did not work, probably because a video signal has too many parts to it and a power outlet just doesn't have enough wiring to distinguish the signals.

Pros: Setup was quite easy. Plugged them into the wall next to each device and away they went.

Cons: Instructions are poor. It's lucky they just work. Changing security settings worked, but wasn't intuitive and wasn't well documented. Didn't prove to be any faster then my wifi.

Other Thoughts: I installed these in two rooms of my apartment. My apartment is on one end of the building and my circuit breaker box is all the way on the other end. I'd conservatively say that I've got 400 feet of 'wire distance' between my two devices. They are also on separate electrical circuits.

My experience has been positive. They worked initially out of the box on the first try and they will sustain very reliably 32 megabit, or about 4 megabytes a second.

This should be adequate for the average household whom just needs to connect computers, tvs, and game consoles to the internet. I can also think of some interesting applications for buildings whom have a second building on site which feeds off the main power box (IE Garage, Greenhouse, Construction Trailer, etc).

My current WIFI system (which cost 2x more than these power line units) sustains 48 megabit, or 6 megabytes a second so I'll ultimately continue to use my wifi.

I'm not going to fault these devices for not living up to their '500mbps ratings' I've never a seen a single non-cabled solution come close to their 'ratings' in 10 years of working with wireless on client and personal networks.

Pros: Initial installation is just plugging them in and they’re up within a few seconds. Internet performance was very close to what I was getting by simply plugging my laptop directly into the Wi-Fi router. Tests conducted at several locations throughout the house (2 –story) maintained virtually the same speed with the worst download test coming back with 16.05 Mbps at the farthest location while the best was 17.36 Mbps over a DSL line rated at 20Mbps. This range is close enough to the 17.82 that I was getting when plugged directly into the router as to not be noticeable for streaming a Netflix movie without any pausing.

The units come with a built in outlet so that you don’t lose an outlet by plugging them in, which may or may not be much of a concern depending on how many outlets you have. Even though the built in outlet is available and has some noise filtering, the manufacturer cautions against plugging in certain appliances which may generate noise or interference.

These devices are IEEE 1901 and HomePlug Av compliant which means that they should be able to be used with other HomePlug compliant devices.

Cons: This product is rated at 500Mbps yet the best that it ever recorded according to the supplied monitoring utility was 154Mbps. This is only measuring the speed between the devices, and the Ethernet connection from the first device to the router was rated at a max of 100Mbps and out to the Internet was even slower at a 20Mbps maximum. Overall throughput to the Internet is governed by the slowest part.

If the connection was to an internal networked server then the faster device to device speed could be of use. All Powerline devices advertising 500Mbps are talking about a theoretical possibility that just doesn’t exist in a real world situation.

Once I tried setting up security and changing the SSID is when the problems began. I had the full manual pulled up as a .pdf and went step-by-step and when I reset the SSID and set up a password it worked for a couple of minutes and then it was showing an error that the units could no longer see each other, it was as if their encryption had gotten corrupted. There was no way to correct this problem from the management utility so I hit the reset button on both units to get them back to factory defaults.

Once they were reset they started communicating again, so I tried to change the SSID and password again and both units dropped out of the list of known devices in the panel in the management utility and could no longer be managed and stopped working.

I repeated the reset process and they started communicating using the factory defaults. I was able to use the sync button feature to allow the units to randomly set up a new network name and key. The inability of the management utility to properly manage the devices is a major drawback for a high end kit like these.

Another problem I encountered was when I tried to plug in the power adapter for my laptop and it wouldn’t go in all the way. Rather than trying to jam it in I pulled it out and looked into the slot and saw that there was a piece of plastic blocking the inside of one of the plug slots, probably leftover from the injection molding. I unplugged the device and was able to work this piece of plastic out with a knife, but this kind of thing should not have happened in the first place if more attention were paid to the construction and assembly process. Had I just jammed the plug in when I first noticed the resistance, then it probably would have broken that piece free and pushed down into the plug slot rendering it useless.

Other Thoughts: These units are high priced yet they didn’t perform any better than a pair of Nano Powerline adapters that I have that are rated at 200Mbps and cost 1/3 of what these adapters cost. Additionally, the lower priced units perform perfectly all of the time.

At this price level there is an expectation that the performance and quality would be higher, though that was not my experience.

The manufacturer said in the included paper guide/manual to not plug these into a power strip, GFI, or surge protector which is common for any Powerline adapter, as they should be plugged directly into a wall outlet. The manufacturer also explicitly stated that these devices are not compatible with AFCI circuit breakers. AFCI circuit breakers were adopted by most State electrical codes by around 2005 and some earlier, so if you have a house that is under 10 years old, then you may have them.

There are many variables in homes and their electrical wiring that can affect how well Powerline adapters may work so it is difficult to know for sure until you actually try them out. The claims of 500Mbps are simply an exaggeration and only theoretical, and for many folks they would see similar performance for Internet browsing and streaming movies if they used a 200Mbps adapter which are available at a fraction of what these units cost.

I would rate these at 2 ½ if that was available, but they get a weak 3. They worked in “bare bones” mode but not well enough to justify their premium price, and the management utility was not able to allow for proper setting up and security management without corrupting them and forcing them to be reset. There are better solutions out there.

Manufacturer Response:

Valued customer,

We are sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused you. Please e-mail us at sales@trendnet.com, reference "New Egg Product Review" in the subject line and someone will contact you in a timely manner to resolve your issue. We look forward to restoring your faith in TRENDnet products.

Regards,

TRENDnet Sales Support

Pros: Worked for a day

Cons: Once these things stopped seeing each other on the network, that was the end of these things! My other brand power line adapters worked fine, yet I wanted these pass throughs so as not to sacrifice an outlet.

Other Thoughts: My reviews are almost always positive, yet I cannot recommend this item.

Manufacturer Response:

Valued Customer,

We are sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused you. Please avoid connecting adapters to power outlet also used by high power consumption appliances. (e.g. Microwaves, ovens, blow dryer,iron, dishwasher, etc.) and be aware distance could affect performance as well. It is not recommended to use this product on electrical systems that use AFCI circuit breakers or plugged into GFI protected outlets as this may cause performance degradation or loss in connectivity. For your situation, we will suggest to take following steps to restore:

1. Unplug the powerline adapters from the power outlet, wait 15 seconds and plug the adapter(s) back into the outlet. With a pin or paperclip, press and hold the reset button for 1 second and release it. The LEDs will turn off and turn back on.
2. To verify connectivity, the powerline LED will become solid when the powerline adapters establish connectivity. The TPL-402E powerline adapters must have the same network name/key in order to connect to each other.

If you still have issue please contact us at sales@trendnet.com, reference "New Egg product review" and someone will contact you immediately. We look forward to working with you directly and restoring your faith in TRENDnet products.

Warmest regards,

TRENDnet Sales Team

Pros: I'm very happy with this Powerline product. It's not as fast as Ethernet cable but much better than wireless networking I used to have in the house. Powerline kit is plug-n-play with very simple and fast installation. There is pairing button which acts as handshaking protocol to pair a set of adapters. So far this product works great and I would recommend it....

Cons: none

Pros: If it worked as advertised it is obvious not having to run wires through the building, and it walls are to thick to get good wireless coverage.

Cons: Doesn't work in my home. I even move the plug to a multi-plug (non-surge) extension and the best I could get was 200mbps.

Other Thoughts: Wait until it has been out on the market longer and they get all the bugs worked out.

Pros: Great way to connect computers without the frailty of Cat 5 or the expense of fiber.

Cons: It's advertised that it has a bonus outlet. Don't be fooled like we were. We were counting on having three total units. Uh uh. Two. They consider the outlet on each unit as the bonus. Completely misleading and has caused us considerable headache. We have three computers that have to be connected and had this overnighted to us, as we're leaving for the job in the morning. Now, we're back to square one and will have to figure out another way to connect them up. Cat 5 will work but we have a greater distance than the limitations of Cat 5. We're stout believers in TrendNet products and have used their wireless routers for years, with zero failures. But, this misleading advertising has us looking at them a bit differently.

Other Thoughts: I'll update this after we've actually used this product. I spoke with their representative, on the phone, and am sure it will work as advertised (minus the 'bonus' outlet). The person on the phone was very knowledgable about the product and how it might be used in different configurations.