| TRENDnet TPL-303E2K 200Mbps Powerline Adapter |
| Reviews - Featured Reviews: Network | |
| Written by Colin Armstrong - Edited by Olin Coles | |
| Sunday, 15 August 2010 | |
TRENDnet TPL-303E2K Powerline AV Adapter KitWith the growing demand of faster and more accessible internet, new technologies such as fiber optics are being introduced. It's only natural that companies like TRENDnet are coming up with innovative and easier ways to allow you to use this technology in your home. TRENDnet has recently introduced the TPL-303E2K 200Mbps Powerline AV adapter kit for specifically this reason. The TRENDnet TPL-303E2K uses the existing wiring in your home or office to provide a secure, high-speed network. By connecting one adapter to your router and the other to the ethernet port on your computer, you're able to easily give internet access to that computer just like it was plugged directly into the router. With support for up to 8 adapters, a network with many devices is able to be created. Within this article, Benchmark Reviews tests and benchmarks the TRENDnet 200Mbps Powerline AV Adapter kit TPL-303E2K. Hardwiring your network would naturally be the easiest way to obtain internet, however sometimes it's unfeasible, specifically for home or small offices. Those who are unable to hardwire often turn to the next alternative: wireless. In some cases this technology is also unable to be used, such as in an apartment or a house with interference. A less obvious technology strives to solve this problem: powerline networking. Powerline technology has many advantages over a standard wireless network. It's quite inexpensive; no extra equipment is needed, other than the AV Adapter. The network uses your existing powerlines. It's also easier to install, as every room in a typical house has several electrical outlets. This kit would be useful for those unable to connect to a standard wireless network.
Simply put, the Powerline AV Adapter kit is an interesting technology which allows users who would otherwire be unable to connect to a network to connect to one easily.
Manufacturer: TRENDnet Full Disclosure: The product sample used in this article has been provided by TRENDnet. Powerline AV Adapter Features
* High speed building-wide networking from any electrical outlet TPL-303E2K Kit Specifications
* Enjoy high speed building-wide networking over an existing connected electrical system Closer Look: Powerline AV Adapter KitIncluded in the kit is two identical adapters; one for plugging into your modem and the other for your computer. Also included in the package is an installation guide, a CD-ROM containing the same guide and the software, as well as two Cat 5 ethernet cables.
The front of the adapter features three LED indicators: power status, the connection to your powerline, and the connection to your ethernet cable. Above these indicators is a "Sync" button, which resets the current network connection.
The back of the Powerline Adapter hosts a standard Type A AC power plug, which is able to plug into any power outlet.
On the right side of each adapter is a reset button, which simply causes a reboot to occur.
Powerline AV Adapter Kit Software FeaturesIncluded on the driver CD is a simple software backend, which allows you to specify the name and password for your network amongst a handful of other settings. The "main" tab of the software automatically scans the network for Powerline devices and lists them. The password, signal quality, actual rate, and MAC address are also displayed.
The privacy tab of the software allows you to create a private network for those wanting additional security. This simply lets you specify a network name, which prevents others from connecting to your network if they lack the name.
The diagnostics tab lists helpful system information, such as the driver in use, the various MAC addresses, the OS, etc. This would aid TRENDnet tech support in case a problem arose. Below this, the history of TRENDnet adapters previously connected to is displayed.
The last tab essentially shows all the license copyright information.
NAS Testing ProcessA small-but-important note before I begin: In an ideal environment, the power should be as balanced and unused as possible. This means the power outlets the adapters reside on must be unused. Going into the tests I wasn't aware of this; I had one adapter plugged into an outlet on the wall which was already powering a variety of other components (some including a router, modem, printer, computer, and monitor.) Running the tests, I was able to achieve speeds of 4.4 MB/S, which is well under the advertised 200 Mbps speeds. Shocked, I simply moved the adapter to a different, unused outlet, and the speeds nearly doubled. So, the current power being used and the empty power outlets play a huge role in determining the speeds, which means these tests may or may not be duplicated. Another thing to note is the advertised 200Mbps is the theoretical rates. Realistically, the actual throughput should be something like 100Mbps, but in a real-world scenario, taking the electrical wiring into consideration, you should expect a 60 to 70Mbps speed. It is also reccommended that you run both adapters on the same fuse line, or ring. In North America, the common electrical wiring situation seems to be "split-phase electric power" , which is essentially two separate power lines. By plugging in both adapters to outlets on different lines, you should expect to see speeds of roughly 10-30Mbps. In case you're not up to speed with network terminology, our you're just new to the technology, here is a little refresher for you. The basic unit data measurement is called a bit (one single binary digit). Computers use these bits, which are composed of ones and zeros, to communicate their contents. All files are stored as binary files, and translated into working files by the Operating System. This two number system is called a "binary number system". In comparison, the decimal number system has ten unique digits consisting of zero through nine. Have you ever wondered why your 500GB hard drive only has about 488GB once it has been formatted? Most data files use the binary number system to express file size, however the prefixes for the multiples are based on the metric system. The nearest binary number to the metric amount of 1,000 is 1,024; which means that 1,024 bytes is named a Kilobyte. So even though a metric "Kilo" equals 1,000, a binary "Kilo" equals 1,024. Are you confused yet? Don't be surprised, because even the most tech savvy people often mistake the two. Plainly put, the Kilobyte is expressed as 1000 bytes, but it is really comprised of 1,024 bytes. Most network engineers (myself included) are not fully aware that the IEC changed the way we calculate and name data chunks when they published the new International Standards back in December 1998. The International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) removed the old metric prefixes for multiples in binary code with new prefixes for binary multiples made up of only the first two letters of the metric prefixes and adding the first two letters of the word "binary". For example, instead of Megabyte (MB) or Gigabyte (GB), the new terms would be mebibyte (MiB) or gibibyte (GiB). While this is the new official IEC International Standard, it has not been widely adopted yet because it is either still unknown by institutions or not commonly used. Personally, I think the IEC took a confusing situation and simply made it more of a mess. As I mentioned earlier, the Kilobyte was previously expressed as 1000 bytes, even though it was really comprised of 1,024 bytes. Now, the Kilobyte really is expressed correctly as 1000 bytes, and the Kibibyte is the item comprised of 1,024 bytes. In essence, the IEC just created a new name for the binary item and left the existing name for the metric item. Hopefully that clears things up, and you can thank Benchmark Reviews for training the next generation of Network Engineers. Testing MethodologySince this is the first Powerline Adapter we've reviewed, I'm going to do my best to be as detailed as possible in every instance. Within these results, both 1GB and 10GB files were tested for transfer speed. The various tests were run three times each, and the average was recorded. The tests were run by copying the file from a computer connected directly to the router via ethernet to my desktop, which is connected to the powerline adapter. Also, a wireless transfer was done just for comparison. Both 1GB and 10GB files were tested across two computers connected via:
Support Equipment
Test System Hardware
Powerline Adapter Test ResultsAgain, to reiterate how the tests were run: In the first test, a file was copied across a standard ethernet connection. A file was copied across a powerline connection where both adapters were in the same room in the second test, and where both adapters were put as far away as possible in the third test. (On separate levels within my house). Within the last test, a file was copied over two floors in my house via a wireless connection.
As you can see, the ethernet speeds trump both the powerline and wireless technologies indefinitely. The powerline adapters, while both in the same room, only suffered roughly a 2MB/s speed loss compared to ethernet. The powerline adapters, when situated farther away, dropped a further 1MB/s. Wireless naturally sits at the lowest with a speed of 0.575 MB/s. From this benchmark, we can learn that the closer the Powerline adapters are, the better speeds they can achieve. If you're able to, opt to use ethernet to accomplish your networking needs, as this would bring the fastest speeds possible with the most reliable connection. If you must have fast speeds, and you're unable to use ethernet, then would I reccommend creating a powerline network just for the sheer speed advantage over wireless. Powerline Adapter Final ThoughtsThe TRENDnet 200Mbps Powerline AV Adapter is a great alternative for those seeking to easily set up a network, and are unable or don't want to use ethernet cables or wireless adapters. Compared to ethernet, the speeds are slightly (roughly 2MB/S) slower. I was shocked; I was expecting the speed to be fairly unreliable, however this was not the case. Compared the wireless, the speeds were naturally much better. I feel this technology is, althought being used prior to this, still in a relatively new stage. Until developers can begin to work out the various kinks involving the fluctuation of power lowering speeds, many users may disregard powerline networking in it's entirety. However, there have been many variations of powerline adapters, each with improved functionality than the previous (increased speed and security), so who knows what the future holds? It may benefit us if companies like TRENDnet have more competition in the powerline networking market. It only seems that similar, name-brand networking companies like D-Link are offering powerline devices comparable to this. It'd be nice if this technology caught on and became mainstream, as we'd begin to see several other products offering specific features to suit our individual needs.
TRENDnet TPL-303E2K ConclusionPerformance of the Powerline AV Adapter kit was fairly comparable to the speeds of two computers connected via ethernet. However, it really depends on how you're electrical wiring is set up, as this can really impact the speed of your network. The appearance of the adapters are very well done; they both look very modern and stylish. Both are almost entirely white. They look like something we'd see created by Apple. They construction of the Powerline AV adapter kit was also well done. Both adapters seemed to bear a solid-yet-light plastic. The functionality of the adapters is what you'd expect, as they do exactly what they say. The included software is very basic and simple to use. TRENDnet TPL-303E2K adapter, although more expensive than a standard CAT-5e cable, costs much less than setting up a wireless network or wiring upgrades. The current price at NewEgg is $79.99, but there are several other online retailers that list this kit as well. If you're able, use ethernet cabling instead, for that would be much more cost-effective. However, if you're unable to use that and are looking for fast speeds (as opposed to wireless), then pick up the TRENDnet AV Adapter Kit. Pros:
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Comments
I'm curious if 'conditioned' power would increase the throughput. Such as a basic line conditioner (Tripp Lite, Belkin, etc.) on both outlets and then the powerline product is connected to the line conditioner. Any interest in this setup and test for better throughput?
As you pointed out, this can be a great addition to home and small business networking; the speed it what caught my attention.
I will be looking for this and might even give it a try early next year. I use wireless on a couple of my computers because i didnt want to drill through walls for the cat5 or cat 6 ethernet connections.
I enjoyed being enlightened and having my curiosity peeked as well by this review.
Presumably, this thing is only capable of up to 100 Mbps theoretically, because of the bottleneck at the Ethernet port.
Am I missing something? Because the box clearly says 200 Mbps powerline, and 100 Mbps Ethernet on the specifications list.