HomePlug AV2 Powerline Networking Adapter Round-Up

[davidnknight]

The unknown parts on the upper left hand side of the DLink board are part of the ac-dc converter. We see similar parts on the other products.

Starting at the top we have a film or ceramic capacitor, common mode choke, bridge rectifier, aluminum electrolytic capacitor, and a transformer. Based on the low power requirements, this is most likely a flyback converter. If you look just south of the transformer, you see a diode and another electrolytic capacitor. On the back of the board, there should be an ac/dc switching controller like the Power Integrations TNY248DG IC that you highlighted on the Trendnet board. There may be a power MOSFET, or the switching controller might have an integrated power MOSFET like the TNY248DG does.

The photocoupler is used to close the feedback loop that regulates the voltage, while allowing the input and output to be electrically isolated for safety reasons.

 

[az_fred]

I am using a pair of Netgear AV200/500 devices. One unit has built in wifi extender. The Netgear units have indicator lights, and I placed it about 50 ft. from my first unit, and this extends my wifi network to a part of the house I could never reliably use wifi. I get > 30 Mbps on wifi, my Roku box runs great, no stuttering. My iPad and iPhone are great. 30 Mbps over wifi is fabulous, I don't need anything more. Most servers are slower than that. The Netgear box itself has a light that indicates it is sending and receiving > 80 Mbps, great product, that cost me < $80 for the pair.

 

[chalabam]

Well this isn't the case. The fact is that they don't operate well when not paired up with equals, so what do you propose.

I propose that reviews should test against a variety of hardware, so the reader does not get nasty surprises after buying.

Some units may test well on a simple review, but not being appropriate for the general reader, because his performance is not robust in the real world, which tends to be a mess of different manufacturers.