AV2 1200 powerline products

[stevech]

My experience with GFI breakers has not shown throughput loss.

What will really kill throughput are "wall-wart" type power supplies, cellphone chargers, etc. I always unplug all those in the same and next room when testing in one of my locations.

Yes, and many kinds of plug-strips. These often have so-called surge suppressors that tend to attenuate high frequencies - and that can attenuate back into the wall outlet. Some new TV/cable boxes have surge suppressors. Some light dimmers rooms away can interfere.

I found that connecting power line IP devices to an outlet with no other such things usually works OK.

 

[urgru]

ZyXEL released a firmware update for the PLA5405. I should have done an apples to apples comparison by speed testing before I updated, but I wasn't smart. Compared to when I first bought and installed the 5405's last year there's a noticeable improvement in speed and connection quality, but that may be because I've moved some appliances and wall warts around in the intervening months.

 

[Matthew Kitchin]

Well, the DHP-701AV is not all I was hoping for. I tested with the 2 units plugged into outlets 1 foot apart, and I got pretty good speeds. 263 Mbps. When I put it in a real life situation, it dropped to 44 Mbps. My OLD ZyXEL PLA407 got 34 Mbps. I was hoping for 100+ under normal circumstances. My house was built in 1995. See detailed data below.
Zyxel typical conditions: http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i284/mkitchin/Powerline/ZyXEL PLA407-Typical_zpss4xrwesd.png
Dlink typical: http://s75.photobucket.com/user/mkitchin/media/Powerline/DHP-701AV-Typical_zpsepgxosxf.png.html
Dlink ideal: http://s75.photobucket.com/user/mkitchin/media/Powerline/DHP-701AV-Ideal_zpsjcjaikl9.png.html
Setup was a breeze. No software or configuration involved. Just push a button. That is it. I will keep them, but it is not worth (to me) the minimal performance increase.
Update 6/19/15: I moved some equipment around in my house. Nothing that I would have expected to cause any change. In fact, there is more interfering type devices on the new outlet. I was pleasantly surprised! Throughput is now 165-170 Mbps. See link: http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i284/mkitchin/Good performance_zpsv4oxvs3k.png

Updatde7/14/15: My devices are continuously locking up. Any one device will lock up when there is a heavy load. It is frequently not even a device directly involved in the conversation. All devices will start dropping 90% to 100% of the traffic. Unplugging it and plugging it back in fixes it. I have opened 2 tickets with Dlink and have not received any response.
Update 7/29/15: DLink has at least responded to my ticket, but they do not currently have any recommendations or steps I can take to resolve it. I'm going to try the Netgear PL1200 devices and see if I have any better luck. They have a different chipset at least.

 

[Matthew Kitchin]

Updatde7/14/15: My devices are continuously locking up. Any one device will lock up when there is a heavy load. It is frequently not even a device directly involved in the conversation. All devices will start dropping 90% to 100% of the traffic. Unplugging it and plugging it back in fixes it. I have opened 2 tickets with Dlink and have not received any response.
Update 7/29/15: DLink has at least responded to my ticket, but they do not currently have any recommendations or steps I can take to resolve it. I'm going to try the Netgear PL1200 devices and see if I have any better luck. They have a different chipset at least.

Update 8/5/15: Netgear PL1200 devices are doing well. I installed 5 of them on 7/31. I have had no lockups at all. I have streamed several movies and done large file copies that maxed them out. Performance is similar to the DLink. I'm getting 155 - 160 Mbps in the same location where I got 167-170 with the DLinks. See here: http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i284/mkitchin/Powerline/Netgear speed2_zpsftr7s0t8.png I'm very happy with them. Setup (security) was a bit of a pain. To secure them, you have to push the button on one for 2 seconds, and then all the others within 2 minutes. Somehow, 3 of mine would get on one encryption key, and the other 2 would get on a different one. I struggled getting all of them synchronized. If you ever wanted to add one later, you have to factory default all of them, and go through the process again. If you are only ordering a pair, they come preconfigured. More than 2, and it is a pain. I went with unsecured to get it working. That doesn't really bother me too much. I couldn't find any management utility for these. Hopefully Netgear will release one to simplify this process.

 

[stevech]

Are the speeds you cite th throughput or raw bit rates? Throughput.. meaning net yield of TCP.

 

[Matthew Kitchin]

They are the Mbps shown in Windows 8 task manager on one of the devices involved in the conversation. This is on the performance tab. Does that make sense?

 

[Thorz]

ZyXEL released a firmware update for the PLA5405. I should have done an apples to apples comparison by speed testing before I updated, but I wasn't smart. Compared to when I first bought and installed the 5405's last year there's a noticeable improvement in speed and connection quality, but that may be because I've moved some appliances and wall warts around in the intervening months.

I was on the Zyxel page and did not find any firmware update for the PLA5405. Mind posting a link to where you found this?

 

[urgru]

I was on the Zyxel page and did not find any firmware update for the PLA5405. Mind posting a link to where you found this?

http://www.zyxel.com/us/en/support/...&l=en&kbid=M-02093&md=PLA5405#searchZyxelTab4

Software download is at the top. I don't know if there's new firmware for 5405 in that version. A previous version (July release date) changed the firmware version on my adapters. Will try this one tonight.