Devolo Debuts Mesh WiFi System With Powerline Backhaul

[thiggins]

Devolo will announce its Magic Wi-Fi system at IFA 2018.

The system pairs dual-band Wi-Fi access points with second-Generation G.hn powerline to produce a Wi-Fi mesh system that uses powerline for backhaul instead of Wi-Fi.

The company said the product provides mesh Wi-Fi with fast roaming, band steering and Airtime Fairness features. The adapters are self configuring and will automatically find and link to each other within two minutes of being plugged in.

Although not in the Devolo press release, WiFiNow reports that the system uses the new Wi-Fi EasyMesh. However, a check of the Wi-Fi Certification database still shows no products as EasyMesh Certified.

Devolo plans to ship two versions of the product in the fourth quarter of this year in both single adapter and multi-unit kit form. Magic 2 will have two gigabit Ethernt ports and 2400 Mbps grade G.hn. Magic 1 has the same specs, except for having 1200 Mbps G.hn.

Single adapter pricing will be 64.90 Euros (~ $75) for the Magic 1 and 79.90 Euros (~$92) for the Magic 2.

It is not clear whether Devolo plans to sell the product in the U.S.

[Press release]

 

[RMerlin]

I really like the idea. If their mesh part works well, with fast roaming, this could be a winning product.

 

[TheLostSwede]

IFA isn't until the 31st of August...

Devolo doesn't tend to develop their own products, they mostly brand stuff from Taiwan/China, so this will most likely turn up under other brands in various markets.

 

[thiggins]

IFA isn't until the 31st of August...

D'oh! Fixed.

This is all likely based on Qualcomm stuff anyway.

 

[TheDayTheRoutersDied]

IFA isn't until the 31st of August...

Devolo doesn't tend to develop their own products, they mostly brand stuff from Taiwan/China, so this will most likely turn up under other brands in various markets.

Yep, that housing looks exactly like Zinwell's housing on several recent PLC/WiFi kits. Though it's so generic, could easily be from a half-dozen other ODMs.

 

[tannebil]

Tim,

Any recent experience with latest gen powerline equipment? The older gen was a bust for me because the signal basically died when it tried to go across my panel to the other leg. As I recall, you put some time into it and it appeared that it completely depended on some technical detail in the breaker design and some worked, some didn’t, with the only way to know was to give it a try.

 

[thiggins]

Any recent experience with latest gen powerline equipment?

If you mean HomePlug AV2, there are many reviews. It seems to be better at adapting to line noise. Don't know if it will help your cross phase problem.
Some AFCI breakers still reduce throughput. But throughput is higher to start, so net throughput may be enough for you.

 

[Scott Willy]

D'oh! Fixed.

This is all likely based on Qualcomm stuff anyway.

This is not a Qualcomm chip who do not make a G.hn chip. It uses MaxLinear's G.hn chip.

devolo's retail product is based on their ISP product announced here:
http://techbriefing.net/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=430363

The G.hn standard does not interoperate with devolo's previous HomePlug AV and AV+ products (mostly using Qualcomm based chip). I wonder how devolo will handle this issue in retail.

 

[thiggins]

This is not a Qualcomm chip who do not make a G.hn chip. It uses MaxLinear's G.hn chip.

Again, my apologies. You are absolutely correct that Qualcomm doesn't make G.hn devices.

I should have known better since I previously reviewed Comtrend's G.hn adapter that uses a Marvell device. https://www.smallnetbuilder.com/lan...trend-pg-9172-g-hn-powerline-adapter-reviewed

 

[sfx2000]

Again, my apologies. You are absolutely correct that Qualcomm doesn't make G.hn devices.

I should have known better since I previously reviewed Comtrend's G.hn adapter that uses a Marvell device. https://www.smallnetbuilder.com/lan...trend-pg-9172-g-hn-powerline-adapter-reviewed

Actually - the Arris RipCurrent platform stuff was reviewed after the Comtrend adapter

https://www.smallnetbuilder.com/wir...uter-with-ripcurrent-g-hn-technology-reviewed

The G.hn stuff is a lot like MOCA from a deployment perspective - e.g. ISP installs primarily - Arris and Actiontec have good business in the US - Devolo has great presence over in the UK and EU domains.

It's been a while since SNB has looked at the non-wifi distribution side - HomePlug AV and G.hn, along with MOCA have been, should we say stable, but vendors are still putting out interesting products.