I am considering purchasing several AV2 Homeplug adapters and need advice. ZyXEL claims the three prong plug configuration of the PLA5205 allows ZyXEL to employ Smart Link technology to improve performance, while the TP-Link TL-PA6010 employees a two prong plug, yet offers higher performance then the ZyXEL adapter. I do not understand why. Would a three prong AV2 Adapter provide better performance when connected through an AFCI that reduces performance of a two prong plug adapter? Do current AV 500 Adapters support MIMO? Thanks
Two vs Three Prong Homeplug AV2 adapters
- Thread starter willmatt
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JoesRevenge
Occasional Visitor
AV2 SISO, SmartLink, MIMO
Actually, the third prong does provide benefit.
In a normal 2-prong device, the SISO signal is only transmitted on the LN (line-neutral) plug pair. Once you get to a SmartLink+ device, this same signal is sent on both the LN and LG (line-ground) pair as well. This additional signal provides another path between the different nodes and improves your coverage and performance.
Once you get to a MIMO device, different signals are sent on the LN and LG path (versus duplicated signals) which can allow more data to be sent across your powerlines - hence higher data rates still.
Actually, the third prong does provide benefit.
In a normal 2-prong device, the SISO signal is only transmitted on the LN (line-neutral) plug pair. Once you get to a SmartLink+ device, this same signal is sent on both the LN and LG (line-ground) pair as well. This additional signal provides another path between the different nodes and improves your coverage and performance.
Once you get to a MIMO device, different signals are sent on the LN and LG path (versus duplicated signals) which can allow more data to be sent across your powerlines - hence higher data rates still.
sm00thpapa
Very Senior Member
I haven't seen any 3 prongs yet. Both set of TP-Link's I have are 2 prong.
JoesRevenge
Occasional Visitor
There are 3 different technologies associated with three prong adapters.
The first one (no longer produced) was to transmit or receive powerline data on either the line-neutral (LN) or line-ground (LG) path. This solved some problems but wasted some bandwidth switching between the two paths.
The second solution - available now as Smart Link - transmits the same signal on both LN and LG. Because it sends on both simultaneously, it isn't wasting time switching between the two paths, still has the benefit of adding a second path, and produces better results than the first solution.
The third solution (announced but not yet available AFAIK) is 2x2 MIMO with beam forming - this transmits different data on each path and therefore needs two transmitters and two receivers (hence 2x2). Beam forming is just a way to lineup the signal at the receiver to deal with the powerline noise better (it is somewhat akin to the microphone-based room correction that some high-end home theaters have - the speakers will make various frequencies louder or softer to compensate for the reflections and sound absorption of the furniture in your room).
The first one (no longer produced) was to transmit or receive powerline data on either the line-neutral (LN) or line-ground (LG) path. This solved some problems but wasted some bandwidth switching between the two paths.
The second solution - available now as Smart Link - transmits the same signal on both LN and LG. Because it sends on both simultaneously, it isn't wasting time switching between the two paths, still has the benefit of adding a second path, and produces better results than the first solution.
The third solution (announced but not yet available AFAIK) is 2x2 MIMO with beam forming - this transmits different data on each path and therefore needs two transmitters and two receivers (hence 2x2). Beam forming is just a way to lineup the signal at the receiver to deal with the powerline noise better (it is somewhat akin to the microphone-based room correction that some high-end home theaters have - the speakers will make various frequencies louder or softer to compensate for the reflections and sound absorption of the furniture in your room).
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