TP-Link AV200 200Mbps unboxing pics and thoughts.

marc1024

marc1024

marc1024

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Just purchased a TP-Link AV200 200Mbps starter kit from ocuk to replace my wifi adatper. If i had to use one word for price, ease of setup and connection. It would be Awesome

Unboxing pics
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I honestly didnt expect 2 Ethernet cables!
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:) = good
:( = no no < idiot proof instructions?!?


My thoughts.
I have been using a wifi adapter for my desktop pc in my room for a good 6 months. Every now and then i will get a drop out and i would have to disconnect and reconnect the adaptor. Sometimes that didnt work, i had to find some where else in usb length that gave a stronger signal. I hated this very much. So i bought these beasts!
At first i was sceptical about internet through power lines. I read into it and read reviews. They seemed to be worth £30! After unboxing i did a quick read through the instructions. Seems it was as simple as plug and connect. I did this and it worked 50%! I was connecting to my routers network but not connecting to the internet. After reading again, if this was the case it means the adapters would need to be paired. So i held the button in for 5 secs, ran down stairs and held the other one in for 5 secs. I waited 5 minutes before returning to my pc and boom there was internet! I expected to play around with settings and that but really...it does what it says, plug and play! (or plug and surf?)
With my wireless adapter i would just get 3mbps on speedtest.net. Here is what i have now
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Honestly i couldn't be happier! My router is in the middle of my house, i have no holes in the floor routing wires, i dont have to deal with connection drops. I can use my laptop anywhere in my house, even out in the garden now that i have my router in the middle of the house. They also work even when connected to a surgeprotector!
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If you are interested in these and would like to see some sort of tests, feel free to ask and i will do them for you :D so far since receiving these this morning there has been no connection drops!

In conclusion, i recommend these to people who have a desktop pc far away from there router, and dont want to run extensions! you get the benefit of getting your full internet speed without the hassle of wireless. Yes wireless can be good but thats only if you buy a good adapter :) not everyone likes a usb stick sticking out there case all the time or a weird looking device sitting on there desk. Or having to use up a precious pci slot for a wifi card :) If your pc is in front of your sockets, well you will never see any wires!
 
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Your wifi must have been pretty terrible to see a noticable boost on your internet connection speed. Normally wifi is at least fast enough to handle a "normal" up to 20mpbs ADSL connection.

Have you tried any file transfer tests?

I ask as I desperately need to replace my Belkin 85mps (Gen 1) models with new ones as my transfer rates barely peak above 2.5 - 3MB/s when transferring large files (MP4) to my NAS, pictures & music are much slower at 1.5-2MB/s. Connecting directly to the router via Ethernet (limited to Fast Ethernet speeds) gives me the full 11.5-12MB/s I expect to see, therefore I know the problem is the powerline adaptors.


From what I understand the 200mps moniker is slightly missleading as they essentially add up both the transmit and receive rates to give the marketed speed. The (powerline) adaptoprs themselves are most likely fast ethernet which will still be a lot better than Wifi.
 
oweneades said:
Your wifi must have been pretty terrible to see a noticable boost on your internet connection speed. Normally wifi is at least fast enough to handle a "normal" up to 20mpbs ADSL connection.

Have you tried any file transfer tests?

I ask as I desperately need to replace my Belkin 85mps (Gen 1) models with new ones as my transfer rates barely peak above 2.5 - 3MB/s when transferring large files (MP4) to my NAS, pictures & music are much slower at 1.5-2MB/s. Connecting directly to the router via Ethernet (limited to Fast Ethernet speeds) gives me the full 11.5-12MB/s I expect to see, therefore I know the problem is the powerline adaptors.


From what I understand the 200mps moniker is slightly missleading as they essentially add up both the transmit and receive rates to give the marketed speed. The (powerline) adaptoprs themselves are most likely fast ethernet which will still be a lot better than Wifi.
Click to expand...

The wifi was terrible in my room, even with a laptop or using my phone i got bad signal

I have not done any file transfers as of yet. I only have my desktop pc hooked up and nothing else. I can try and do a file transfer from my pc to my laptop (laptop will be wireless) but i have problems trying to access shared folders on ubuntu. Ill try and sort that out and ill post some results here. Ill hook my laptop up via Ethernet to the router as well and ill do a comparison just to see the difference, if there is any!
 
Not 100% accurate as my laptop isnt the most powerful thing but im getting 8mbps transfer speed from my ubuntu laptop to my windows 7 pc. Thats a 1gb AVI file. I cant seem to do it from windows 7 to my laptop. Ill boot up my old pc later on and try properly :)
That test was wired, just did a wireless (pc to wireless laptop) and it was 2.5mbps average.
 
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Concur with your comments.
I purchased this having used wifi on BT infinity whereby my connection would randomly drop and i couldnt reconnect. Purchased a set of these and plugged them straight in and the whole set up was completed. No need for pairing during my installation and the results were amazing.

Using them now for my virgin 50MB connection and not had a single drop out since :)
 
I think so, as long as they're the same rating (ie. 200Mbps). I'd like to know if you can mix and match brands though as I currently have a pair of Devolo plugs but need to buy a couple more.
 
In my experience, as long as they're using the same homeplug technology (there have been a few rivals to the main homeplug certified standards), then different companies models should interact fine as they use the same chipset; I've used different brands of 85Mbps successfully together, although ideally same brand (so you're running off the same firmware etc) is better.

Mixed 200/85 networks on the same power lines weren't so successful, although it's common knowledge they [85 and 200] cannot communicate with each other, I found the 85s caused interference on the AV200 network.

How fast they are depends on interference, and the quality of your own cabling, although, typically AV200 kits are twice as fast as 85MBPs certified kits, whether wireless is faster will depend on your setup.
 
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nice write up but i see you don't take notice of instructions? :)

Avoid surge protected / Filtered mains extension blocks as these block the HomePlug signal. Long extension leads will degrade the signal so it is best practice to plug the HomePlug directly into a wall socket
Click to expand...
 
I assume with these, you cable one into the router and plug the device into the wall socket. On the other side, plug the other into the wall socket and cable to device?

I am interested in getting these to access Sky+ on demand service. I don't really fancy paying out for a wireless dongle which will be very poor in signal strength due to the distance from the router.

EDIT...Ignore my ignorance, I didn't bother to check the product page with the simple diagram :rolleyes:
 
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Ive got 2 different makes of the 85MB ones and they work together, apart from being quite slow I only really ran into issues when using one of those special extension leads which has a master socket which switches off all the others when the power draw is low.

I think I remember when they first started coming out and netgear had their own standard instead of homeplug? it might be that just the netgears are not compatible with the rest.
 
There also used to be opposing standards to the main homeplug standard; not just speeds. There was DS2 at the very least. Luckily they've mostly standardised now which makes it easier.

That's what I meant by
as long as they're using the same homeplug technology (there have been a few rivals to the main homeplug certified standards), then different companies models should interact fine as they use the same chipset
Click to expand...
 
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