Trendnet TPL-406E2K CPL kit is quite promising but the rates do not exceed 11 MB / s in optimal conditions.
The promise
Trendnet TPL-406E2K kit provides a CPL (powerline) with two boxes very compact and providing a theoretical throughput of 500 Mbit / s. The TPL-406E2K has a maximum range of 300 m and 128 bit AES encryption. What are the real rates?
Reality
Kit Trendnet TPL-406E2K is composed of two modules that surprise by their small size (5 x 7 x 2.9 cm). These are the smaller boxes 500 Mbit / s. But they do not have to carry the electrical outlet. So you have two jacks in your home occupied by kit CPL. However, they have three activity LEDs (Ethernet, HomePlug network and on / off). LED PLC network uses three colors (green, amber and red) to indicate the quality of the powerline network. To connect CPL secure, simply press a small button at the bottom of the case. This button is also used to reset the PLC kit.
Rates do not exceed 11 MB / s
The unpleasant surprise of Trendnet TPL-406E2K just flows rate. Under optimal conditions, most of the models 500 Mbit / s exceed 20 MB / s. Trendnet Gold kit provides only rate of 10.71 MB / s to 25 m (10.5 MB / s if AC power is disrupted). The cause of this poor score comes from the choice of a Fast Ethernet controller, limited to 12.5 MB / s, not Gigabit Ethernet. In contrast, rates remain very stable according to distance: 10.86 MB / s to 100 m (9.98 MB / s disturbance) and 10.79 MB / s to 150 m (9.62 MB / s). In addition, the Trendnet TPL-406E2K has low power consumption in operation (against 2.5 W 5 W for most models).
Program administration austere
Trendnet TPL-406E2K comes with two network cables about 1.5 m, a CD and a quick start guide. If you want to check boxes CPL from your computer, the installation CD contains software for Windows Powerline Utility. Consists of four tabs (main state, private networks, diagnostics, about), this program is minimal. It clearly shows the connection quality and throughput LC, and easy to change the network name, but the section dealing with diagnostics proved incomprehensible to beginners.
The verdict
The kit 500 Mbit / s Trendnet TPL-406E2K is impressive by the small boxes, but disappoints by its low rates, much higher than those of a good kit 200 Mbit / s. This is enough to surf the Internet or connect to a network printer. This was all about Trendnet TPL-406E2K CPL kit whose price is around € 99.90.
