I recently got a pair of Aztech Powerline Networking adaptors to hook up additional network devices. Powerline networking is great if you do not want to run messy LAN cables around your place but yet want to plug in that spanking new toy (e.g. Apple TV2) to the network.

The Aztech Powerline Adaptors (HL115EP) are advertised to have connection/data rate up to 500Mbps (megabits). So how do they really perform in reality? The Aztech 500Mbps Powerline Networking adaptor (HL115EP) managed to have a sustained network throughput of 94.12Mbps and 89.24Mbps for writing and reading respectively.

Just to set the expectation right, Wireless-N technology have connection/data rate up to 300Mbps but in practical scenario, it manages throughput of ~82Mbps (taking reference from SmallNetBuilder’s ASUS RT-N56U review). So comparing the Aztech HL115EP and Wireless-N, the powerline networking adaptor is not that bad after all.

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A pair of 500Mbps powerline networking adaptors from Aztech! It comes with electrical pass through so you do not lose a power socket

Got a pair of the Aztech 500Mbps Powerline Networking adaptors (HL115EP) to hook up my network printers/scanner. Due to some miscalculation, I didn’t cater for sufficient network ports at the location so powerline networking to the rescue! Powerline networking is not new to me as I used to have the 200Mbps version.

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Decided to do a simple speed test on the Aztech 200mbps homeplugs. One thing that came to my mind is that, it is rated at 200mbps, so should my system detect it as 1 gbps (gigabits) network link or should it detect as a 100 mbps (megabits) network link?

The answer is – 100mbps.

Proceeded to do some data transfers and see what is the average or top speed (in bits and not bytes) during the transfers.

The first test was conducted using the homeplugs with one end directly into my DIR-655′s gigabit port and the other into my T43′s gigabit port. The link was rated 100mbps by my T43. I tried copying files from various systems connected to my gigabit backbone, namely they were:

1. Gigabit NAS – DNS-323
2. Network server
3. Workstation

I only managed to hit 55.22mbps download speed through the homeplugs.

Repeated the test without the homeplugs to find out the total download speed provided by my network systems and devices.

To avoid an unfair test of gigabit and megabit link. I inserted D-Link DES-1024D 10/100mbps switch between my T43 and DIR-655 to force the link down to 100mbps. This setup has aims to make up for the distance disadvantage present in the homeplug test. Hopefully the switch adds in some latency that is equivalent to the distance of the electrical cables.

The recorded download speed with this setup is 96.83mbps!

Did the final test over at 802.11g connection. Don’t know what it means? It simply means that I am doing a transfer test over wireless connection rated at 54mbps.

Conclusion

The homeplugs definitely did not performe as good as my ethernet connection. But it is certainly better than my wireless G! Yes, I am only using wireless G despite having a Draft N router. Anybody wish to sponsor me a wireless N client?

The good points of the homeplugs are:

• There is not a need to lay messy ethernet cables
• Performs faster than wireless G
• No problem of wireless deadspot

Powerline networking hit the news several year back for residents in Singapore. The idea was to provide high speed internet connectivity through the regular power cables. As a result, people are looking forward to it as the speed offer is alot more than what the the ISP can provide at that point of time. But I guess it greatly impact the Internet Service Providers hence the project was shelved by the authorities.

The pair of Aztech 200Mbps (Powerline) Ethernet adaptor arrived last night. Thanks Ben. The built of the adaptors felt cheap. It’s probably due to the weight (it is light) and quite hollow sounding. I do prefer hardwares with robust feel (having a certain mass and solid sounding). Well, I guess it is purely my preference. At the end of the day, if the device delivers what it states/promises, I am pretty fine with it.

The very first thing I did with the units was to hook them up to my 100mbps spare switch. I would hook it up to my Gigabit network when I am doing data transfer test in the near future. Hopefully I would be able to free up a couple of ports on my Gigabit switch.

I attempted to set up the homeplugs without referring to the included manuals or softwares.

For the first unit, I hooked it up to my surge protected power strip. Connected the ethernet cable to the 100mbps switch. For the other unit, it was hooked up to my media server and a free wall power socket. Without any configurations, the setup worked. All the 3 leds (PWR, PL-ACT, ETH-LINK/ACT) lighted up. I presume that as long as all of them lights up, I am good to go.

The very next test I did was to get answer to my question. Will the homeplugs work behind my UPS? The reason for this is that all my network equipments and PC are behind a UPS hence the network is always up and running even in the event of short power outrages. Hence I would prefer that the communication link (using powerline networking) to be up as well. The result was quite expected. It doesn’t work behind a UPS.

Dummies test – Passed