How can I select the powerline device?

Here we will have a simple introduction for the Power Line Communication technology and show you how to select the suitable TP-Link powerline devices when you are going to use it in the house.

Part1: Brief introduction of PLC and a list of TP-Link powerline devices

Power Line Communication (PLC) is a technology that enables sending data, using the existing power cables as a medium in the same electrical circuit/meter. The powerline devices communicate with each other on the electrical wiring system based on HomePlug AV/AV2 standard compliant.

The list below does a main comparison of all TP-Link powerline devices. Please take a brief understanding about various TP-Link powerline devices first.

https://static.tp-link.com/upload/TP-Link+Powerline+Devices+All-in-one+Specification+List.pdf

Part2: How to choose the correct device

When you plan to buy suitable powerline devices, you may take the following factors into your consideration according to your actual network environment. Let's discuss it in three situations

1. There are no powerline devices in the house yet

A Powerline Network requires two or more powerline adapters, and all of them plugged into the power sockets in the same electrical circuit/meter. The powerline adapter near by the router can only connect to the router by Ethernet cable.

1.1 The bandwidth in the house

TP-Link has AV600, AV1000, AV1300, AV2000 powerline devices. Please check the following table for the recommendation.

Bandwidth	Recommendation
<100Mbps	AV600
100Mbps~300Mbps	AV1000, AV1300
>300Mbps	AV2000

1.2 The network clients which you want to connect to the powerline device

If there are wireless clients which are going to connect to the powerline device, please take the wireless powerline kit into your consideration.

Please pay attention to the Ethernet ports’ quantity, we have powerline devices with 1, 2 or 3 Ethernet ports. Please select the most suitable one regarding to your inquiry.

1.3 Extra power socket

Some of the powerline devices provide extra power sockets. The integrated power socket (up to 16A*) means that you can still get power from the outlet for your other electrical appliances. Moreover, the built-in noise filter helps to eliminate electrical signal noise that might otherwise affect powerline transmission performance.

2. There are TP-Link powerline devices in the house already

2.1 The current model of your tp-link powerline device

In theory, all the TP-Link powerline devices on sale can work together. In the real network environment, it would be better if we use the powerline devices with same powerline data speed in the same network. We can also use powerline devices with different data speeds together. Here are some recommendations:

Current Powerline	Recommendation
AV600/AV1300	AV600, AV1300
AV1000/AV2000	AV1000, AV2000

2.2 The bandwidth in the house

TP-Link has AV600, AV1000, AV1300, AV2000 powerline devices. Please check the following table for the recommendation.

Bandwidth	Recommendation
<100Mbps	AV600
100Mbps~300Mbps	AV1000, AV1300
>300Mbps	AV2000

2.3 The network clients which are going to connect to the powerline devices

If there are wireless clients which are going to connect to the powerline device, please take the wireless powerline kit into your consideration.

Please pay attention to the Ethernet ports’ quantity, we have powerline devices with 1, 2 or 3 Ethernet ports. Please select the most suitable one regarding to your inquiry.

2.4 Extra power socket

3. There are some non-TP-Link powerline devices in the house already

For adapters of other brands, if they adopt the same HomePlugAV standard, they should also be compatible with TP-LINK adapters. However, different brands’ products will have different ways to pair and configure, it might be much easier to use adapters from the same brand. It’s also suggested for you to use the powerline devices from the same manufacturer for better compatibility.

If you do want to use the TP-Link powerline devices with the non-TP-Link ones, it’s almost the same as the situation: ‘1.There are no powerline devices in the house yet’, please check the recommendation in the first situation.

What can I do if I want to buy a single powerline unit, not a kit of two or three units?

Currently we have a few models which has single unit available. Please click HERE to check the TP-Link official website in your country. If there are single units available, that normally means that you are able to buy the single unit, please consult with the shop directly to buy it. If there is no single unit available on your website, it means there is no single unit on sell.