Customer Reviews

Panasonic BL-PA100A HD-PLC Ethernet Adaptor

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Note that this package has only one adapter. You need at least two adapters for them to be useful. I own three of these.

The configuration of my third adapter took me all of 5 mins. I am currently using it as I type.

Pros:
Very easily to configure.
Very reliable.
Low latency and high bandwidth. This is reliable enough for my gaming: Warcraft 3, World of Warcraft.

Cons:
Very expensive.

I may buy one more. I really like these adapters.

I love these devices--they work with neither drivers nor a a web/MS Windows based configuration utility (most such devices from other mfrs. require MS Windows for configuration); so, these work well with Linux. (Getting wireless networking to work with Linux/unix/freebsd is convoluted, and the flawed online documentation is jumbled, often out-of-date, conflicting, and ambiguous.)

With these, one must simply plug in and reset the terminal (remote) unit with a paper clip, plug both units into the same wall outlet, press a button on each unit within 5 secs. to link them (this also automatically sets up 128-bit security--this prevents others using similar tech from hacking in from the same power transformer--this is not much of a problem yet), unplug them, move them to where they are desired, plug them in, connect ethernet cables, and then test for good connectivity by pressing the setup button on the terminal (remote) unit. Everything is done with hardware, not software or firmware; it's really simple! This is as it should be with good networking hardware! The units use a power cord, so they don't monopolize wall sockets....

These may cost more than certain competing mfr's units, but they also can stream media easily. The connection is much more secure than with wireless....

With this tech, which likely will be refined and perfected over time, electric companies will soon enter the internet provider business.

I regret the waste of my time, effort, and expense of trying to get wireless networking to work with Linux....

Panasonic BL-PA100A HD-PLC (High Definition Power line Communication) Ethernet Adaptor

Panasonic BL-PA100KTA HD-PLC (High Definition Power line Communication) Ethernet Adaptors - Two Pack

The Panasonic Ethernet Adapter provides higher throughput than some other units out there. They are plug n play. There is a little bit of setup for the third and up units. A friend of mine, who has a knack for starting a project and calling me to finish it, actually connected these up correctly without calling me. I like the built in speed test. There is one item to be aware of that is not mentioned in the instructions. If the units are on different phases of the incoming electrical lines, the throughput will be low unless one installs a phase coupler. This is not a design fault. It is the nature of trying to run signals over the power wiring.

Setup was easy, pretty much plug and play. I ended up returing these for these for the Netgear AV powerline models, as they were unable to stream HD video, and when connected to the same outlets, the netgear units got a higher speed. so if u just need a network connection/transfer files, internet, etc, these will work,and u really cant beat the price, but for more bandwitdth, look elswhere (5ghz N, or ethernet)

I bought a set of Panasonic's powerline network adaptors to get a relatively high speed connection (up to 190 Mbps) to a location that was out of range of my wireless-G network. I could have bought hardware to extend the range of the wireless net, but the price/performance of the Panasonic product made more sense. The plan was to add two Macs and a PC to my network. I've been burned setting up home networks before, so I was skeptical as to how easy this would be.

I decided to start with one of the Macs. Set-up was absolutely easy. It took maybe 15 minutes. The few necessary directions worked exactly as written. Even better, there was nothing to configure on the computer. The job consisted of plugging one unit (the master) into an AC receptacle near my DSL router and running an ethernet cable between the unit and DSL router. The second unit (the slave) gets plugged into a receptacle near the computer you want on the network, and another ethernet cable goes between it and the computer. Amazingly, everything just worked.

To hook up all three computers, I unplugged the ethernet cable from the first Mac and plugged it into a Netgear 4 port dual speed ethernet hub. Then I ran three ethernet cables between the hub and each of the three computers. Once again it just worked.

I've been heavily using this configuration trouble free for about eight months. It's worked so well that last week, when I needed to move one of the Macs to a new location in my house, I bought another Panasonic adapter from Amazon. Adding this new slave adaptor took 10 minutes and, as before, did not require any configuration changes to the Mac.

If I want to expand this set-up further I can add more slave adaptors (up to 15). Obviously you'd need pretty fast Internet service for 15 computers to surf the net simultaneously. In my house my computers aren't all used at the same time, so things are generally pretty fast.

Last, I read some of the other reviews and noticed not all are as glowing as mine. While I found Panasonic's product highly reliable and easy to set up, I can guess what happened to some of these folks. First, while the adaptors are relatively simple devices, they are electrical and are subject to damage, interference and misuse. If the adaptors are damaged it should be fairly obvious because each unit has three colored lights to report various status and error conditions. I'll bet damaged units are pretty rare.

As for misuse, the instructions are clear and contain only a few steps, but must be followed exactly - including running a straight forward speed test that must pass before you plug the ethernet cable into your computer.

Interference is probably the biggest source of problems. Panasonic is quite specific about the potential for this sort of problem.

The adaptors ideally must be plugged into an actual AC receptacle that is not shared by another device that could generate interference, like a power block for a low voltage device (i.e., laptops, printers, speakers, phones - almost everything, these days). Power blocks are really stepdown transformers that produce electric fields that can disrupt powerline network signals. Likewise, you should avoid plugging adaptors into a power strip, which may contain circuitry that can create interference, or may have a power block or two plugged in.

Panasonic sells a high quality, well documented product that has worked well for me. Note that most of the technical points cited above will apply to any powerline networking product from any manufacturer.

Excellent device, to built a network without brake the walls and with the best LAN speed than your NIC card can support. Better than wireless for home. The configuration is ease, timeless and secure.

I love this product - but what's up with the pricing? I bought the starter pack (master and slave pair) in April for $46 - and now they're selling a single for $75? Should've bought extras back in April when the single unit was less than $30!

'nuff said about that - this thing works great; only two minor issues so far:
(1) you can't put your PC in standby because it won't reconnect when it wakes up - you have to reboot to get a network connection; and
(2) it won't work when connected to an outlet on a GFCI circuit (instructions hint at this - they say to avoid using an outlet strip).
If you can live with these two items, and are willing to pay the (now much higher) cost, you'll be happy. Easiest wired connection you'll ever make!

I was able to link three units together within a couple of minutes. I plugged the master on the wall close to my router, and plugged the second unit in another room. At first I was not getting any signal at all. Tried two separate outlets, nothing. Then moved to a 3rd one and got signal. But it was too slow. Spent more time trying other outlets. I was getting a bit disappointed. Then, I remembered that there was an outlet right next to my breaker box. I plugged one of the transmitters to it, and voila... max speed. I watched online videos perfectly. Then toying around with a third unit, I was able to get two lights, which is close to 30mbps. It'd work faster if the second outlet is left alone. In other words, this unit is the only thing plugged into the entire outlet.

Again, these units are great. But, you're going to spend some time trying the units in different outlets to get the best signal. Overall, they work perfectly and I highly recommend them.

Purchased a starter set on this product,very easy to setup 3 minutes!!they work GREAT!!I would recomend these.I went from wireless to this setup on my lap top,more secure.Shipping was very fast and billing was done very well.Thank you!!
Dan Driscoll Mn

Like most of the 5 star reviews, my Master and Terminal units are working great.
I've been using a Master unit and one Terminal unit for about 6 years without any problems
and just recently added a second Terminal unit for my sons room.

A couple of things to remember when registering the master with the terminal:

* Make sure the Master unit and Terminal unit are plugged into the same outlet.
( I tried different outlets on the same circuit and could not get the units to register)

* Make sure that you push the RESET buttons on both units at about the same time.
Registration only takes place when the blue lights on both units are blinking.
Once registration is completed, the blue light on both units will remain on and the green light
on the Master will blink several times and then remain on.
(the first time I only pushed the Treminal unit RESET button and kept getting a red light...Grrr...)

A note on getting the fastest connection between the Master and Terminals:

The Master unit should be plugged into an outlet that is as close the main circuit breaker box as possible.
Doing so will insure that all the remote Terminal units get a good connection to the Master unit..., and then
to your home router and on out to the WWW.

I have a big house and even my office, that is about as far from the breaker box as you can get, still has
excellent web browsing and downloading speeds.

Older homes with Knob and Tube wiring may have connection issues as I found out at a friends house
that was recently remodeled. The outlets with recent updated wiring had no issues but we could not connect to
his back rooms that have old original wall plug's with knob and Tube wiring.
(from about the 40's~60's on, house were wired using Romex® which works fine with these units.)