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Forum Discussion
Intermittent loss of powerline LED using AV200 (XAVB1301)
Installed 60 days ago. One unit connected via included ethernet cable to router port, other unit connected via included ethernet cable to network adaptor card on PC. Initial setup and security synchronization accomplished without problem. Stable even when reconnected to AC socket after short-term disconnection, or when PC is powered down, put to "sleep" or put into "hibernation" until last week. Noted Powerline LEDs were off on both units, indicating (according to installation guide) that "the adapter has not found any other compatible Powerline devices using the same encryption key". I figured there must have been some transient or other glitch, pressed the reset button on both devices within one minute, and then after the other two LEDs were green on both units, pressed the security button for 2-3 seconds on both devices, within one minute of each other. I sucessfully re-established steady green Powerline LED. However, within 5 days, the same problem recurred. Again, no problem to reset and resynchronize, but why? Both adapters are plugged directly into the wall socket in each room, and no new AC powered equipment has been plugged in or used in the past 60 days anywhere in the home. Any troubleshooting suggestions or thoughts what may be wrong and what I should do about it?
3 Replies
I haven't seen reports of those plugs in quite some time, they are a couple of generations old. 200 gave way to 500 and now 1000. It took time to get going, but powerline technology is moving on faster than most areas of PC kit.
Were these newer generation plugs I would suspect hibernation. The things go to sleep after a period of inactivity and then don't wake up again as expected. The experts way of dealing with this is to get a Zyxel (sic) powerline utility and disable hibernation.
I don't have the 200s, only 500s, and don't know if these older ones do hibernation. You might like to investigate that possibility.
The behaviour you see is certainly odd. I have powerline plugs installed for months, turning some on and off at will, and they never lose connection, even after power cuts. Once you have set up the network, the plugs should remember what has gone on. I haven't had to reset since I bought the things some years ago.
By the way, the plugs you have, mine too, are on the edge of network technology. They have LAN ports that do 100 Mbps. That is slower than some people get for their internet connection. It is certainly slower than the LAN speeds on most modern PCs. They do 1000 Mbps, which is also the LAN speed of the newer plugs.
Thanks for your reply. I'll explore the utility you mention to see if it communicates with my Powerline model and look for an automatic hibernation setting that I can disable. However, I suspect that it may not be part of the AV 200 software. I say this because the instruction manual for my model says that the user can manually enable a "power saving mode" by pressing and holding the security button for 10 seconds or more, then releasing it. However, the manual also says that if the adapter is in power saving mode, the power LED glows amber. However, when I lose the Powerline LED, the Power LED remains green. The instructions go on to say, "Pressing the Security button again powers the adapter back on." I've never bothered to play with it. Perhaps I will the next time I have to reset the adapters.
PKent wrote:I say this because the instruction manual for my model says that the user can manually enable a "power saving mode" by pressing and holding the security button for 10 seconds or more, then releasing it.
You are probably correct. But no harm in playing with this feature the next time things grind to a halt.
