Is this a known issue? (Powerline 500 Nano XAVB5101

[Ennyoueffsea]

Hi all

First post and hoping someone can help with some advice please.

For some time I've used an HDMI switch in order to use a Fire stick and a Chromecast on a tv with only one HDMI socket.

I was looking to hard wire the Fire stick for a speedier connection.

After pairing the powerlines and connect everything up I have found that the Ethernet LED goes out, losing the connection every few seconds and causing the Fire stick to keep restarting.

I've eventually got the Fire stick working by disconnecting it from the HDMI switch and plugging it into the tv and leaving the Chromecast unplugged. Is there a way of getting round this issue and being able to have both the Fire stick and the Chromecast available?

Many thanks

Terry

[CrimpOn]

The Firestick is a WiFi device, correct?

How is it connected to the Powerline adapter?

[Ennyoueffsea]

Hi CrimpOn
Thanks for getting in touch.
Yes, it is the Amazon fire stick and have connected it to the Powerline by using the Ugreen Ethernet Adapter.
Everything has settled down since the problem though I will still need to unplug the fire stick from the tv if I want to use the Chromcast.

Regards
Terry

[CrimpOn]

Alas, my Powerline adapters are from TP-Link.  They have one feature that annoyed the heck out of me until I discovered how to fix it.

My Powerline adapters default to, "When there is signal on the ethernet link for (I think it's five minutes), shut down the Powerline link (to save electricity).  So, I would add a new Powerline adapter to my network, carry it somewhere in the house, plug it in.  When I would open the TP-Link Powerline Utility Program, the new adapter would have disappeared!  Then I discovered that the utility could set the adapter to, "Don't worry about saving energy.  Keep the PA link up all the time."

When the Firestick is connected to an HDMI switch, maybe the Firestick detects when the HDMI link has disappeared and does something goofy with the ethernet connection?  (I also have no idea whether Netgear has a similar feature on their Powerline adapters or if there is a utility program to change it.)

[Ennyoueffsea]

Thanks again CrimpOn
I’ve had a search to see if there’s anything online that relates to the Powerline Utility that would apply to the 500 nano but didn’t find anything at this stage though I will keep on looking.
It make sense as you mentioned that it could be some kind of energy saving feature.

Thanks again, it’s really appreciated.

Terry

[michaelkenward]

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@CrimpOn wrote:

(I also have no idea whether Netgear has a similar feature on their Powerline adapters or if there is a utility program to change it.)

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Netgear does enable (by default even) "Standby" mode on some Powerline devices.

And, get this, it does not offer a utility program to change it.

But, do not give up all hope. The utilities written by people with more concern for their customers will also work with Netgear plugs.

The most popular comes from ZyXEL. Look at these old messages.

Netgear Powerline 1000 - NETGEAR Communities

Solved: Netgear Powerline Utility for Windows - NETGEAR Communities

PL1200 and PLP1200 Powerline Utility / Netgear Gen... - NETGEAR Communities

It doesn't seem to matter which version of the utility you go for.

[Ennyoueffsea]

Thanks Michael for those links.

Will give that a try and get back to you.

Terry

[Ennyoueffsea]

Hi Michael

Managed to get into the app and switch off the standby mode.

Run the Fire Stick and Chromecast through the hdmi switch but finding that the connection drops after a couple of minutes before attempting to reconnect, then dropping again continuously.

On the TV set up downstairs it has a similar layout, with the Fire Stick hard-wired to the router and the Chromecast using Wifi, again both connected through a hdmi switch and all works well.

I guess I'll just have to resort to unplugging/plugging the Fire Stick/Chromecast as they are required.

Really appreciate your help on this.

Highest regards,

Terry