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Re: XAV1601v2

Pangear
Aspirant

XAV1601v2

I am puzzled who repairs failed Netgear's  powerline devices after 90 day period ( I purchased them in March, 2014 ).

I entered necessary information ( serial number and purchase date ) on Netgear's support page and found I need to pay for a service support plan when a home device is beyound the warranty period. So the cost for such plan is significantly more than to buy a new device.

My troubleshooting reveals that this device shows that powerline LED is off regardless depressing default or security buttons on the device, however when I connect my PC with Netgear's Upgrade Utility directly to the ethernet port it communicates with the device. Conclusion: the trouble is somewhere on device interface with the powerline.   

Model: XAVB1601v2|Powerline 200 Nano PassThru
Message 1 of 6
plemans
Guru

Re: XAV1601v2

It'd probably cost you more than the device is worth to have a 6 year old device repaired. 

 

If you move the powerline devices right next to each other, are you able to pair them? 

Many times we see interference in the line cause them not to pair. By being right next to each other on the same circuit it give them the best chance to test pairing. 

Message 2 of 6
Pangear
Aspirant

Re: XAV1601v2

Yes, you are right that cost for troubleshooting and repair these days can exceed the price tag of new.

So, I decided to move to a new brand - TP-Link devices, their cost is less and they are reliable. I installed a new pair of TL-PA4010v3 on my home network making  two private subnetworks with own names. I learned they coexist with my Netgear PLCs and Netgear Genie V 2.4.62 easily discovers them on the network with their  correct MAC addresses.

Neverthless, I discovered a new issue while all five devices work. I downloaded as well as tp-link PLC utility V 2.2.3149.12 that allows to configure TP-Link devices and monitor their performance like Netgear's Genie does.

The tp-link PLC utility stops seeing their own devices when Netgear's PLC is connected to the router, by disconnecting ethernet cable

from LAN port to Netgear's XAV1601v2 temporary the utility sees again their PLCs. It is unclear how Home Plug AV protocol ethernet packets from Netgear's devices can interfer with the recieved tp-link devices suppressing the function of utility discovering their own

devices.

 

 

 

 

Message 3 of 6

Re: XAV1601v2

As an experiment, does this happen if all of these plugs use a single host on the router?

 

The utilities for Powerline seem to be interchangeable. Some work better that others with different brands.

 

Netgear effectively ditched its utility some time ago. (I use the Netgear genie for Windows to check things.)

 

The one that seems to be most versatile comes from ZyXEL. I stumbled across it because, unlike Netgear's too, it can disable power saving on Netgear plugs.That has a habit if turning plugs off at awkward moments.

 

 

 

 

Message 4 of 6
plemans
Guru

Re: XAV1601v2

The only other thing to keep in mind is if you're mixing powerline devices, they'll function at the lowest devices speeds. The tplink device is a 600mbps versus the netgear is a 200mbps device. 

Might be worth trying the tplink's by themselves and see how they do with speeds and then adding the netgear's back in and comparing them. 

Message 5 of 6
Pangear
Aspirant

Re: XAV1601v2

My layout is as follows tp-link PLC is connected to

LAN1 port of router and Netgear's XAV1601 to LAN2 port of router.
My average speed is around 200 
Mbps and I do not strive for a higher speed because that is great for my applications.
Also, I tried with Wireshark to capture ethernet

packets connecting my PC to tp-link device.

I found that td-link uses Atheros chip and Netgear

Broadcom, for td-link devices the protocol is Home

Plug AV but for Netgear’s Ethernet II, that is strange. Probably, I need to create HomePlug captute

filter to dissect properly the captured packets by

Woreshark app.

Message 6 of 6
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