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Newegg • Tenda P200 Powerline Mini Adapter Kit • $33/pair including shipping

  • Last Updated:
  • Mar 22nd, 2013 12:49 am
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Deal Addict
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Sep 29, 2005
3129 posts
744 upvotes
Pickering
Bought these from another store about 6 months back, had to return them as they were as slow as 802.11b speeds :facepalm: . Question I have is would the Trendnet ones be any better? 500 or 200mbps versions?
The only thing worse than human ignorance is human pride in that ignorance.
Deal Fanatic
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Mar 20, 2009
8862 posts
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They all use the same chips, so in theory they should all be about equal within any speed class, but in the comparison tests I've seen some are faster than others in real-world tests. Maybe better noise filtering in less-than-perfect conditions?

In any case, the main issue for people getting very low speeds is almost always that their outlets are on two different power phases and therefore not physically connected to each other. That causes a huge drop in speed because there is only RF coupling at the breaker panel.
Deal Addict
Mar 14, 2004
3379 posts
710 upvotes
North Etobicoke
JamesA1 wrote: They all use the same chips, so in theory they should all be about equal within any speed class, but in the comparison tests I've seen some are faster than others in real-world tests. Maybe better noise filtering in less-than-perfect conditions?

In any case, the main issue for people getting very low speeds is almost always that their outlets are on two different power phases and therefore not physically connected to each other. That causes a huge drop in speed because there is only RF coupling at the breaker panel.
Does different power phases means separate breakers or circuits or something else?
Deal Addict
Oct 31, 2012
4547 posts
1045 upvotes
London
Menthol wrote: Does different power phases means separate breakers or circuits or something else?
You can think of it as that. It's more complicated, relating to how our power is generated (we use three-phase electricity). That different breakers might be on different phases is merely a symptom, not the reason.
You can try reading about it here if you want: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three-phase_electric_power
Not an easy read unless you're well-versed in this stuff/are an engineer. My dad (an engineer) explained it to me in the past but I can't remember all the details.
Jr. Member
Feb 19, 2008
116 posts
47 upvotes
I bought two pair and sprinkled the devices about the house, all work great, just plug and go. We have wifi, but the basement and rooms on the opposite side of the house don't get much of a signal.
Deal Guru
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Mar 4, 2004
10228 posts
3142 upvotes
Montreal
Ok, finally got to pair them with my Netgear AV500 Powerline units (also Home Plug AV compatible). OH GOSH WHAT A DISASTER to pair these, they might call this "Home Plug AV" a standard but it was HECK to setup.

I hope this post can help people in the thread on how to pair two different brands of Home Plug AV units!

THESE INSTRUCTIONS ARE ONLY TO PAIR THE TENGA UNITS WITH ANOTHER BRAND OF HOME PLUG AV POWERLINE UNITS, no need to do this if you are just using two Tenga units out of the box:

I tried to use the "auto generate/sync button" but the Netgear 500+ AV wouldn't join the Tenga's. Try with your brand first, but mine didn't work...wish it did.

1) Ensure your existing Powerline units are Home Plug AV compatible and IS USING A USER GENERATED PASSWORD by installing the software that came with your original adapters (In my case, the Netgear Powerline software for Windows). You can not use the Tenga software to configure other brands of HomePlug AV.

2) Now that you've used the software to set an Encryption password on your EXISTING Home Plug AV units, you can install the software for the Tenga units.

3) Write down the huge long code that has dashes xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx (not the mac or the serial number) that is in TINY font on the back of the Tenga units or in REGULAR font on the box (Write down both just in case, trust me, I wrote down the wrong one and I had pull it off the wall to see what it was).

4) Now plug your computer DIRECTLY into the Tenga unit that is on the wall with a network cable. Plug the other Tenga unit into any outlet (no need for a network cable).

5) Go into the Tenga software and CHANGE THE NETWORK NAME on the first device, the network name is the Encryption password that you set above. Leave the pulldown menu on "Unencrypted" (which makes no sense as it IS encrypted).

6) Now change the network name for the 2nd Tenga device, it will ask for the huge code (with dashes), now you can change the Network Name like in step 4 (remember Unencrypted).

Phew! Done! Now my Tenga's are talking to my Netgear Powerline AV500 that is plugged into my router (Tenga's are running at 75 megabit, just like the Netgears, what a HOT DEAL!).
Deal Addict
Mar 29, 2009
1413 posts
630 upvotes
Received mine yesterday, worked perfectly

thanks again
Deal Expert
Jan 7, 2002
29710 posts
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Waterloo, ON
yuprules wrote: You can not use the Tenga software to configure other brands of HomePlug AV.
This seems to be a common problem with HP AV software. I found the Tenga software a bit hard to use so, thinking that because all this stuff is supposed to interoperate so should its config software, I downloaded HP AV config software from Cisco's site. Well it works fine to display what's on the HP AV network but it won't configure non-Cisco adapters. So it seems that if you have a heterogeneous network you'll need to install and run all versions of config software.

3) Write down the huge long code that has dashes xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx (not the mac or the serial number) that is in TINY font on the back of the Tenga units (both units just in case).
Yeah, I had to get a magnifying glass in order to read the stickers on the adapters. Then I noticed that the same info (MAC, password and S/N for each adapter) was printed in much larger type on the box all the stuff came in :facepalm:

Tip: Copy all that stuff into a small TXT file that's in the Tenga directory so that you can copy/paste it in the future as needed.
Tenga's are running at 75 megabit, just like the Netgears, what a HOT DEAL!).
Good to hear it was worth the effort. And thanks for the step by step procedure.
veni, vidi, Visa
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Oct 31, 2012
4547 posts
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Ugh, Powerline requires installing proprietary software for each brand on your computer? Guess I'm staying away from Powerline after all...I already don't like Apple routers because of this...
Deal Addict
Nov 12, 2008
1983 posts
389 upvotes
Aurora
Scycotic wrote: Ugh, Powerline requires installing proprietary software for each brand on your computer? Guess I'm staying away from Powerline after all...I already don't like Apple routers because of this...
Please elaborate - I thought I could just plug one into my router, the other into my WDTV. I need to install software?
Deal Expert
Jan 7, 2002
29710 posts
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Scycotic wrote: Ugh, Powerline requires installing proprietary software for each brand on your computer?
It doesn't require any desktop software in order for the adapters to work with default settings. Most people will plug two adapters into AC outlets, connect to devices using Ethernet cables and start communicating. It's that simple.

If you want to customize, e.g. rename the Adapters, set up encryption, etc. then you'll need to install a small Windows app.

If you have a heterogeneous network with adapters from more than one vendor and you need to customize devices then yes, you'll need the app from each vendor.

I haven't looked, but maybe there's a config app out there that doesn't care about whose brand of adapter it configures. Anyone know?
veni, vidi, Visa
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Mar 4, 2004
10228 posts
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Montreal
bylo wrote: Yeah, I had to get a magnifying glass in order to read the stickers on the adapters. Then I noticed that the same info (MAC, password and S/N for each adapter) was printed in much larger type on the box all the stuff came in :facepalm:

Tip: Copy all that stuff into a small TXT file that's in the Tenga directory so that you can copy/paste it in the future as needed.

Good to hear it was worth the effort. And thanks for the step by step procedure.
UGGGH, it's on the box? LOL! Editing my "How to hook up Tenga to other powerline adapters" on the previous page to say look at the box.

Say what brand did you pair the Tenga's with, did the "sync button work" or you had to do install the Tenga software to get it hooked up to your existing Powerline units?

bylo wrote: I haven't looked, but maybe there's a config app out there that doesn't care about whose brand of adapter it configures. Anyone know?
The Tenga software SEES my Netgear units but won't configure them. My Netgear software doesn't even SEE the Tenga units! So annoying, I had a folder called Powerline Config on my start menu, one icon is the Netgear the other is the Tenga software :)

Wow, I just noticed the sale is still on!
Jr. Member
Sep 26, 2009
133 posts
23 upvotes
Hint: if you're challenged by small print or print on boxes that you're going to throw out, you can photograph them with one of the cameras you bought for a "deal" on RFD, and then look at them with arbitrary magnification, either on the screen of said camera or on the screen of your deal computer. My wife and I used a similar tactics to read a banner hundreds of yards away. You're welcome.
Deal Expert
Jan 7, 2002
29710 posts
29128 upvotes
Waterloo, ON
yuprules wrote: Say what brand did you pair the Tenga's with
I didn't. I have 4 identical Tenga P200 adapters.
The Tenga software SEES my Netgear units but won't configure them.
Cisco's software here can also detect and display the status of the Tengas but it won't configure them. (Incidentally it also comes in a Mac version that the Tenga lacks.)




The Tenga software SEES my Netgear units but won't configure them. My Netgear software doesn't even SEE the Tenga units! So annoying, I had a folder called Powerline Config on my start menu, one icon is the Netgear the other is the Tenga software :)

Wow, I just noticed the sale is still on![/quote]
veni, vidi, Visa

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