PLA6456 connectivity and node type issues

cmeilahn

I intended to replace my Netgear (Homeplug AV2) powerline adapters with these Zyxel G.hn adapters because they're supposed to provide better performance and error handling with noise. However, these are noticeably slower. I updated FW to ABSU.6 from ABSU.5 with no improvement/change.

1. I haven't found a good (useful) description of the two G.hn profiles, and why one should be selected over the other.  Will changing make any improvements if there is a "noisy" electrical circuit? I read something about a SISO option vs. the MIMO option, but don't see anything explicit for SISO. Is that the "other" option? What are the differences between the two choices?
2. After I plugged in the 4 adapters, I noticed that the one plugged into the router was NOT automatically set as Domain Master, however all 4 adapters will communicate. 

If I change that one to Domain Master, the one that previously automatically set itself as Domain Master (DM) won't communicate at all.

• If I just change the one connect to the router and leave the others at automatic, the "old" DM won't communicate
• If I change the "old" DM to be an End Point (EP) and then change the one connected to the router to DM, the "old" won't communicate, and the others are intermittent.
• If I manually change all the others to EP and the one connected to the router to DM, the other 3 will communicate, but the "old" DM won't.

tonygibbs16

Hello,

The below extract from the user guide at https://download.zyxel.com/PLA6456/user_guide/PLA6456_V1.00_Ed2.pdf says what the difference is between the two G.hn profiles.

It also mentions that it is recommended to use the node type setting of AUTOMATIC for automatic role detection, so this might be useful to set on the G.hn screen under basic settings.

I hope that this is helpful.

Kind regards,
    Tony

Pixel

I think you're saying about the feature Domain name.

The DM should set the same as the root to make it work. You can find it on User Guide Chapter3-3 pg18，I think the Domain name is just for device to communicate with each other.

And as I know the PLA6456 would auto negotiate with each other. so do not need to pair it manually.

tonygibbs16

Hello,

The below extract from the user guide at https://download.zyxel.com/PLA6456/user_guide/PLA6456_V1.00_Ed2.pdf says what the difference is between the two G.hn profiles.

It also mentions that it is recommended to use the node type setting of AUTOMATIC for automatic role detection, so this might be useful to set on the G.hn screen under basic settings.

I hope that this is helpful.

Kind regards,
    Tony

cmeilahn

I'm pretty sure I understand about the 2 profiles, but to get the best performance (highest pair of TX/RX values), I had to set to to the MIMO profile, and two to the non-MIMO profile. It doesn't make much sense to me and I was hopeful for a more detailed description. Interesting to note that when the are all the same profile, performance is overall worse than how I have it now (mixed). When all are the same profile, performance is (roughly) equally poor... lower TX/RX pairs across the board, and about the same values either way. My guess is that there is something incorrectly wired in the house, even though it was built in 2016.

I understand about the Domain Name. I am talking about the Automatic/Manual setting for DOMAIN_MASTER vs END_POINT. Documentation says the device connected to the router should be the Domain Master. However, when in "Automatic", the one detected and set as the Domain Master is definitely not the one connected to the Router. As indicated, I tried multiple ways to manually set the one connected to the router as the Domain Master and none worked properly. Only "Automatic" allows all 4 devices to communicate properly.

Another point... When I initially connected the devices, I actually connected the one connected to the router first, and the one ultimately set as DM last.

Pixel

I do not have four PLA devices, I only have two pieces.  I check the Domain Master, it is always the one connected to the router.

I try to change the Domain Master to the extender, and I figure out it need to change the Node Type to End point on all devices and then set up Domain Master, and it works.

To check the speed between to PLA device, if you have extension cord, you can put two pieces on it and check what's the performance when device under such a simple environment.