TRENDnet Launches TPL-430AP AC1200 Wireless Access Point with HomePlug Powerline Backhaul

Extending the reach of Wi-Fi networks has become important with the rise in number and spread in usage location of Wi-Fi clients in a typical household. Typical range extenders sacrifice some performance by communicating with the main router using the same channel used for its clients. Late last year, we had evaluated various backhaul technologies being adopted in this space. Wi-Fi as a backhaul medium worked great in our particular evaluation location. However, there are scenarios in which Wi-Fi signals get attenuated very quickly (say, houses with thick brick or concrete walls). In those cases, powerline communication may present a better backhaul option.

At CES 2017, TRENDnet is launching the TPL-430AP wireless access point. They will be selling it under the ‘WiFi Everywhere’ tag. The product uses HomePlug AV2 technology. In particular, it adopts the Qualcomm Atheros QCA7500 chipset with V2 MIMO powerline operation in the 0 – 68 MHz band. The product also includes a built-in dual-band AC1200 access point (2×2:2 802.11ac/b/g/n, with 867 Mbps in the 5 GHz band and 300 Mbps in the 2.4 GHz band). It also has two Gigabit LAN ports.

An issue with some of the powerline Wi-Fi extenders in the market is the appearance of a whole new SSID and putting the onus on the customer to replicate the Wi-Fi settings from the main router (which could be from a different vendor). TRENDnet fortunately recognizes this issue and has a WPS-like setup to clone the Wi-Fi settings from the main router for simpler setup.

Consumers purchasing the TPL-430AP are already expected to have a HomePlug AV2 already in their network. Otherwise, TRENDnet also offers the access point as part of a kit – the TPL-430APK includes the TPL-430 as well as the TPL-421E (a HomePlug AV2 1200 powerline adapter that has a built-in passthrough outlet).

The wireless access point with powerline backhaul, as well as the kit, will be available in early Q2 2017. While the TPL-430AP will have a MSRP of $125, the kit will retail for $175.

In other TRENDnet CES news, a number of new USB-C adapters are also being launched – welcome news for the USB-C ecosystem.

TRENDnet Launches TPL-430AP AC1200 Wireless Access Point with HomePlug Powerline Backhaul

Extending the reach of Wi-Fi networks has become important with the rise in number and spread in usage location of Wi-Fi clients in a typical household. Typical range extenders sacrifice some performance by communicating with the main router using the same channel used for its clients. Late last year, we had evaluated various backhaul technologies being adopted in this space. Wi-Fi as a backhaul medium worked great in our particular evaluation location. However, there are scenarios in which Wi-Fi signals get attenuated very quickly (say, houses with thick brick or concrete walls). In those cases, powerline communication may present a better backhaul option.

At CES 2017, TRENDnet is launching the TPL-430AP wireless access point. They will be selling it under the ‘WiFi Everywhere’ tag. The product uses HomePlug AV2 technology. In particular, it adopts the Qualcomm Atheros QCA7500 chipset with V2 MIMO powerline operation in the 0 – 68 MHz band. The product also includes a built-in dual-band AC1200 access point (2×2:2 802.11ac/b/g/n, with 867 Mbps in the 5 GHz band and 300 Mbps in the 2.4 GHz band). It also has two Gigabit LAN ports.

An issue with some of the powerline Wi-Fi extenders in the market is the appearance of a whole new SSID and putting the onus on the customer to replicate the Wi-Fi settings from the main router (which could be from a different vendor). TRENDnet fortunately recognizes this issue and has a WPS-like setup to clone the Wi-Fi settings from the main router for simpler setup.

Consumers purchasing the TPL-430AP are already expected to have a HomePlug AV2 already in their network. Otherwise, TRENDnet also offers the access point as part of a kit – the TPL-430APK includes the TPL-430 as well as the TPL-421E (a HomePlug AV2 1200 powerline adapter that has a built-in passthrough outlet).

The wireless access point with powerline backhaul, as well as the kit, will be available in early Q2 2017. While the TPL-430AP will have a MSRP of $125, the kit will retail for $175.

In other TRENDnet CES news, a number of new USB-C adapters are also being launched – welcome news for the USB-C ecosystem.

Netgear Expands ReadyNAS Lineup with Intel Denverton Atom Platform

Netgear’s CES 2017 announcements include a trio of updates to their ReadyNAS network-attached storage lineup. Back in September 2016, Netgear announced one of the first NAS lineups based on Intel’s Broadwell DE (Xeon D / Pentium D) platform. While the ReadyNAS 520 series used the dual-core Intel Pentium D-1508 SoC, the ReadyNAS 620 series used the quad-core Xeon D-1521 SoC. At the time of introduction, only 6-bay models were available in both the series. As part of the CES announcements, the ReadyNAS 520 series is expanding with 4- and 8-bay models. The ReadyNAS 620 series is getting a 8-bay model in addition to the existing 6-bay model. We will come back to the ReadyNAS 520 and 620 series later on in this piece.

The major new product announcement in the ReadyNAS lineup is the ReadyNAS 420 series, which comes in 2-bay (RN 422) and 4-bay (RN 424) variants. Both are based on the dual-core Intel Atom C3338 SoC. Based on the Goldmont Atom micro-architecture, Denverton shows that Intel is committed to a cost-effective server solution based on the Intel Atom platform, while retaining Xeon D and Pentium D for solutions offering better performance at a premium.

Note that the ReadyNAS 420 series comes with only Gigabit LAN ports, while the 520 and 620 series are equipped with 10GBASE-T ports. The specifications of the new members in the 520 and 620 series are provided below.

An interesting aspect is the Bluetooth dongle, which allows IT administrators to quickly check up on the status of the NAS unit from a mobile device.

Similar to the current ReadyNAS units, the new ones also deliver the advantages resulting from Netgear’s adaptation of the btrfs file system along with a mdadm RAID management layer. Various backup and remote access strategies are supported with the ReadyDR and ReadyCLOUD packages. Despite the major focus on gearing up ReadyNAS solutions towards business use-cases, there is also support for prosumers interested in multimedia streaming – the ReadyNAS 620 series supports streaming and real-time transcoding of multiple 4K streams, while the 520 series supports streaming and real-time transcoding for multiple 1080p or a single 4K stream (based on the CPU capabilities).

The current pricing of the various ReadyNAS models are specificed in the table below.

The RN 528X and RN 628X are available immediately, while the other new models (RN 524X, RN 422 and RN 424) are slated to become available later this quarter.

Gallery: Netgear Expands ReadyNAS Lineup with Intel Denverton Atom Platform

All models are backed up by a 5-year warranty, with multiple support options available (including next business-day parts replacement) – something attractive to IT administrators. In summary, Netgear has taken the lead in introducing commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) NAS units based on the latest hardware platforms from Intel. The OS features and allied packages are very attractive to business users, despite other NAS vendors providing a OS with more features for prosumers.