Header banner
Revain logoHome Page
Kyle Whitehead photo
United States of America, Springfield
1 Level
733 Review
51 Karma

Review on NexusLink Powerline Ethernet Adapter Supports by Kyle Whitehead

Revainrating 5 out of 5

PoE and the best powerline technologies are amazing.

I've been using powerline adapters for about 8 years and have decided to upgrade my network to the new g.hn Wave 2 adapters that are coming out. I really liked that Comtrend/NexusLink has a full line of adapters that use the same g.hn technology but with specific features. This POE adapter is particularly useful as it makes it easy to connect devices like security cameras , as it powers the camera with a single cable and also makes the reverse connection easier as g.hn can use the power lines to connect to the router a POE device for a security camera at the other end of the house with poor WiFi connectivity After I did the When I originally received the POE adapter I was unable to connect it to my existing network using the 'link' buttons which I tried several times and other ways as the POE would not connect to my existing network. I emailed support and they sent several emails with instructions on how to try it. It didn't work so I ended up calling her. The support I spoke to was very helpful and we made a few more tries but couldn't get a pair so they sent an RMA and sent a replacement. The replacement was delivered quickly, but to my disappointment, the replacement also does not plug into the mains. However, the replacement POE adapter and the original POE adapter will pair with each other. At this point I thought the problem could either be with my other adapters or with the way I set up my network. I gathered all my adapters and factory reset everything. From scratch, POE adapters connect to each other, PT and WAC adapters connect to each other, but POE and PT/WAC adapters do not connect to each other. All of these devices have built-in web interfaces that can be accessed by connecting to a network port and navigating to 192.168.0.5 (all adapters use this IP address by default). On the main page you will find "Domain Name" under "Basic Settings" and "Pairing Password" under "Encryption Settings". These are two elements that must match in order for devices to connect to the same g.hn network and communicate with each other. I first tried changing the "domain name" to match via the web interface. This allowed the devices to "see" each other, but they could not transfer data and connect via the link button. I then changed the "Pairing Password" from the factory default to something else, and to my surprise, the POE and PT/WAC adapters paired successfully! I've always used the 'Link' button on the sides of the devices to connect them together, so I've never changed it manually from the web interface. So it seems that every factory default pairing password on POE devices is different from other models and it looks like it needs to match for the "Pair" button to pair successfully. So if you buy a POE adapter and also try to successfully pair it with one of the other models, try to manually change the pairing password on both via their web interfaces to make it match. I have forwarded this information to support and they have allowed me to keep both POE adapters as a thank you. I am very happy with the way they are doing it and I am also very happy with the support I have received. It's annoying that POE and other models *currently* (as of 8/2020) can't connect via the link button, but there is a solid workaround and I'm sure Comtrend will keep investigating and issuing a software fix becomes. Another thing I like about the company is that they really support their devices with software updates and bug fixes while most other powerline network adapter vendors just ignore them after their release and the bugs are never fixed. The problem is specific to the adapters in my kit and is not a problem for anyone else. I learned something along the way that is always worth the effort.

Pros
  • Computers and Accessories
Cons
  • Something else