homeplugs again

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Neal
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#16 Re: homeplugs again

Post by Neal »

The old TP link powerline Ethernet adapters suffered from poor ‘lytic capacitors, replacing them got them going again 90% of the time. BT seem to screw a lot of things up, I’ve had a number of calls recently about BT smart hubs, seems BT rolled out a f/w upgrade that has caused some customer to have Wi-fi connection issues.
Only the Sith deal in absolutes.
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Nick
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#17 Re: homeplugs again

Post by Nick »

Caps would make sense. Didn't think of that.
Whenever an honest man discovers that he's mistaken, he will either cease to be mistaken or he will cease to be honest.
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The Stratmangler
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#18 Re: homeplugs again

Post by The Stratmangler »

Neal wrote: Tue Apr 28, 2020 10:07 am The old TP link powerline Ethernet adapters suffered from poor ‘lytic capacitors, replacing them got them going again 90% of the time. BT seem to screw a lot of things up, I’ve had a number of calls recently about BT smart hubs, seems BT rolled out a f/w upgrade that has caused some customer to have Wi-fi connection issues.
On the BT front, that's progress for ya :D
'lytic caps in the powerline shite going bad is wholly plausible too.
Chris :happy3:
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jack
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#19 Re: homeplugs again

Post by jack »

Bored, so took a Devolo dLAN 500 WiFi unit apart...

Quite impressed - an awful lot of technology in there - no TransZorbs that I could find (doesn't mean there aren't any), just a 300VAC varistor and some X & Y caps...

Two PCBs in there - a mains interface board with coupling transformers and a lot of related circuitry - power supply etc. for the test of the stuff - highly integrated and very small devices - 0402 and smaller...

Main processing PCB was populated densely on both sides and I think is a 6-layer PCB. All main devices are BGA - just one or two legacy packages. One side seems to be processing and contains amongst a pile of stuff 512Mb of DDR2 RAM (a Zentel A3R12E40CBF, organised as 32M x 16) and a Qualcomm Atheros AR9331 SoC which is a pretty impressive device (from 2010) - the datasheets states "Complete IEEE 802.11n 1x1 AP or router in a single chip":
The Atheros AR9331 is a highly integrated and cost effective IEEE 802.11n 1x1 2.4 GHz System-on-a-Chip (SoC) for wireless local area network (WLAN) AP and router platforms.
In a single chip, the AR9331 includes a MIPS 24K processor, five-port IEEE 802.3 Fast Ethernet Switch with MAC/PHY, one USB 2.0 MAC/PHY, and external memory interface for serial Flash, SDRAM, DDR1 or DDR2, I2S/SPDIF-Out audio interface, SLIC VOIP/PCM interface, UART, and GPIOs that can be used for LED controls or other general purpose interface configurations.

The AR9331 integrates two Gbit MACs plus a five-port Fast Ethernet switch with a four-traffic class Quality of Service (QoS) engine.

The AR9331 integrates an 802.11n 1x1 MAC/BB/ radio with internal PA and LNA. It supports 802.11n operations up to 72 Mbps for 20 MHz and 150 Mbps for 40 MHz channel respectively, and IEEE 802.11b/g data rates. Additional features include on-chip one-time programmable (OTP) memory.
The other side seems mainly the RF part, and includes a Qualcomm Atheros AR7420 transceiver:
The AR7420 MAC/PHY Transceiver is designed to bridge multi-stream Ethernet content from a Powerline Network to an Ethernet 802.3 network. Examples include high and standard definition television (HDTV, SDTV), and other digital multimedia file sharing and data applications. The Powerline Communications (PLC) specific MAC manages network admission and service flows to maximise the quality of service (QoS) over the Powerline Network.
There's an awful lot in a pretty small package...
Vivitur ingenio, caetera mortis erunt
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