linksys PLWK400 powerline wired and wireless network expansion kit

 

 

How does powerline adapters are different from WiFi range extenders? How does Linksys PLWK400 powerline wired and wireless network expansion kit works?

 

Powerline adapters and WiFi range extenders both are networking devices. Difference between them lies in their functionality. Range extenders are device which boost up incoming signal. They just got power from electrical wiring of area, but their functionality is totally depended on WiFi signals.

On other hand Powerline adapters are so called because of their dependency on electrical wiring of an area for its functioning. Powerline network can be constructed only when two powerline adapters are used. One powerline adapter is dedicated to establish network router and second one is dedicated to deliver network signal to network devices. To establish link between these two powerline adapter electrical wiring is used as medium. This is main factor which differentiate it from other networking devices.

PLWK400 powerline wired and wireless network expansion kit works in same way as other powerline adapters work. PLWK400 powerline adapter provides user an opportunity to connect both wired as well as wireless network devices with home network. This PLWK400 powerline wired and wireless network expansion kit includes two powerline adapters i.e. PLE400 and PLW400 powerline adapter. PLE400 is connected with network router and PLW400 is connected with wireless or wired network devices available in your vicinity. We are going to discuss more elaborately about how to install PLE400 and PLW400 in already installed network, as below:

 

PLE400

 

There are different LEDs on PLE400 powerline adapter which denotes different status. For example:

• Powerline LED: - It turns to solid green only in case your powerline adapter is having connection with powerline network.
• Powerline: -This LED get lit up when PLE400 adapter is connected with powerline network.
• Ethernet: -Whenever you get any wired connection through Ethernet port of PLE400 then this LED gets lit up.
• Power: - It shows whether PLE400 powerline adapter is connected with power or not.

 

PLW400

 

PLW400 powerline adapter is used at Wired or wireless devices end i.e PLW400 powerline adapter is used to connect wired or wireless devices. It comes along with some LEDs which are used to know status of different functionality of device. That includes-

• Powerline LED: -It turns to solid green only in case your powerline adapter is having connection with powerline network..
• Ethernet LED: - This LED gets lit up when any wired network device has established connection with your powerline adaptor using Ethernet port.
• Wireless LED: -It gets lit up when wireless device gets connected with your PLW400 powerline adapter.
• Wi-Fi Protected Setup LED: -This LED glows to solid green when wireless network device gets connected with PLW400 using Wi-Fi Protected Setup.
• Power LED: - It gets lit up when your PLW400 powerline adapter gets powered on.

 

Working of powerline adapter

 

Now comes question about working of PLWK400 powerline adapter. To create any powerline adapter network, you need to have pair of powerline adapter. In case of PLWK400 powerline adapter this pair is PLE400 and PLW400. To transmit signal from one adapter to other, they use electric wiring that is running through your home or office. At one end you have to connect your adapter with network router or switch. On other end adapter gets connected with wired or wireless devices. For wired connection Ethernet port is used. As PLW400 comes along with one Ethernet port and access point, so user can connect one wired device using this Ethernet port and as many wireless devices as he desires using access point.

 

Installing PLWK400 Powerline adapter

 

As stated earlier also PLWK400 powerline adapter exist in pair of PLE400 and PLW400 powerline adapter. SO installation process of PLWK400 powerline adapter means installation of PLE400 and PLW400 adapter. But before proceeding further there are some pre requisites that user needs to ensure. That includes:

• Ensure uninterrupted internet connection. That means your home network should have to be in up state.
• Make internet accessible to your powerline network.
• Ensure that wireless feature of your wireless devices (that you want to connect with your powerline adapter network) is in working state.
• Try to reduce obstructions (like mirror, walls etc) to as less numbers as possible.

 

After taking care of the above written points we will proceed further to install PLE400 powerline adapter first. Various steps involved in this procedure are:

• First step involves putting your PLE400 power line adapter in on state. For this you will firstly need to connect it with any power outlet.
• Once Power LED gets stable, then you can proceed forward to connect your network device such as router with PLE400 adapter using Ethernet cable.

 

Just by following these two simple steps your PLE400 powerline adapter gets installed. Now we will move forward to setup PLW400 powerline adapter. PLW400 adapter provides user an option to connect both wired and wireless devices with powerline network. Various steps involved to setup PLW400 powerline adapter are:

• Firstly, put your PLW400 adapter on power. Once it gets powered on, only then we can move forward to set it up.
• Then press WPS button on PLW400 adapter and hold it for a while. Wait until Wi-Fi Protected setup gets lit up.
• Then press Wi-FI protected Setup button present on your network router. Once you complete this step, your PLW400 adapter gets connected with your wireless network.
• Now you can connect any wireless device with your network which comes in range of PLW400 adapter.
• For wired device, you need nothing just establish a connection with your wired device and PLW400 powerline adapter using Ethernet cable.

 

As you finish the installation of PLW400 adapter, your PLWK400 adapter’s installation also gets completed.

We hope by end of this article you have become capable to understand usage as well as working of Linksys powerline adapter. We had clearly differentiated between powerline adapter and Linksys range extender. Both functioning as well as installation process of PLWK400 powerline adapter has been elaborated in above article. But in case still any query persists in your mind then you are requested to kindly visit on Linksys’s official website .