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Today we’ll be taking a look at the TP-Link 200Mbps Mini Powerline Adapter (TL-PA211), an ethernet over power (EOP) device which won’t power up – this is the second one of these that has had power up issues.

IMG_3647IMG_3650IMG_3648

One screw later under the label and we’re in.

IMG_3657IMG_3658

IMG_3656IMG_3651

We’ve got the AC inputs on the left which are soldered on to the tabs, after unsoldering them the board pops out. There are a few heatpads on the top cover and the date code is 2012/11th week.

For the input power side of things we’ve got a Power Integrations LNK623DG AC to DC converter which can output up to 6.5W and this IC eliminates the need for an opto-isolator.

IMG_3655

Straight away you can see the issue with this device, the 6.3V 1500uF capacitor has failed. After replacing the cap, it powers up fine, same repair as last time.

Edit 31 Jan 2015: So far, I’ve had 3 units in total which had to be repaired as they had the same issue.

1. Qualcomm Atheros HomePlug AV Transceiver
The main chip which supports MII (Host & PHY) interfaces, SDRAM memory, links with the AR1500 and has an ADC/DAC with a frequency band of 2-30MHz. Uses a 37.5MHz oscillator.
AR6400

AR6400-AC3C

2. Etrontech 64Mbit SDRAM
EM638165TS

EM638165TS

3. Qualcomm Atheros Analog Front End / Line Driver
It drives the power lines, has an Rx amplifier, Tx filter and programmable-gain line driver.

AR1500

4. Realtek 10/100Mbit Single Port Ethernet PHY
RTL8201CP

RTL8201CP

5. Eon 8 Mbit Flash Memory
F80-100HCP

F80-100HCP

There isn’t too much too it all and it’s pretty light in weight. Though if they are claiming 200Mbps how would they be doing that with a 100Mbit PHY, sounds like marketing.

4 Responses to “Inside the TP-Link 200Mbps Mini Powerline Adapter (TL-PA211) plus repair (Dated 2012)”

  1. tiktak says:

    They claim 200 Mbps because there can be 200 MBps on the line (think “full duplex”). However, it’s confusing and there should be a regulation against this kind of thing. You and I can figure that out, but to the public it’s just a lie. Not to mention PLC networks are often very slow due to interferences (I get around 5 Mbps with “200 Mbps” devices).

  2. Oluseun Oyeleke says:

    I need the circuit diagram thanks

  3. thangesh babu says:

    can u plss post or send the circuit diagram of this

  4. Umar says:

    Hi there,

    Im currently working on a final year project in Electronics and wanted some assistance with the powerline adapter. I wanted to output data from the powerline adapter circuit to a secondary circuit board for transmission in a fibre lab. This data needs to be OFDM data so i can easily transmit the data on my laser driver circuit but not sure which area needs to be connected. I can provide more details to the powerline adapter i have below. Also is there a way to power the circuit board without connecting it to mains? I found a smoothing cap and sent voltage through it but there seems to be over heating so i refrained from repeating this.

    Below is the exact powerline adapter i have. I would appreciate a response since my career falls on this.
    https://www.allaboutcircuits.com/news/teardown-tuesday-tp-link-powerline-adaptor/

    Kind regards

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