LevelOne PLI-3021 User Manual

LevelOne

User Manual

PLI-3021

200Mbps Powerline Adapter

Ver. 1.0

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 – Introduction ................................................................................................................. 2

1.1 Overview ........................................................................................................................... 2

1.2 Specification ..................................................................................................................... 2

1.3 Casing Details ................................................................................................................... 3

1.4 Package Contents .............................................................................................................. 5

1.5 System Requirements........................................................................................................ 5

Chapter 2 – Installation & Uninstallation ....................................................................................... 6

2.1 Installing Powerline Device .............................................................................................. 6

2.2 Installation of Powerline Utility........................................................................................ 7

2.3 Uninstallation of Configuration Utility ........................................................................... 14

3.1 Main Tab ......................................................................................................................... 15

3.2 Privacy Screen ................................................................................................................ 20

3.3 Diagnostics Screen .......................................................................................................... 21

3.4 About Screen ................................................................................................................... 22

Chapter 4 – Individual HomePlug AV Network Stup(Optional ................................................... 23

4.1 Creating a new individual HomePlug AV(networkAB) ................................................. 23

4.2 Adding Bridge C to existing Network AB (Network ABC) ........................................... 24

4.3 Removing Bridge B from Bridge A & C Network and join with Bridge D & E (Network

BDE) ..................................................................................................................................... 25

4.4 Troubleshooting .............................................................................................................. 26

Safety

FCC

This equipment has been tested and found to comply with Part 15 Class B of the FCC
Rules. Operation is subject to the following two conditions:
(1) This device may not cause harmful interference
(2) This device must accept any interference received, including interference that may
cause undesired opera t ion.

CE

This equipment is in compliance with the requirements of the following regulations: CE
Mark, 89/336/EEC

RoHS

This product is RoHS compliant.

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Chapter 1 – Introduction

1.1 Overview

The LevelOne PLI-3021 operates on HomePlug AV standard, providing up to 200Mbps data
speed over the existing household power supply. This Product is cost-effective, easy to create a
home network without spending time and money to run expensive CAT5 cabling. Powerline
Device is the best solution for no-new-wire networking in the house or office.

1.2 Specification

Computer Interface IEEE802.3; IEEE802.3u
Standards HomePlug A V
Network Interface One RJ-45 (10/100Base-T Ethernet) support 200Mbps Power

Line Port
Security 128-bit AES Link Encryption with Key Management
Software Utility for Microsoft Windows 98 SE, ME, 2000, XP, and 32-bit Vista,

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Data Transfer Rate 200 Mbps over Powerline and 10/100Mbps over Ethernet
Modulation Schemes OFDM Symbol Modulation on Line synchronization

1024/256/64/16/8 - QAM, QPSK, BPSK, ROBO Carrier Modulation
Frequency Band 2 ~ 28 MHz
Additional Protocols Mix of TDMA and CSMA/CA channel access scheme; CO device

generates a periodic beacon carrier for channel access scheme
Operation Range Estimated range of 300m in wall power lines
Cabling 100Base-T Cat. 5e or above UTP cable
Operating Temperature
Storage Temperature
Humidity 10% to 90% (non-condensing)
Power Input 100 ~ 240V @ 50/60Hz Internal
Housing Plastic (99mm x 73mm x 34mm)

0° C to 40° C

-20° C to 70 ° C

Software Utility Device Detect/Diagnostic, NEK Password Setup for Local and

Remote Device Windows 2000, ME, NT, XP, or Vista, 7 for Initial

Setup
LED PL – Link/Act; Traffic–Link/Act; ETH – Link/Act
Certifications HomePlug A V PowerLine Specification

FCC Class B / CE Mark / HomePlug Certif ic ation

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1.3 Casing Details

The front casing contains 3 status lights: Power, PLC Link, and Ethernet Link.

(INSERT FINAL CASING DESIGN)

Power Light

PLC Link Light Ethernet Link Light

Status Lights

Power
On: This HomePlug Ethernet Bridge is receiving electrical power
Off: Power off

PLC Link
The PLC (Powerline) Link light will indicate the overall speed of your network with 3
colors:
Red: Minimum connection indicates weak signal and slower network speed: less than
50Mbps
Orange: Normal signal with standard network speed: 50-100Mbps
Green: Excellent signal with optimal network speed: 100Mbps+
Off: No activity. T his HomePlug Ethernet Bridge is not connected

Ethernet Link
Solid Green: 10/100 Mbps port linked
Blinking: 10/100 Mbps port transmitting or receiving
Off: Ethernet Link not active

Bottom Casing

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Turn on when detected and connected with another HomePlug adaptor

when connected to the Ethernet card of the computer or

The bottom casing co nt ains a rec esse d Res et But ton, a Sec urit y Butt on, and a n E thern et
Port.

(INSERT FINAL CASING DESIGN)

Reset Button

Security Button

Ethernet Port

Buttons

Security
This button is designed to generate an individual HomePlug AV network group under
multiple nodes environment. Please refer to the optional Individual HomePlug AV
Network Setup section below for more detai ls.

Reset
This button is used to clear ALL data and restore ALL settings to the factory default
values.

Note: The HomePlug AV Ethernet Bridge must be plugged in to restore it to factory
defaults. Using a small object like a paper clip, depress and hold the Reset button until
the status li ght s beg in t o flas h. The Reset button w ill need to b e dep res sed for abou t 1 0
to 15 seconds for the reset to occur.

LED Indicators

The Powerline Ethernet Adaptor has three LEDs indicator:

Turn on when connected to AC power supply.

within the network.
Turn on

Ethernet Hub / Switch.

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1.4 Package Contents

Make sure that you have the following items:

- PLI-3021

- RJ-45 Ethernet LAN cable

- Quick Installation Guide

- CD User Manual / QIG/Utility

1.5 System Requirements

- Powerline Ethernet Adaptor can support any Operation System. But the Powerline Utility can
only support Windows 2000/XP/Vista/Windows 7.

- Pentium III 300 MHz or above

- Powerline device

- AC power outlet

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ADSL / Cable Modem

PC

Notebook

Internet

Chapter 2 – Installation & Uninstallation

Connection of Pow erline Et he rnet Adapter

Ethernet Cable (RJ-45)

Powerline

Room 1

Room 2

2.1 Installing Powerline Device

1. If you have the SINGLE PACKAGE of Powerline,Connect the supplied RJ45 Ethernet cable

from your PC's Ethernet port to the Power line Ethernet Adapter's LAN Ports or connect the
supplied RJ45 Ethernet cable from your xDSL/Cable Modem's Ethernet port to the Powerline
Ethernet Adapter's LAN Ports.

2. If you have the TWIN PACKAGE of Powerline, connect the supplied RJ45 Ethernet cable

from your PC's Ethernet port to the Powerline Ethernet Adapter's LAN Ports and connect the
supplied RJ45 Ethernet cable from your xDSL/Cable Modem's Ethernet port to the Powerline
Ethernet Adapter's LAN Ports.

3. Connect the Powerline Ethernet Adapter to your wall-mounted power outlet.

4. Check if the PLC LED of Powerline Ethernet Adapter is ON, the Power line Ethernet Adapter

is connected and suitable for Internet Connections.

5. Check if the PLC LED is OFF, the Powerline Ethernet Adapter isn’t connected and suitable

for Internet Connections. Please follow next step to have it connected and suitable for
Internet Connections.

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2.2 Installation of Powerline Util ity

The Configuration Utility enables the users to identify HomePlug devices on the Powerline
network; measures data rate performance, ensures privacy and performs diagnostics by setting
user defined secure Powerline networks.
Users are requested to verify that no other Encryption Manag em ent Utilities are installed prior to
the installation of this utility. Other utilities should be uninstalled before installing this utility.

1. In order to install, in sert Configuration Utility CD-ROM into the computer’s CD-ROM drive.

The program shall run automatically. Alternatively this can also be done manually by double
clicking the autorun.exe file on the CD.

2. For Windows 7 / Vista User only, for Security reasons Windows 7 / Vista requires the

installer program to have administrator privileges so the new policy called " User Account
Control " has been introduced in Windows 7 / Vista. If UAC is enabled Windows pops up a
window " User Account Control " W indows need your permission to continue. User needs
to click " Yes / Allow " to continue.

3. Please click “ Utility” button to continue.

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4. Click “Setup” button to continue.

5. Click “Next” button to continue.

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6. Click “Next ” button to continue.

7. Click “I Agree” button to continue

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8. Click “Install ” button to continue.

9. Click “Flish ” button to continue.

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10. Click “Next ” button to continue.

11. Click “I Agree & Next ” button to continue.

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12. Click “Next ” button to continue.

13. Click “Next ” button to continue.

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14. Click “Close ” button to exit

15. nnected lo

16. You can see your device working well. The top panel of the screen shot shows a Homeplug

device connected locally to your computer. The bottom panel shows one device connected
remotely to the computer running the utility.

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2.3 Uninstallation of Configuration Utility

1. To uninstall the Configuration Utility, go to the “Control Panel” of your system.

2. Open the “Add/Remove Programs”.

3. Select and double click on the “Powerline Utility” in the Add/Remove Programs

Properties.

4. Follow the on screen instructions to uninstall the Powerline Utility.

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Chapter 3 – Configuration Utility Setup

Introduction

The Configuration Utility enables the users to identify HomePlug devices on the powerline
network, measures data rate performance, ensures privacy and performs diagnostics by setting
user defined secure powerline networks.
The Utility will use a Graphical User Interface (GUI) with limited user selectable options.

3.1 Main Tab

In order to start the utility, double-click the utilit y icon on desktop. Figure 3-1 shows
the main screen of the Configuration Utility. The top panel of the screen shot shows a HomePlug
AV device connected locally to the host computer. The bottom panel shows four devices
connected remotely to the computer running the utility.

Figure 3-1: Main Screen with HomePlug AV device Local

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The Main screen provides a list of all powerline devices logically connected to the computer
when the utility is running.The top panel shows all local HomePlug devices connected to the
computer’s NIC (Network Interface Card). In most cases, only one device will be seen. In
situations where there are more than one local device being connected, such as a USB or an
Ethernet adapter, the user can select the local dev ice by cli cking on it and then click the Connect
button to its right. The status area above the button indicates that your PC is connected to that
same device. Once connected to the local device, the utility w ill automatically scan the power line
periodically for any other HomePlug devices. If no local Hom ePlug devices are discovered, the
status area above the connect button will indicate with a message ‘NO HOMEPLUG ADAPTERS
DETECTED’.
Figure 3-2 illustrates the presence of two local devices connected locally to the computer.

Figure 3-2: Multiple Local Device Connection

The lower panel displays all the HomePlug remote devices, discovered on the current logical
network. The total number of remote devices connected on the same network can be found on
top of the Remote device panel. The Network type (Public or Private) is also displayed based on
the network status of the local device. The scan status option is displayed on the top right corner

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above the Remote devices panel showing whether the Autoscan functionality is turned ON or
OFF. The following information is displayed for all devices that appear in the lower panel.

Device Name column shows the default device name, which may be user re-defined. A user can
change the name by either using the rename button or by clicking on the name and editing
in-place. An icon is usually shown with the name. By default, the icon is always accompanied by
a device name.

MAC Address column shows the Remote device’s MAC address.

Password column by default is blank and ‘Enter Password’ button can be used to enter it.

To set th e Password of the device (required when creating a private network), first select the
device by clicking on its name in the lower panel and then click on the Enter Password button. A
dialog box will appear as shown in Figure 3-3 to ty pe the password. The selected device name is
shown above the password field and the password can be verified by hitting the OK button. The
Password field accepts the Device password in any case formats, with or without dashed
between them. If a device was not found, the user will be notified along with the suggestions to
resolve common problems. This process might take a few seconds to get completed.

Figure 3-3: Set Device Password

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Add button is used to add a remote device to the existing network by entering the device
password of the device. A dialog box will appear as shown below in Figure 3-4. The dialog box
allows the user to enter both a device name and the password. If a device was not found, the
user will be notified and suggestions to resolve common problems will be presented.

Figure 3-4: Add Remote Device

Note: The device must be present on the power line (plugged in) in order for the password to be
confirmed and added to the network. If the device could not be located, a warning message will
be shown.

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The Scan button is used to perform an immediate search of the Ho mePlug devices connected to
the Powerline network. By default, the utility automatically scans every few seconds and updates
the display screen.
A typical screen after naming and supplying passwords might appear as in Figure 3-5.

Figure 3-5: Main Screen of the Configuration Utility

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3.2 Privacy Screen

The Privacy screen provides the user with an option to maintain security for their logical network
and also to select the dev ices that has to be included in the ne twork. The appearance i s show n in
Figure 3-6. All HomePlug devices are shipped using a default logical network (network name),
which is normally “HomePlugAV”. The Privacy dialog screen allows user to change to a private
network by changing the network name (network password) of devices.
The user can always reset to the HomePlug network (Public) by entering “HomePlugAV” as t he
network name or by clicking on the “Use Default” button.

Note: Changing the network name to anything other than HomePlugAV will show the network
type on the main screen as Private.

Figure 3-6: Privacy Screen

The Set Local Device Only button can be used to change the network name (network password)
of the local device. If a new network password is entered, all the devices seen on the Main panel
prior to this will be no longer present in the new network, effectively making the local devices not
to communicate to the devices who were in the old logical network. Devices previously set up
with the same logical network (same network name) will appear in the device list afterward
selecting this option.

The Set All Devices button is used to change the logical network of all devices that appear on
the Main panel whose Device’s Password had been entered for the same logical network. A
dialog window will appear to report the success of this operation. For devices whose device
password’s were not entered, this operation will fail and will report a failure message.

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3.3 Diagnostics Screen

The Diagnostics screen shows System information and a history of all remote devices seen
over a period of time. The appearance is shown in Figure 3-7.
The Upper panel shows technical data concerning software and hardware present on the host
computer which were used to communicate over HomePlug on the Powerline network. It shall
include the following:

- Operating System Platform/Version

- Host Network Name

- User Name

- MAC Address of all NICs (Network interface card) connected to the host

- Identify versions of all Driver DLLs and Libraries used (NDIS) and optionally

- HomePlug chipset manufacturer name

- MAC Firmware Version

- MAC addresses of all devices connected locally to the host

- Version of the Configuration Utility

- Vendor name

Figure 3-7: Diagnostics Screen

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The Lower panel contains a history of all remote devices seen on the computer over a certain
period of time. All devices that were on the powerline network are listed here along with a few
other parameters. Devices that are active on the current logical network will show a transfer rate
in the Rate column; devices on other networks, or devices that may no longer exist are shown
with a “?” in the Rate column. The following remote device information is available from the
diagnostics screen:

- Device Alias Name

- Device MAC Address

- Device Password

- Device Last known rate

- Device Last Known Network name

- HomePlug chipset manufacturer name

- Date device last seen on the network

- MAC Firmware Version.
The diagnostics information displayed may be saved t o a text file for later use, or can be printed
for reference for a technical support call. Devices, which are not part of the network anymore,
can be deleted using the delete button. A dialog window pops up with a confirmation message if
we try to delete a device whose password has been entered.

3.4 About Screen

The About screen shows the software version.

Figure 3-8: About dialog screen

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Chapter 4 – Individual HomePlug AV Network Stup(Optional

All HomePlug AV Ethernet Bridges ship with a default security key so they will automatically link
to all other HomePlug AV Ethernet Bridges sharing the same electrical lines. If there are other
HomePlug AV Ethernet Bridges in the building (such as in an office or apartment building), you
may want to create your own individual HomePlug AV network group so other HomePlug AV
Ethernet Bridges cannot connect to your network.
This section describes how to use the Se curity bu tton for configuration in the following situations:

4.1 Creating a new individual HomePlug AV(networkAB)

Two unassociated Bridges (Bridge A and Bridge B) are forming a new network—Network AB

The procedure is as follows:

1. Press and hold the Security button on Bridge A for 10 seconds. Release it when the Power

light flashes. T he password to Bridge A has just been erased. It must now be linked to your
network to adopt the new network security key.

2. Press and hold the security button on Bridge B for 10 seconds and release it when the Power

light flashes. The password to Bridge B has just been erased. It must now be linked to your
network to adopt the new network security key.

3. Currently, Bridge A and Bridge B are not networked

4. Press and hold the Security button on Bridge A for 2 seconds then release.

5. The Power light on Bridge A starts to flash.

6. Within 120 seconds after the Power light on Bridge A starts to flash, press and hold the

Security button on Bridge B for 2 seconds then release.

7. Both Bridge A and Bridge B are now networked together.

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4.2 Adding Bridge C to existing Network AB (Ne twork ABC)

One unassociated Bridge C is added to an existing Network AB.

The procedure is as follows:

1. Press and hold the Security button on Bridge C for 10 seconds. Release it when the Power

light flashes. T he password to Bridge C has just been erased. It must now be linked to your
network to adopt the new network security key.

2. Press and hold the security button on Bridge A for 2 seconds. The Power light on Bridge A

starts to flash.

3. Within 120 seconds after the Power light on Bridge A starts to flash, press and hold the

security button on Bridge C for 2 seconds then release.

4. Bridge A, Bridge B and Bridge C are now networked to each other.

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4.3 Removing Bridge B from Bridge A & C Networ k and joi n wi t h

Bridge D & E (Network BDE)

The procedure is as follows:

1. Press and hold the Security button on Bridge B for 10 seconds. Release it when the Power

light flashes. The password to Bridge B has just been erased and removes itself from Bridge
A & C.

2. Press and hold the Security button on Bridge D for 2 seconds.

3. Within 120 seconds after the Power light on Bridge D starts to flash, press and hold the

Security button on Bridge B for 2 seconds then release.

4. Bridge B and Bridge D are now connected to each other, which in turn becomes part of

Network BDE.

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4.4 Troubleshooting

If your HomePlug AV Ethernet Bridges have difficulty communicating with each other, check the
following:

• Try power cycling the unit by unplugging it from the wall for 10 seconds and plugging it in

again.

• Use a pin and hold the Reset button down for 2 seconds on each unit you are trying to

connect. T he HomePlug AV Ethernet Bridge’s light will flash, the units will reset and attempt
to link using default factory settings.

• Try plugging the HomePlug AV Ethernet Bridge into an adjacent plug.

• HomePlug AV Ethernet Bridges work better when plugged directly into the wall outlet.

Connecting these Ethernet Bridges to a power strip or surge protector may degrade network
performance or completely stop network signals.

• This HomePlug AV Ethernet Bridge should not be used on GFI protected outlets as some

outlets will filter out HomePlug Powerline signal.

• This HomePlug AV Ethernet Bridge should not be used in areas with excessive heat.

• Certain florescent or incandescent lights are noise sources on the electrical and can degrade

performance.

• If your building has more than one circuit breaker box, your HomePlug AV Ethernet Bridges

may not be able to connect between the different circuit breaker boxes. In this case, connect
one HomePlug AV Ethernet Bridge to a power outlet located on each of the circuit boxes.
Connect Ethernet cable between each of the HomePlug AV Ethernet Bridges to link the
different circuits together. This will allow the HomePlug AV Ethernet Bridges from different
circuit breaker boxes to connect.

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