Panasonic BL-PA100A User Manual

Table of Contents

Introduction

Introduction ................................................................................................2

IMPORTANT SAFETY INSTRUCTIONS....................................................3

Electrical environment information.............................................................4

Security information ...................................................................................5

Main unit.....................................................................................................6

Installation

Registration................................................................................................7

Placing the adaptors ..................................................................................8

Connecting adaptors to network devices ...................................................9

Useful Information

Testing a terminal’s network speed..........................................................10

Understanding the indicators ...................................................................11

Resetting an adaptor................................................................................12

Troubleshooting........................................................................................13

Specifications...........................................................................................15

FCC and other information.......................................................................17

Limited warranty.......................................................................................27

Customer services ...................................................................................29

Operating Instructions

HD-PLC Ethernet Adaptor

Power Line Communication

Model No.

BL-PA100A

Add-on Adaptor for BL-PA100KTA

IMPORTANT NOTES:

For best results, connect this product directly to a wall outlet. This product may not function normally in certain electrical environments. See page 4 for more information.

Please read this document before use and save this document for future reference.

Introduction

Thank you for purchasing a Panasonic HD-PLC product.

Included items

Confirm that the following items are included with this product. Additional items can be ordered by calling 1-800-332-5368.

BL-PA100A ........................................ 1 AC Cord ............................................. 1

Order No.: PSJA1069Z

- Operating Instructions

(this document)............................... 1

Abbreviations

• This product is referred to as “the adaptor” in this document.

Trademarks

•Linux® is the registered trademark of Linus Torvalds in the U.S. and other countries.

• All other trademarks identified herein are the property of their respective owners.

Introduction

IMPORTANT SAFETY INSTRUCTIONS

When using this product, basic safety precautions should always be followed to reduce the risk of fire, electric shock, or personal injury.

1. Read and understand all instructions. Keep this document for future

reference.

2. Follow all instructions in this document and heed all warnings.

3. Do not install this product near any heat sources such as radiators, heat

registers, stoves, or other devices (including amplifiers) that produce heat.

4. Protect the AC cord from being walked on or pinched particularly at plugs,

convenience receptacles, and the point where they exit from this product.

5. The AC cord is used as the main disconnect device. Ensure that the AC outlet

is located/installed near the product and is easily accessible.

6. Use only the included AC cord.

7. The AC cord must remain connected at all times. (It is normal for this product

to feel warm during use.)

8. To prevent the risk of fire or electrical shock, do not expose this product to rain

or any type of moisture.

9. Do not touch the product or the AC cord during lightning storms.

10. Unplug this product when unused for a long period of time.

11. Refer all servicing to qualified service personnel. Servicing is required when

the unit has been damaged in any way, such as when the AC cord or plug is damaged, the unit does not operate normally, or after the unit has been dropped.

12. Do not use this product outdoors.

13. Unplug this unit from power outlets if it emits smoke, an abnormal smell or

makes unusual noise. These conditions can cause fire or electric shock. Confirm that smoke has stopped and contact an authorized service center.

SAVE THESE INSTRUCTIONS

3[For assistance, please call: 1-800-272-7033]

Introduction

Electrical environment information

HD-PLC adaptors send data to and from each other over the existing electrical wiring in your home, and may be affected by electrical noise or the length of your home’s wiring. Keep the following in mind when placing each adaptor.

AC outlets

For best results, we recommend connecting the adaptors directly to a wall outlet. Avoid connecting high power-consuming appliances to the same wall outlet. Additionally, connecting an adaptor to a uninterruptable power supply (UPS) or backup power supply device is not recommended.

While connecting the adaptors to a wall outlet is recommended, keep the following in mind if you must connect an adaptor to a power strip:

• Make sure the power strip does not have a noise filter or a surge protector,

as these features may interfere with the performance of your adaptors.

• Do not connect the adaptor to a power strip that receives power from

another power strip.

• Use a power strip with an AC cord that is as short as possible.

Electrical interference

Certain electrical devices emit electrical noise. If this noise is passed on to the electrical wiring in your home, it may interfere with the performance, speed, and reliability of your adaptors. For best results, we recommend connecting an electrical noise filter to noise emitting appliances.

The following appliances are more likely to produce noise:

• Battery chargers (including cell phone chargers)

• Hair dryers

• Vacuum cleaners

• Lights or lamps which have a dimmer switch or a touch-sensitive on/off feature

• Power drills

Additionally, this product may interfere with the following appliances:

• Short wave radios

• Lights or lamps which have a touch-sensitive on/off feature

Electrical wiring

HD-PLC adaptors send data to and from each other over the existing electrical wiring in your home. If 2 wall outlets are separated by a great length of electrical wiring, the adaptors connected to those outlets may not be able to communicate with each other.

For more information, refer to the troubleshooting section (see page 13) or access the Panasonic PLC Support Site at: http://panasonic.co.jp/pcc/products/en/plc/

After you have placed the adaptors where you plan to use them and plugged them into the wall outlets, test the terminal’s network speed (see page 10).

Introduction

Security information

1. With any network connection, security is a concern. The BL-PA100A provides

security to prevent unauthorized access to your network.

• Only terminals that are registered to the master adaptor can communicate with the network.

• A terminal may be registered to the master only if the SETUP buttons on the master and terminal are pressed within 5 seconds of each other.

2. Data sent and received over the PLC network employs AES 128-bit

encryption, however we cannot guarantee that data will not be intercepted by a third party.

3. For security, we recommend resetting your adaptors (see page 12) in the

following situations.

• If for some reason you are concerned that another adaptor may have been accidentally registered to your master (for example, the adaptor of someone who lives in the same apartment building as you), reset each of your adaptors and register them again.

• If you discard an adaptor, give an adaptor to someone else to use, or have an adaptor serviced, reset the adaptor first.

• If you lose an adaptor, reset each of your adaptors and register them again.

5[For assistance, please call: 1-800-272-7033]

Introduction

Main unit

(1)

(2)

(3)

(1) PLC Indicator

Lights to indicate that the adaptor is connected to the HD-PLC network. For more information, see page 11.

(2) LAN Indicator

Lights when a LAN cable is connected to the adaptor, and flashes when data is being sent or received. For more information, see page 11.

(3) MASTER Indicator

Lights when the adaptor is configured as the master. For more information, see page 11.

(4) SETUP Button

Used to register the adaptor (see page 7) or test the terminal’s network speed (see page 10).

(4)

(5)

(6)

(7)

(8)

(5) Mode Selector

The position of this selector during registration (see page 7) determines whether the adaptor is used as the master or as a terminal.

(6) AC IN

Connects the adaptor to AC power as well as to the HD-PLC network.

(7) FACTORY DEFAULT RESET Button

Used to reset the adaptor and erase its registration (see page 12).

(8) LAN Jack

Connects the adaptor to a network device, such as a broadband router, hub, computer, etc. (see page 9).

Installation

Registration

Use the procedure below when you want to:

• Add an additional terminal to your HD-PLC network.

• Re-register the master and terminal after resetting the master.

1. Confirm that the mode selector of the master adaptor is set to MASTER.

2. Confirm that the mode selector of the terminal adaptor that you want to

3. Connect the AC cord of each adaptor to each adaptor’s AC IN jack.

4. Plug the AC cord of each adaptor to the same wall outlet.

• Registration may not be successful if the adaptors are connected to different wall outlets during registration.

Installation

5. Reset the terminal by pressing the FACTORY DEFAULT RESET button on the

terminal for about 3 seconds (see page 12).

• Check the position of the adaptor’s mode selector (see page 6) and make sure that you reset the terminal adaptor (not the master).

6. Press the SETUP button on both adaptors for about 1 second. The order in

which they are pressed does not matter.

• The PLC indicator of each adaptor will begin to flash in blue.

• Make sure you press the SETUP button on each adaptor within 5 seconds of each other.

• If you are registering an additional terminal, communication between all other adaptors may be disrupted for about 10 seconds.

7. When the PLC indicator of each adaptor lights in blue, registration was

successful.

• If the PLC indicators do not light in blue, see page 13.

8. Wait 30 seconds, then unplug the AC cords from the wall outlet and place the

adaptors where you plan to use them (see page 8).

7[For assistance, please call: 1-800-272-7033]

Installation

Placing the adaptors

Refer to the information on page 4 when selecting a location to place your adaptors.

Note

• If you have purchased additional adaptors, make sure you have registered them to the master (see page 7) before placing them where you plan to use them.

1. Connect the AC cord of each adaptor to a wall outlet near where you plan to

use it.

2. Confirm that the PLC indicator of each adaptor lights in blue when you plug

the adaptors into the wall outlets.

• If the PLC indicators do not light in blue, see page 13.

After you have placed the adaptors where you plan to use them and plugged them into the wall outlets, test the terminal’s network speed (see page 10).

Installation

Connecting adaptors to network devices

Once you have placed the adaptors where you plan to use them and are satisfied with the network speed test results for your terminals (see page 10), follow the procedure below to connect your adaptors to your network devices (broadband router, hub, computer, network printer, network camera, etc.). This will integrate your HD-PLC network with your home network.

1. Confirm that each adaptor’s AC cord is connected to the adaptor and plugged

into a wall outlet.

2. Connect a LAN cable (sold separately) to each adaptor’s LAN jack.

To wall outlet

To network device

• The LAN indicator of each adaptor turns green.

• If an adaptor’s LAN indicator does not turn green, see page 13.

3. Connect the other end of each LAN cable to a network device.

• Avoid connecting more than one adaptor to the same hub or router.

You are now ready to use your computers, network printers, network cameras, etc.

9[For assistance, please call: 1-800-272-7033]

Useful Information

Testing a terminal’s network speed

Once you have connected the adaptors where you plan to use them, use the procedure below to test the speed of each terminal’s network connection to the master. Make sure that the terminal has already been registered to a master (see page 7).

1. Press and hold the terminal’s SETUP button for about 1 second.

• The indicators on the terminal light one at a time in succession for a few seconds.

PLC

LAN

MASTER

2. The indicators light for a few seconds. This indicates the network speed test

result.

3. Refer to the chart below to determine the network speed.

PLC

LAN

MASTER

Network

speed

No link Good

Less than

10 Mbps

Better

10 Mbps to

30 Mbps

Best

More than 30 Mbps

*1 Approximate data transmission speed when transmitting data using the UDP protocol.

4. If you are not satisfied with the speed test result, connect the terminal to a

different wall outlet and repeat the test.

Note

• At least one indicator (“Good” network speed) must be lit in order to use the terminal.

• If you are not satisfied with the speed test result and have tried connecting the terminal to different wall outlets, refer to the troubleshooting section (see page 13).

• If the electrical conditions in your home changes after performing the speed test, network speed may also change.

Once you are satisfied with the terminal’s speed test result, you are ready to connect each adaptor to a network device (broadband router, hub, computer, network printer, network camera, etc.; see page 9).

+ 22 hidden pages