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Trendnet announces its 200Mbps power-line AV Wireless-N access point

Trendnet announces its first power-line adapter that can also work as an access point at the far end of the power-line connection.

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Dong Ngo
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Trendnet's 200Mbps Powerline AV Wireless-N Access Point.
Trendnet's 200Mbps Powerline AV Wireless-N Access Point. Trendnet

LAS VEGAS--Netgear did it a while ago with the Powerline AV 200 Wireless-N Extender Kit, and now Trendnet has just joined the club. The networking vendor announced today its first HomePlug AV 200Mbps power-line Wireless-N access point, the TPL-310AP.

The full name of the product is the 200Mbps Powerline AV Wireless-N Access Point, and it's essentially a HomePlug AV power-line adapter that can also work as a 300Mbps Wireless-N access point at the far end of the power-line connection.

This is a single unit and therefore will work only in homes where a power-line connection exists. The device will work with any HomePlug AV-compliant power-line adapter, which is basically all of them on the market.

According to Trendnet, all you have to do is plug the device into a power outlet at the corner that you want to extend both the power-line connection and the wireless network to, and the TPL-310AP will take care of the job.

The adapter can connect to others (preferably those from Trendnet, such as the AV Fast Ethernet Adapter Kit TPL-302E2K) quickly via its convenient one-touch Sync button. It supports advanced AES encryption to provide power-line security, and Quality of Service (QoS) technology prioritizes video, audio, and online gaming. It also has embedded power-saving technology that's said to lower power consumption by up to 70 percent in standby mode.

Trendnet says that the built-in 300Mbps Wireless-N access point offers Access Point, Client, WDS, and Mesh mode functionality. It supports one-touch Wi-Fi Protected Setup to connect wireless clients quickly. Advanced features include four concurrent wireless networks (SSIDs) with different encryption for each network.

The 200Mbps Powerline AV Wireless-N Access Point, model TPL-310AP, comes with a three-year limited warranty and will be available in February. It's slated to cost $110.

Additionally, Trendnet also announced its 500Mbps Powerline AV Wireless-N Access Point, model TPL-410AP.