Understanding the Powerline product line

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Understanding the Powerline product line

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Understanding the Powerline product line
Understanding the Powerline product line
2020-08-19 17:07:27
Model: TL-PA9020P KIT  
Hardware Version:
Firmware Version:

I recently bought the TL-PA9020P kit with two "AV2000" wired units, placing one where I have an existing Ethernet connection and another in a room that would be difficult to wire directly. Don't necessarily need the top speed, but I figured I would go for the newest/top "tech" available now and got a good deal on the set refurbished anyway.

 

However, I also want to add a third unit to extend my network to a second location, and ideally this would be a wireless one. So naturally I search the web for "AV2000 wifi" and that leads me to the TL-WPA9610 kit which looks nice. I don't really need the wired side since I already have that from the first kit, but figure I can find somewhere to use it or sell it to someone in the opposite situation, whatever.

 

The problem is that this AV2000 kit is already "end of life"… what, why?! When I go to https://www.tp-link.com/us/home-networking/powerline/ there's a bunch of seemingly random kits available back to the AV600 line. But the AV2000 kit has already been discontinued?! The best WiFi kit I see in their list is the TL-WPA8630 which is AV1300. And despite that showing up as a current product I'm having a hard time finding a place to actually buy it.

 

What's the story here? Why does TP-Link offer such a random range of current Powerline products, but then why is some of their newer stuff already discontinued? And their older/slower stuff has better availability? Did I make a mistake buying into the AV2000 range and is there a better combination of hardware that TP-Link has shown willingness to stick with?

 

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Re:Understanding the Powerline product line
2020-08-19 18:52:18

@natevw 

 

Hi Nate AV2000 isn't that new.  It's a few years old actually.  The likely reason why its end of life is either changes in the market, Changes to our product stratgey or how well the model sold.  Our offerings are often based on market conditions, trends or how well a particular model sells.  All of our powerlines will work with each other however it is worth pointing out that the overall speed of the network of powerline is equal to the speed of the lowest rated adapter. 

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Re:Understanding the Powerline product line
2020-08-21 19:13:56

@natevw Well it's not like the things need updates to keep working.  And if a model is discontinued the likely reason is just that its features didnt sell all that well, but buying it won't hurt you. The things use an industry standard to communicate so you're not locked in to something that isn't compatible just because it was discontinued. I use a mix of 3 brands.

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