PLA Series Powerline Ethernet Adapter Utility Version 7.0.0 Edition 1, 11/2013 Default Network Name: HomePlugAV Quick Start Guide User’s Guide www.zyxel.
IMPORTANT! READ CAREFULLY BEFORE USE. KEEP THIS GUIDE FOR FUTURE REFERENCE. Note: This guide is a reference for a series of products. Therefore some features or options in this guide may not be available in your product. Screenshots and graphics in this book may differ slightly from your product due to differences in your product firmware or your computer operating system. Every effort has been made to ensure that the information in this manual is accurate.
Table of Contents Table of Contents Table of Contents .................................................................................................................................3 Part I: User’s Guide ........................................................................................... 5 Chapter 1 Introducing the PLA .............................................................................................................................7 1.1 Overview ........................................
Table of Contents 3.2.2 Installing the Utility ...................................................................................................................27 Chapter 4 The Configuration Utility....................................................................................................................30 4.1 Overview ...........................................................................................................................................30 4.1.1 Powerline Network Security ...
P ART I User’s Guide 5
C HAPT ER 1 Introducing the PLA 1.1 Overview This chapter introduces the main applications and features of your ZyXEL HomePlug AV compliant powerline adapter, which is called “PLA” in this guide. The following generic icon is used to represent all PLA models. In this User’s Guide the electrical wiring network is referred to as the “powerline network”. The HomePlug AV standard specifies how network devices communicate using standard electrical wiring.
Chapter 1 Introducing the PLA 1.2 LEDs The following sections describes the lights on the PLA. The following figure is the front panel of the PLA. Use the lights to determine if the PLA is behaving normally or if there are some problems on your powerline network. Figure 1 PLA Lights The following table describes the behavior of the lights on the PLA. Table 2 LEDs: 200 Mbps Models LIGHTS POWER ICON COLOR STATUS DESCRIPTION Green On The PLA is on and receiving power.
Chapter 1 Introducing the PLA Table 3 LEDs: 500 and 600 Mbps Models LIGHTS POWER ICON COLOR STATUS DESCRIPTION Green On The PLA is on and receiving power. It also indicates a successful connection using the RESET/ ENCRYPT button. Blinking It indicates the PLA is trying to connect with another device using the ENCRYPT function. The Power LED blinks when it is in standby mode. Refer to Section 1.3 on page 9 for details on this feature. HomePlug Green The PLA is not receiving power.
Chapter 1 Introducing the PLA 1.4 Ways to Manage the PLA Use the RESET/ENCRYPT button to add powerline devices to your powerline network if they have this button. See Chapter 2 on page 13 for instructions on using the ENCRYPT feature. Use the ZyXEL PLA Series Configuration utility (or utility, for short) to manage the PLA. See Chapter 3 on page 21 for instructions on installing the utility. 1.
Chapter 1 Introducing the PLA 1.6.1 Passwords You use two types of passwords in the HomePlug AV powerline network. The following table describes the differences between the passwords. Table 4 Password Summary PASSWORD DESCRIPTION Network Name All powerline adapters that follow the HomePlug AV standard are shipped with the same powerline network name “HomePlugAV”. Change the network name via the ZyXEL PLA Series Configuration utility or RESET/ENCRYPT button to create a private network. See Section 4.
Chapter 1 Introducing the PLA 1 Connect one powerline adapter to a router or switch on the first Ethernet network and assign a Network Name (for example “Password1”) to this powerline adapter. Add additional powerline adapters to your network by plugging them into your powerline outlets and assigning them “Password1”. This completes the configuration of your first powerline network.
C HAPT ER 2 The RESET/ENCRYPT Button Use the RESET/ENCRYPT button to automatically set up a secure powerline connection between your powerline devices. Note: In this guide RESET/ENCRYPT refers to the ENCRYPT button in PLAs that have separate RESET and ENCRYPT buttons. 2.1 RESET/ENCRYPT Button Overview The RESET/ENCRYPT button allows you to set up a secure powerline connection with other HomePlug AV compliant powerline devices which also support the ENCRYPT feature.
Chapter 2 The RESET/ENCRYPT Button 1 Press the RESET/ENCRYPT button at the side of your powerline device for 0.5 to 3 seconds. The power ( ) light will blink as the powerline device tries to set up a connection with a new random network name. Figure 3 ENCRYPT Connection Procedure PLA PLA press 0.5 ~ 3 seconds press 0.5 ~ 3 seconds within 2 minutes Note: The RESET/ENCRYPT button’s location varies for each Powerline model. Note: Check the lights on the two powerline devices.
Chapter 2 The RESET/ENCRYPT Button 4 Press the RESET/ENCRYPT button on both powerline devices (A and D, B and D or C and D) for 0.5 to 3 seconds to add powerline device D. This must be done within 2 minutes (120 seconds) of pressing the RESET/ENCRYPT button on the PLA. Figure 4 Adding More Powerline Adapters to Your Network A B A OR B A OR B OR C C D This sets up your powerline network between your powerline devices. 2.
Chapter 2 The RESET/ENCRYPT Button 2.4 Multiple Separate Powerline Networks You can use the RESET/ENCRYPT button to create multiple separate powerline networks. Use the RESET/ENCRYPT button on only two PLAs at a time. 1 Press the RESET/ENCRYPT button on powerline devices E and F for 0.5 to 3 seconds. This must be done within 2 minutes (120 seconds) of pressing the RESET/ENCRYPT button on the first PLA. 2 Wait for about one minute while powerline devices E and F connect. 3 Now pair two different PLAs.
Chapter 2 The RESET/ENCRYPT Button The following table summarizes the actions that occur when the RESET/ENCRYPT button is pressed for specific lengths of time. Table 5 RESET/ENCRYPT HOMEPLUG LIGHT BEHAVIOR TIME ACTION POWER LIGHT BEHAVIOR 0.5 to 3 seconds Create a powerline network with a new random network name. The power ( ) light blinks until the device is connected. This may take a minute.
Chapter 2 The RESET/ENCRYPT Button 2.6.2 RESET Button Behavior Use a pointed device such as a pin to reset the Network Name back to default HomePlugAV. Table 7 RESET Button TIME ACTION POWER LIGHT BEHAVIOR 1 to 3 seconds Clear all user-entered configuration information and return the device to its factory defaults. The power ( ) light blinks and then shines steadily. HOMEPLUG LIGHT BEHAVIOR The HomePlug ( ) light turns off when it disconnects from the powerline network.
P ART II Technical Reference 19
C HAPT ER 3 Installing the Utility This chapter guides you through the installation of the configuration utility for your PLA. 3.1 Windows This section uses the Windows XP screens as an example to show you how to install the Windows vesion of the ZyXEL PLA Series Configuration utility. 3.1.
Chapter 3 Installing the Utility 1 Insert the included CD into your computer’s CD-ROM drive. The setup utility runs automatically. Alternatively this can also be done manually by double clicking the setup.exe file on the CD. If WinPcap 4.1.3 is already installed on your computer, the following screen appears. Click Cancel and go to step 5. Otherwise, the WinPcap setup wizard runs automatically. Click Next to continue. 2 22 Review the license agreement, and click I Agree to proceed.
Chapter 3 Installing the Utility 3 Select Automatically start the WinPcap driver at boot time if you want to start WinPcap automatically when the computer boots. Click Install to install WinPcap. 4 Select I want to manually reboot later, and click Finish to exit the wizard. 5 A prompt appears asking you to install the .NET Framework version 4. Review Microsoft’s License Agreement, select I have read and accept the license terms. and click Intall to proceed.
Chapter 3 Installing the Utility Note: If you already have .NET Framework version 4 installed on your computer this step can be skipped. 6 24 The next screen allows you to see the progress of the installation.
Chapter 3 Installing the Utility 7 Click Finish to close the window. 8 The utility installation wizard runs automatically. Click Yes or Next to continue through the initial screen. Click Cancel only if you want to abort the installation.
Chapter 3 Installing the Utility 9 Click Install to install the utility to the default folder. Figure 7 Install Destination Folder 10 The screen shows you the progress of the installation.
Chapter 3 Installing the Utility 11 Click Finish to exit the wizard. Figure 9 Installation Complete Note: You may be asked to restart your computer when the installation is complete. Click “Yes” to restart your computer. If you select “No, I will restart my computer later”, you will not be able to launch the utility until after a restart of your computer. 3.2 Macintosh (Mac) This section uses the Mac OS X 10.
Chapter 3 Installing the Utility 28 2 Double-click the PLA Utility 1.0.0.mpkg file on the CD to run the installation program. When it opens, follow the on-screen instructions. 3 Click Install to install the utility to the default folder, or click Change Install Location ... to specify a different location on your computer.
Chapter 3 Installing the Utility 4 When the installation is finished, a screen appears to confirm the PLA Series Configuration Utility has been successfully installed to your computer. Click Close. 5 After installing the utility, you can find the utility icon in your Applications folder. If you are running Mac OS X 10.7 or later, you can also see the utility icon in the Launchpad screen.
C HAPT ER 4 The Configuration Utility 4.1 Overview This chapter shows you how to use the ZyXEL PLA Series Configuration utility (or utility) to secure, manage and set up Quality of Service (QoS) on your powerline network. The PLA is designed as a plug-and-play network expanding solution.
Chapter 4 The Configuration Utility For the powerline adapters to communicate with each other they all need to use the same network name. This network name allows the powerline adapters to understand the encrypted information sent in the powerline network. By default the PLAs are all configured with the network name HomePlugAV, this allows you to simply plug the devices in and not worry about setting up security.
Chapter 4 The Configuration Utility You can select to view the connection status represented by icons ( receiving rates in a list ( ). ) or view transmission/ 4.3.1 Icon View Use the up/down arrow or just click a device icon at the left side to select a powerline adapter in your network. The screen shows you the network connection status of the selected device. Click Refresh to update the screen immediately.
Chapter 4 The Configuration Utility powerline adapter connected to the computer running the configuration utility to all the Remote powerline adapters. Figure 14 Network Info Screen (Icon) > Info 4.3.
Chapter 4 The Configuration Utility The following table describes the labels in this screen. Table 8 Network Info Screen (List) LABEL DESCRIPTION Adapter This field identifies which powerline network information is displayed. Different powerline networks are identified by the Ethernet interface (network card) connected directly to the PLA. Typically there is only one connection, however, if your computer has two network cards and both are connected to a PLA, then you have two powerline networks.
Chapter 4 The Configuration Utility 4.4 Configuration Screen Use the Configuration screen to see which devices are recognized by your powerline network, to configure your PLA and to set up a secure powerline network by changing the powerline network name. This screen opens up when you launch the utility. Figure 16 Configuration Screen The following table describes the labels in this screen.
Chapter 4 The Configuration Utility Table 9 Configuration Screen (continued) LABEL DESCRIPTION DAK Password DAK (Device Access Key) password is used to verify that you are authorized to perform changes on a remote device. You can find the DAK password printed on a sticker on the bottom of your PLA. Select the remote powerline adapter you want to manage by clicking the MAC address which corresponds to it in the MAC Address column. Enter the DAK Password value and click Save.
Chapter 4 The Configuration Utility Allocate priority settings based on application type as follows. Table 10 Priority Settings PRIORITY LEVEL APPLICATION High Voice Application Medium Video and Audio Applications Normal Data Applications Low Data Applications The figure below shows an example powerline home network connected to the Internet. • Device A is a printer and does not handle traffic with high importance, so the powerline adapter connected to it can be set to low priority.
Chapter 4 The Configuration Utility Use this screen to configure priority settings for traffic from the powerline adapters on your network. Figure 18 Advanced Screen The following table describes the labels in this screen. Table 11 Advanced Screen LABEL DESCRIPTION Adapter This field identifies which powerline network information is displayed. Different powerline networks are identified by the Ethernet interface (network card) on your computer which is connected directly to a powerline adapter.
Chapter 4 The Configuration Utility 4.6 About Screen Use the About screen to view information regarding the configuration utility version of the PLA you are connected to. Click the icon in the top right corner of the utility to view the About screen. Figure 19 About Screen The following table describes the labels in this screen. Table 12 About Screen LABEL DESCRIPTION Utility version This field displays the software version of the configuration utility.
C HAPT ER 5 Powerline Network Setup Tutorial 5.1 Overview Use this tutorial to expand your existing powerline network. After setting up your first home powerline network (instructions for that are in the Quick Start Guide for your ZyXEL powerline adapter) you may want to extend the network or create a new one by adding additional powerline adapters. This tutorial shows you the following. • How to start up your new powerline adapter. You need to do this before you can begin the next sections.
Chapter 5 Powerline Network Setup Tutorial 5.3 Accessing Your Powerline Adapter 1 Plug the powerline adapter you want to add to your network into a power socket and, if needed, switch the power socket on. Figure 20 Plug Your Powerline Adapter into a Power Socket PLA 1 2 Connect the powerline adapter to your computer. 3 Use a LAN or Ethernet cable (shown below) to connect the LAN or Ethernet port on your adapter to the same kind of port on your computer.
Chapter 5 Powerline Network Setup Tutorial The figure below shows the family computer with Internet access on a powerline network. Expand the network by adding a new powerline adapter connected to a printer. Figure 22 Add a Printer to Your Powerline Network Note: You do not need to know the network name of the new adapter to add it to your network. 1 Connect your computer to the powerline adapter you want to add to your network and open the ZyXEL PLA Series Configuration utility (see Section 5.
Chapter 5 Powerline Network Setup Tutorial 3 Select your adapter by selecting Local and type the network name for your existing network in the Network Name field (C). Figure 24 Adding an Adapter to an Existing Network C 4 Click Write and click OK on the pop-up. Figure 25 Network Name Pop-up 5 Your new adapter will now have the same Network Name as your existing network and so has now joined your existing network.
Chapter 5 Powerline Network Setup Tutorial Internet access but with a media adapter such as the ZyXEL DMA-1100P you can use your TV to watch movies and play games which are stored on a computer. Figure 26 Add New Adapters to Make a Second Network 1 Connect your new powerline adapter and open the configuration utility as shown in Section 5.5 on page 43. The screen shown below appears. 2 Type a Network Name that is different from the Network Name for your existing network.
Chapter 5 Powerline Network Setup Tutorial 5.6 Splitting a Network into Two Networks This section shows you how to split your existing network into two networks. This is useful if you want to set up a second powerline network in your home, for example, in your study connecting a laptop and printer. See Figure 26 on page 44 for an example. To set up your existing powerline network you had to set each powerline adapter with the same network name.
Chapter 5 Powerline Network Setup Tutorial Figure 29 Adding an Adapter to Your New Network A B C 4 Click Save. • If you do not type the DAK password or type it incorrectly the following pop-up appears. Click OK and type the DAK Password correctly in the DAK Password field. Figure 30 Incorrect DAK or No DAK • If you have correctly entered the DAK Password, click OK on the pop-up. Figure 31 Correct DAK 5 The adapter will disappear from the table of your existing network.
Chapter 5 Powerline Network Setup Tutorial 6 Go back to step 3 in this section to set the same, new Network Name for all remote adapters you want to add to your new network. 7 Check you have added the adapters correctly by changing the network name for the local adapter. All adapters with the new Network Name now appear in the list of adapters on your network. These adapters are now part of your new network.
C HAPT ER 6 Troubleshooting This chapter offers some suggestions to solve problems you might encounter. 6.1 Power and Light Problems The PLA does not turn on. None of the lights turn on. 1 Disconnect and re-connect the PLA. 2 Remove the powerline adapter from the outlet. Then connect an electrical device that you know works into the same power outlet. This checks the status of the power outlet. 3 If the problem continues, contact the vendor. The ETHERNET light does not turn on.
Chapter 6 Troubleshooting 3 Make sure that all your powerline adapters are HomePlug AV compliant. Check the package it came in or ask your vendor. This PLA can not detect earlier versions of HomePlug powerline adapters such as HomePlug 1.0 or 1.0.1. (Although they can coexist on the same electrical wiring without interfering with each other.) 4 Make sure that the powerline adapters on your network are all on the same electrical wiring.
Chapter 6 Troubleshooting 6.3 Powerline Problems The signal on my powerline network is weak. 1 Your powerline adapters may be connected to electrical surge protectors. Connect them to standard power outlets. 2 Your powerline adapters may be located close to large appliances such as refrigerators or airconditioners that cause interference with the powerline signal. Move the adapters further away from such appliances to reduce interference.
Chapter 6 Troubleshooting The POWER light blinks two times quickly then pauses, before repeating. The ENCRYPT process has failed. Press the RESET/ENCRYPT button on both devices for 5 to 8 seconds, then try to reconnect. The POWER lights on both devices blink when I press the RESET/ENCRYPT buttons, but the HomePlug light does not turn on. • Ensure you have pressed the RESET/ENCRYPT button on both devices. • Wait for about a minute while the devices set up a connection.
A PPENDIX A Customer Support In the event of problems that cannot be solved by using this manual, you should contact your vendor. If you cannot contact your vendor, then contact a ZyXEL office for the region in which you bought the device. Regional websites are listed below (see also http://www.zyxel.com/ about_zyxel/zyxel_worldwide.shtml). Please have the following information ready when you contact an office. Required Information • Product model and serial number. • Warranty Information.
Appendix A Customer Support Korea • ZyXEL Korea Corp. • http://www.zyxel.kr Malaysia • ZyXEL Malaysia Sdn Bhd. • http://www.zyxel.com.my Pakistan • ZyXEL Pakistan (Pvt.) Ltd. • http://www.zyxel.com.pk Philipines • ZyXEL Philippines • http://www.zyxel.com.ph Singapore • ZyXEL Singapore Pte Ltd. • http://www.zyxel.com.sg Taiwan • ZyXEL Communications Corporation • http://www.zyxel.com Thailand • ZyXEL Thailand Co., Ltd • http://www.zyxel.co.
Appendix A Customer Support Belgium • ZyXEL Communications B.V. • http://www.zyxel.com/be/nl/ Bulgaria • ZyXEL България • http://www.zyxel.com/bg/bg/ Czech • ZyXEL Communications Czech s.r.o • http://www.zyxel.cz Denmark • ZyXEL Communications A/S • http://www.zyxel.dk Estonia • ZyXEL Estonia • http://www.zyxel.com/ee/et/ Finland • ZyXEL Communications • http://www.zyxel.fi France • ZyXEL France • http://www.zyxel.fr Germany • ZyXEL Deutschland GmbH • http://www.zyxel.
Appendix A Customer Support Lithuania • ZyXEL Lithuania • http://www.zyxel.com/lt/lt/homepage.shtml Netherlands • ZyXEL Benelux • http://www.zyxel.nl Norway • ZyXEL Communications • http://www.zyxel.no Poland • ZyXEL Communications Poland • http://www.zyxel.pl Romania • ZyXEL Romania • http://www.zyxel.com/ro/ro Russia • ZyXEL Russia • http://www.zyxel.ru Slovakia • ZyXEL Communications Czech s.r.o. organizacna zlozka • http://www.zyxel.sk Spain • ZyXEL Spain • http://www.zyxel.
Appendix A Customer Support Turkey • ZyXEL Turkey A.S. • http://www.zyxel.com.tr UK • ZyXEL Communications UK Ltd. • http://www.zyxel.co.uk Ukraine • ZyXEL Ukraine • http://www.ua.zyxel.com Latin America Argentina • ZyXEL Communication Corporation • http://www.zyxel.com/ec/es/ Ecuador • ZyXEL Communication Corporation • http://www.zyxel.com/ec/es/ Middle East Egypt • ZyXEL Communication Corporation • http://www.zyxel.com/homepage.shtml Middle East • ZyXEL Communication Corporation • http://www.zyxel.
Appendix A Customer Support Oceania Australia • ZyXEL Communications Corporation • http://www.zyxel.com/au/en/ Africa South Africa • Nology (Pty) Ltd. • http://www.zyxel.co.
A PPENDIX B Legal Information Copyright Copyright © 2013 by ZyXEL Communications Corporation. The contents of this publication may not be reproduced in any part or as a whole, transcribed, stored in a retrieval system, translated into any language, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, magnetic, optical, chemical, photocopying, manual, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of ZyXEL Communications Corporation. Published by ZyXEL Communications Corporation.
Appendix B Legal Information 1 Reorient or relocate the receiving antenna. 2 Increase the separation between the equipment and the receiver. 3 Connect the equipment into an outlet on a circuit different from that to which the receiver is connected. 4 Consult the dealer or an experienced radio/TV technician for help.
Appendix B Legal Information distributor for details about the Warranty Period of this product. During the warranty period, and upon proof of purchase, should the product have indications of failure due to faulty workmanship and/or materials, ZyXEL will, at its discretion, repair or replace the defective products or components without charge for either parts or labor, and to whatever extent it shall deem necessary to restore the product or components to proper operating condition.
Appendix B Legal Information Your product is marked with this symbol, which is known as the WEEE mark. WEEE stands for Waste Electronics and Electrical Equipment. It means that used electrical and electronic products should not be mixed with general waste. Used electrical and electronic equipment should be treated separately.
Index Index A ENCRYPT Button 17 encryption 10, 30 about screen 39 AC Pass-Through 7 Advanced Encryption Standard, see AES 10 F AES 11, 30 AES (Advanced Encryption Standard) 10 FCC interference statement 58 applications 7 G C certifications 58 notices 59 viewing 59 configuration screen 35 configuration utility 10 connections overview 10 Guide Quick Start 2 H HomePlug AV standard 7 contact information 52 copyright 58 customer support 52 D I installation procedure 21, 27 InstallShield wizard 25 D
Index M Q MAC address 35 Quick Start Guide 2 management multiple networks 11 overview 30 managing the device using the utility maximum PHY rate 7 multiple networks 11 R receive rate 31 registration product 60 related documentation 2 RESET Button 18 N network example 30 network information 31 RESET/ENCRYPT Button Combination 16 Manage 10 Separate 17 Network Name 11 network name 17 S O security 10, 11, 30 passwords 11 other documentation 2 standby mode (power saving mode) 9 starting the utility 3
