Performance - more
Adding more simultaneous streams adds a bit more bandwidth. With two up/downlink streams running simultaneously, total throughput moves up around 5% more to 440 Mbps. Note that uplink in each of the pairs is still favored over downlink. Note also that throughput is fairly evenly distributed between the two streams in each direction.
IxChariot simultaneous up / downlink x2
The Location E noise tests I've been running have proven interesting, so I ran 'em again. Location E is where most of my worst powerline noise sources (our smartphone and tablet chargers) live. The tests basically plug and unplug a particularly noisy wall-wart while an IxChariot stream is running and compare the results to a stream with all noise sources unplugged.
The composite plot below compares the baseline Location E downlink test, run with all noise sources unplugged with a run with the noise source plugged in then uplugged at the 30 second mark. Throughput recovers to the maximum no-noise-source value within 30 seconds.
IxChariot Location E downlink compare - Noise source removed @ 30 seconds
I also ran a test with all noise sources plugged in to see the adapter would try to compensate. The jump in both plots just after 10 seconds is IxChariot's Nagle algorithm quirk. After that, there is no sign of any attempts to improve throughput.
IxChariot Location E downlink compare - multiple noise sources
Closing Thoughts
There's not much sense using the Powerline Ranker to sum up, since the PLA5405 currently stands alone in its AV2 MIMO-1000 class. So let's look at the Powerline Charts' average down and uplink values for all AV2 SISO & MIMO products.
It's clear that the PLA5405 has the highest average throughput for both up and downlink. But with only 10 - 13% higher average throughput for 2X the cost, it's not a cost-effective choice.
Average Throughput comparison
TP-LINK's TL-PA6010KIT still seems the clear choice if you need a pair of HomePlug adapters today. Guess we'll have to see if TRENDnet does any better when it ships its long-delayed TPL-420E2K AV2-MIMO kit.
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