4. Setup and Administration

Setting up the CableLAN is pretty much plug-and-go, since all units come pre-set with the same "universal" encryption key. The toughest part for me was figuring out which way to connect the T-splitter when I hooked the CableLANs into my home's CATV coax system. Once I had everything connected, the adapters came right up and connected my CableLAN-equipped test notebook to my LAN's router via a second CableLAN adapter.

During my other testing where I was taking the notebook to various locations, I noticed that I sometimes had to unplug both CableLAN adapters in order to get the network running again. When I asked Corinex about this, they offered the following explanation:

Each device has a refresh interval associated with it, which is set to 5 minutes by default in the software. This is done so that not to overload the network with excessive polling. This is the maximum time, which will elapse between detection of newly added devices, however, in practice it happens much sooner. However, we have a free [Windows] utility (pnset.zip) available for download from our website, which can be used to change the refresh interval setting if desired. It ranges from 30 seconds to 4.5 hours.

Corinex' manual also walks you through using the Windows-based Setup Tool (Figure 6) supplied on their CD that shows you other CableLAN adapters using the same Network Encryption Key. (Corinex also has MacOS X and Linux flavors of the Setup Tool available available for download.)

Figure 6: Setting the Network Encryption key

NOTE! Since it's possible for the CableLAN signal to travel up to 700 meters (that's almost half a mile!) it can reach CATV cabling in neighboring homes or apartments. The good news is that - like HomePlug - CableLAN products protect all data with 56 bit DES encryption. The bad news is that the encryption doesn't do you any good if you don't change the default Network Encryption Kay that the products come set to.

All you need to do to keep your data safe is to pick a strong password and enter it as the Network Password on each of your HomePlug adapters . Check this article for more on strong passwords and how to generate them.

As an additional security precaution, Corinex' utility is intentionally designed so that it will only work with a CableLAN adapter that's directly connected to the computer that the utility it running on

Figure 7: Configured Devices

Since I left the default network encryption key in place, the Setup Tool's final screen (Figure 7) shows me the other member of my two node CableLAN network. Note that for MDU installations, Corinex' Open Powerline management application uses SNMP to manage large groups of devices and removes the "direct-connect" limitation found in the simpler utility.