Chapter 6 The OS X Configuration Utility

6.1.8 Link Information

Use the Link Info screen to find out more information on the connection between two Powerline adapters on your Powerline network. The link information screen shows the MAC addresses of connected Powerline adapters and statistics on the links.

Figure 27 Link Information

The following table describes the labels in this screen.

Table 11 Link Information

LABEL

DESCRIPTION

Link Characteristics

 

 

 

Source Address

This is the MAC address of the local Powerline adapter. The local

 

Powerline adapter is the one connected directly to your

 

computer. A MAC address is a number that uniquely identifies a

 

device in a network.

 

 

Destination Address

This is the MAC address of a remote Powerline adapter. A

 

remote Powerline adapter is in the same Powerline network as

 

the local Powerline adapter but is not connected directly to your

 

computer.

 

 

Show Statistics

Click this button to show detailed link information between the

 

local and remote power adapters..

 

 

Statistics

 

 

 

Avg. Pre-FEC Bit Error

In Powerline networks data is sent in physical blocks (PB). This

Rate

field shows the average percentage of errors in the physical

 

blocks received by the destination device from your source

 

device before the errors are corrected using FEC (Forward Error

 

Correction). Forward Error Correction (FEC) is a system where

 

the sender adds redundant data to its transmissions. It allows

 

the receiver to correct errors without the need of asking the

 

sender to resend the data.

 

A high error rate may not necessarily result in a poor connection

 

as PBs with errors are discarded and the Powerline device

 

adjusts the signal to a frequency level where fewer errors occur.

 

 

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PLA-407 User’s Guide