CONCLUSION

   Judging by our tests it's quite obvious that for TRENDnet to manufacture such a compact size Powerline adapter like the TPL-406E they had to cut some corners (for example use smaller yet slower components) and thus the inferior performance compared to every 500Mbps adapter we've reviewed to this day. As i already said i really don't know why and if I’d ever choose such a small Powerline adapter instead of a larger one with an integrated electrical socket (although it would be impossible for such a compact adapter to have an integrated socket) but for a product to actually find its way to retail there has to be a valid target group. Still with such performance levels i can only see this product targeted towards end users who will not really mind about their local network not having the best possible transfer speeds (perhaps for use in hotels?).

   The good thing i always liked about TRENDnet is that they put reasonable price tags on their products and so as we speak their TPL-406E 500Mbps AV Powerline adapter retails at around USD45 inside the USA and 40Euros inside the EU. However the real surprise comes from the two piece kit (the TPL-406E2K) which currently retails for USD74.99 inside the USA (Newegg/Amazon) and at around 70Euros inside the EU. Still no matter how low of a price the TPL-406E currently retails at i can't really recommend it for people who place performance above all else when making a purchase like this. Certainly if you want an Powerline adapter installed in a place where something larger simply won't do then yes by all means the TPL-406 compact Powerline AV adapter is indeed the smallest in the market as we speak (to my knowledge always) so my guess is that you will have no problem with its size. Overall however although TRENDnet has proven themselves time and again the TPL-406E is not what it should be and unless a firmware update (or a hardware revision) gets released to correct that it's simply not on par with other 500Mbps Powerline adapters. 

PROS

- Size
- 500Mbit/s Compatible
- AES 128bit Encryption
- Price (For Some)

CONS

- Performance