Fantastic alternative to wireless (Max Value 200Mbps Home Plug)

Member Name: cheekee

Product:	Max Value 200Mbps Home Plug
Date:	09/06/09 (88 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Superb internet connection, more reliable than wireless

Disadvantages: Look a bit cheap

I never really needed an extra internet connection at my house. My cable internet was upstairs going straight into my PC, and my wireless router (G) served my laptop downstairs adequately. This changed when I bought a PS3.

When looking at the PS3's spec, I saw 'wireless' and was happy that I could have it on my HDTV downstairs and be able to play online, stream media and download content easily. However, it turns out that my wireless connection tends to drop out a bit - not bad for browsing, not good for gaming. I needed a more reliable option.

A friend told be about these home plugs - to be honest, the 'Max Value' brand put me off a bit. He assured me though, so I took the plunge - and boy am I glad I did.

They may not win any aesthetic design awards - but these plugs are functional and are literally 'plug and play'. One plug went upstairs - into the power socket, and then connected to the router with a standard ethernet cable. The second plug went downstairs - again into the power socket, and then connected to the PS3 with an ethernet cable. That's it! It does come with a CD-ROM with software and drivers, but I didn't use it at all.

The internet connection using these is faultless - just the same as my PC which is connected directly to the modem. I get no lags with online gaming, media streams from my PC faultlessly, and demo downloads no longer take ages.

Keep your eye on the price of these as it tends to fluctuate - I picked them up for £50 from Amazon just before Xmas. Also, I've read a few reviews where people have plugged them into extension cables, surge protectors etc and suffered slow speeds. Keep this in mind - it's best to use them directly in the wall sockets.

Summary: If you need a constant high-speed internet connection that doesn't go down, these are your boys

Processing/Quality:
Reliability:
Ease of use:
Features: