Powerline network - how did I live without these ? (Netgear Powerline HD Network Adapter HDX101)

Member Name: rxpell

Product:	Netgear Powerline HD Network Adapter HDX101
Date:	06/06/09 (13 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Simple to set up, Very reliable, Great network speed

Disadvantages: Initially high price

I always had problems getting my broadband connection to work from anything other than the engineer's port on my BT master socket, so ripped out all the spurious DIY phone cabling in the house and went wireless ... this was OK in some rooms but not in my office where the wireless connection on my desktop was intermittent ... after contemplating putting in a local ethernet network, I read about these Powerline adaptors and thought I'd give them a go. Now, at first they seem pretty expensive but having used them for over a year now, I'm really impressed and think they are great value. I bought a twin pack of these HDX101 200Mbps ones and, honestly, ten minutes after opening the box was in business and haven't looked back (most of that 10 mins was getting into a socket behind my desk !). Plug one into a normal plug socket near your router, pop an ethernet cable (supplied in the box) into it and connect to the router ... go off and plug the other one in near your PC and connect it to your PC with an ethernet cable, turn the plugs on and that's it. Yes, its that simple ! Networked straight away. I get 100Mbps on these over my old wires. and they bridge a couple of ring circuits no problem and even cope with the sparking of my mains electric fence energiser (I'm on a farm not a survivalist compound by the way !), so if they cope with that should be fine in any domestic situation.

One thing to note is that the manual says they dont work if plugged into a surge protector, so I've not done that which could leave them vulnerable to getting fried if there's a power surge.

Theoretically should be able to add other plug units at a later date if required, but if these are not "HD" I think the connection may drop back to the non-HD max speed 85Mbps (?). If doing this, check for compatibility of new ones.

Overall superb ... if you are struggling at all with wireless, I'd recommend these very highly. I'm not saying wireless is bad - I've still got it for other things e.g. laptop, music, radios etc., but for me in one room this really was a great solution after years of struggling with dropped connections etc.

Summary: Great product - revolutionised my broadband experience

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