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Linksys PLK200 Powerline AV Ethernet Adapter Kit | List Price: $180.29
Discount Price: Too low to display
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Brand: Linksys
Binding: Electronics
Release Date: 2006-12-11
Warranty: 1 year warranty
Features: - Use your home or office's existing powerlines to network your computers
- Bridges 10/100 Ethernet and powerline networking
- Data rates up to 100Mbps — 128-bit encryption keeps your data secure
- Share files, printers, network storage, and gaming throughout your home — connect it to a router to share your cable or DSL Internet connection
Simply doesn't work [Posted on 2008-08-23]
This was a huge disappointment. I was planning to run ethernet cable from the cable modem in my office downstairs to my wife's office and the Tivo upstairs. They're on wireless now and we wanted more throughput. But when I saw these, I thought they would save me a lot of time and give me enough speed to support both systems.
I plugged these into adjacent outlets in my office and they seemed as if they would work out well... nearly 100 mbps according to the control application. Of course, I didn't expect that speed at distance, but I don't think 40-60 mbps is too much to expect. But as soon as I moved them onto different circuits, they completely fell apart. They fell to 9 mbps in my wife's office and 13 mbps at the Tivo's. I tried them in every outlet upstairs (about 5 different circuits) and none exceeded 21 mbps.
I thought I would check for a firmware update in case this was something that could be solved that way. There was a firmware update so I tried to install it. Unfortunately, v1 of the control software won't read the binary file type of the update. I upgraded to the latest control software, but it wouldn't recognize the devices at all and so I still couldn't install the updates.
There was one thing I could do, though, and was return them to Amazon. That's what I did. Running cable's not so bad. I could have had it done in the time I spent messing around with these.
TIRED OF WIRELESS [Posted on 2008-08-27]
I bought this product because I just got tired of loosing connectivity. Being in the middle of a internet meeting and loosing your connection is very frustrating(SPECIALLY WHEN THE MEETING IS WITH THE BOSS) So I decided to give Powerline adapters a shot and so far I'm very happy with them, GOODBYE WIRELESS. It's been around three weeks since I connected them and I haven't lost my connection at all.
Absolutely simple and effective [Posted on 2008-09-11]
I needed to solve intermittent wireless connectivity in my home, too many walls between the wireless router in my den and the family room where everyone wants to connect. Installation took about 5 minutes and was straightforward. After connecting the first unit to my PC, I attached it to the router and then plugged the second unit into an outlet in my family room. I didn't touch any of the setup options or make changes, it just worked.
Easier than drilling holes in your walls [Posted on 2008-09-18]
This pair of adapters does the job! Connect one adapter to your router and the other(s) to your computer, and viola! You have a home network. They work so well that I bought a second pair to connect additional computers and game systems.
I didn't measure LAN performance. But when I used an 802.11g wireless connection my network-intensive applications (X-box Live, Skype) did not work very well over wireless. After switching to Powerline AV they both worked perfectly.
No software setup was needed - it just worked right out of the box. I found that the adapters work better in some outlets than others (perhaps on different electric circuits?), and even turning the adapter up-side-down and plugging it in the other way might make a better connection.
expensive alternative to running dedicated ethernet cabling [Posted on 2008-09-24]
Stand in the home networking department of any electronics store, and within minutes you will hear customers asking employees what to do about their home wireless routers not covering their whole house. The failed promise of a single wireless router to provide adequate coverage has caused different products to be marketed. The Powerline AV adapter is one such product. Plug one in to an AC outlet near your broadband router and connect an Ethernet cable to your router. Plug another in to a distant AC outlet in your home, and plug in any network device such as a computer, access point, internet camera or printer.
Overall, this product worked. Setup was not smooth, though. The setup program and instructions have a few issues. You are told to run the setup program twice, once for each adapter. However, this starts the setup wizard again, which detects that you've already installed the configuration utility, and it asks if you want to modify/remove/repair. Then it tells you that you can click on an icon to register your product. However, at that point your PC is not connected to the Internet (unless you're using a computer with both a wired and wireless connection).
Worse yet, the configuration utility did not find the Powerline adapter connected directly to it in the discovery phase. I used a second computer which had both a wired and wireless connection, and the process went smoother. The protocol used to discover the Powerline adapters was not discussed, so it's hard to say what the issue was. After connecting, I immediately updated the firmware via a download from the Linksys website. This caused the powerline connection between the two units to stop working until I connected to the other unit and also updated its firmware (I'm not surprised that the new firmware wasn't backward compatible with the old). The discovery the next time around worked much better. As another configuration must, I changed the network password from its default to discourage eavesdropping in the unlikely event that a neighbor would receive this signal over the power line and try to decode or use it.
The only other complaint so far is that these units get extremely hot. At this high heat level, I can guess that they will not last too long due to stress on the electronic components.
In summary, these are worth a shot if you don't mind spending approximately $125 for such a connection. Running dedicated Ethernet cabling is still the most reliable and certainly the cheapest method, assuming that you have access to the walls and ceiling, and the required tools and knowledge.
For setting up these devices, you might want to get a network-savvy friend to assist you to avoid any frustration. Once set up, there is no further configuration to be done.
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