Linksys Powerline Adapter

Review 1

I had these working in in seconds, it truly was that straightforward to setup. What makes these better than other powerline adapters is that one of them is also a four port switch - Extremely handy and such a clear enhancement I'm shocked other makers haven't done the same.

I did not get far away from the publicized speeds, but that looked to be down to specifics of my home wiring, but I got satisfactory speeds for my wants.

I found moving the plugs around to other sockets mad differences to the connection speeds, and I also revealed that coming straight out the wall and not on an extension lead made a gigantic difference. Briefly if speed is a need, spend a little more and pickup the Powerline "AV" products which are rated at 200Mbit - 3x quicker than these ( though I think again you will not get anywhere near this in the real world ).

Review 2

My sister-in-law is accursed with a thick-walled house. It is a lovely house, but the wi-fi in the lounge doesn't reach the back bedroom, lair of a teenage boy. Teenage boys need the internet like the rest of us need water, and I have been trying to solve their problem for a while, with more powerful wireless routers and getting longer cables move the router deeper into the house. All to no avail. Then I tried Linksys PowerLine and it solved the problem completely.

Review 3

I tried the PLTK300 to compensate for poor wireless reception in my living room. After reading user beefs about the problem of setting up a wireless gaming adapter ( address and encryption configuration, and so on. ), and keeping in mind I've got a PlayStation three in my living room that I wanted online, I could not be more satisfied with the result thhis offering from Linksys gives. You literally just plug each unit into a power outlet, connect your wires, and you are done. These Linksys modules truly open up the chances for home automation, home security, or video over ethernet.

On the flipside, they went and did appear rather inexpensive and plasticky when I took them out of the box, but the base line is they they work like a charm. It took literally 5 mins to plug them in and I had my PlayStation three connected into my network with no fuss, no installs, no configuration. The sole other negative I'm able to think about is that they do get a little warm, however if you take away the stands they come supplied with and just sit them out in an open space, they're going to keep cool. An completely amazing product and significantly faster than wireless. Problem solved. Immediately . 5 stars, great product.

Review 4

This Powerline kit from Linksys was one of the simplest pieces of technology to set up I have ever had.

It truly was so easy that I just hooked it up following the easy instructions and the job was done - there is no configuring passwords or anything. It is also a respectable looking set, being easy in design and reasonably little. In operation its pretty fast in signal transmission time too.

When I checked it was not as quick as using my N' wireless connection but it was terribly close. I am using it for kit which isn't wireless enabled but still wishes a Web connection, and this set saves having repulsive wires trailing everywhere. I have been truly impressed with this set and would not hesitate to advocate it. The sole drawback I found was that it came supplied with US style plugs rather than the United Kingdom three pin plug, but that may be simply cured by snipping them off and fitting the correct ones, or just using adaptors.

Review 5

These products are genius. They let you employ your power supply wiring as a sort of invisible, walled, long ethernet wire on to which you connect one part of this kit to your router and the other part to another room in the house and wire connect your devices to it. Not more than this and you are active. What sets this aside from the contest is that it is engaging, is from a top brand ( I already own a Linksys router and have no probs there ) and it permits you to attach up to 4 devices per connecting unit, while most others only provide one, incorrectly presuming you'll only have one Ethernet device per room. what I hate is that compared to rivals it does appear a bit too 'visible'. Sure, the standing lights can be useful, but so can those on a router or the networking icons on your PC. I'd have liked it if it was simply a plug with an Ethernet socket, but I understand that to get the four ports on there it needed to be bigger. If you are one of those people that has a number of network devices per room, this is as yet unrivaled and is your sole choice.

If you have only got 2 PCs in the house you are better off with a less expensive home plug that will also offer up to 200mbps instead of just 85 if you are also inquisitive about local media streaming. But for the precise customer, it is actually perfect and the price is fine.

Review 6

If you are looking for a simple method to attach a network-enabled device (PC, Console, Printer etc.) to your network anywhere in your property (provided it is on the same ring-main), and don't want to or cannot use Wi-Fi for whatever reason, then Powerline Networking is for you. It is simple and fuss-free, and can offer a life-line to people who may have been struggling to find a reliable way of connecting hard-to-reach areas of their property.


The crux of the problem I had with this item stemmed around the fact that amazon saw fit to send me an EU version instead of a UK version, so there were no UK 3-pin plugs or adapters. As I had immediate need to use this item and couldn't afford the time to send it back, I ended up using some travel adapters I happened to have on-hand. Fortunately, it worked fine.

The devices themselves are pleasingly inoffensive and show you all the information you need to know about. The inclusion of a 4-port switch on the end device is a real boon as it allows 4 things to share the connection when most Powerline ethernet adapters only allow for 1.

Having already used 2 different types of Homeplug device (both being from the manufacturer dEvolo), these Linksys devices are just as faultless from my assessment. You plug them in... they work. Simple.

The only other minor gripe I had was that the vertical stands are not particularly rugged. One of them clicked into place fine, but the other one wouldn't stay in and risked toppling over if the desk that I was placing the device on got knocked, so I ended up placing it flat on the desk instead.

As a word of note to anyone using Powerline products, make sure you do not plug these in through a Surge-Protected socket. They will happily take a regular multi-gang extension plug if need be, as long as there is no surge-protection on it, as it will disrupt the signal and prevent the network from forming.

Bear in mind that there are 2 flavours out there currently, standard speed being 85Mbps and "HD" or "200", which offer higher speeds which may be required to stream HD media. Bear in mind that the 85Mbps varients give you a rough real-world speed of around 30-40Mbps connection, and the HD varients give you around an 85Mbps connection (they add the down-and-up speeds together to get their headline "200" figures - minus the overheads of connecting through a ring-main).

These Linksys products are a decent-enough varient on an increasingly popular networking standard. There are other manufacturers out there that offer similar items so shop around to get the best deal.