NETGEAR XE104 85 Mbps Powerline 4-Port Ethernet Adapter

by Netgear

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.8 x 4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B000BKY3Q6
• Item model number: XE104NA
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (60 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank:
  • #33 in Electronics > Computers & Add-Ons > Networking Products > Network Adapters > Powerline Network Adapters
• Date first available at Amazon.com: September 28, 2005

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description

The NETGEAR XE104 85 Mbps Powerline 4-Port Ethernet Adapter offers: An easy way to extend four network ports through your power lines 85 Mbps throughput True plug and play simplicity

The NETGEAR XE104 85 Mbps Powerline 4-Port Ethernet Adapter lets you easily extend a network using just the existing electric lines of your home, eliminating the need to run unsightly Ethernet wires all over your house or apartment. With four ports, you can connect multiple devices to one adapter and at 85 Mbps, you'll have more than enough speed to download music, stream videos, and make internet telephone calls without any hiccups.

You can connect up to four devices into a Powerline network with the XE104. View larger.

True Plug and Play Installation
Extending a network using the electric lines in your home requires an XE104 unit and an additional NETGEAR XE103 Powerline Ethernet Adapter. Simply plug the XE103 into a wall outlet and connect it to your router with an Ethernet cord. Then plug the XE104 into the wall outlet where you need a network connection and connect it to as many as four Ethernet-ready devices. That's it. There's no software to install. You can create as many network connections as you need by connecting more XE104 or XE103 units wherever you need them. The device has easy-to-read icon LEDs for status information at a glance.

Fast Performance
The XE104 is HomePlug compatible and supports speeds up to 85 Mbps which is enough for multiple video streams without interruptions. The XE104 has four 10/100 Ethernet ports with which you can connect a PC, gaming console, Slingbox, DVR, NETGEAR's SC101T Storage Central Turbo or ReadyNAS NV+, or another networkable device. In order to enable encryption, you need a computer with Windows Vista, XP, 2000, 98 or Me.

The NETGEAR XE104 85 Mbps Powerline 4-Port Ethernet Adapter is backed by 1-year warranty.

What's in the Box
XE104 85 Mbps Powerline 4-Port Ethernet Adapter, installation guide, Ethernet cable, resource CD, warranty card, and support and information card.

Product Description

"No New Wires – that’s what NETGEAR's Wall-Plugged Ethernet Bridge means to you as it uses what’s already there – your home’s electrical outlets. Completely network your home by plugging in to the existing electrical outlets in every room. The XE104 85 Mbps Wall-Plugged Ethernet 4-port Switch makes a high-speed broadband connection available anywhere in the home without running any cabling, but rather turning each electrical outlet in your home into a 4-port Ethernet connection. Easily extend an existing Ethernet network to PCs in other rooms to maximize the use of all your peripherals. With a sleek new design, the XE104 rests while plugged into an ordinary electrical socket, without any component to step on or take up desk space. Get your LAN party underway in minutes, by linking up to 8 game consoles together using just two XE104 units. This product complements NETGEAR’s other products, such as the WGR614 and WPN824 Routers. Simple to install and use, and equipped with newly designed icon-based indicators to enable easy monitoring. Robust and rate-adaptive, the XE104 minimizes interference from other household appliances. So run your hair dryer, vacuum cleaner or TV, your network will automatically find the best data rate so that you can continue surfing, gaming or telecommuting. *XE103 is compatible with NETGEAR’s XE102, XE104, and WGXB102 products. XE103 is not compatible nor interoperable with NETGEAR’s HDX101, however it may coexist on the same network."

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

58 of 60 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Works perfectly but 85 megs is fantasyland., May 1, 2006

By 

selmermk6 "SHW" (Denver area) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: NETGEAR XE104 85 Mbps Powerline 4-Port Ethernet Adapter (Personal Computers)

Bought two. Plugged in one in my home office with a Cat5 coming from my WRT54G router.

Plugged the other one in on the opposite side of my ranch townhome. Got the blue light sync indicator within 5 seconds. Plugged in my laptop and got an IP from the Linksys five seconds after that..

Works perfectly. No drops. Just like an ethernet cable would be. Since it has four ports, plugged in the Tivo via the USB/Ethernet I already had. That also grabbed an IP and worked perfectly.

Consistent speed of copying WinXP SP2 off my PC in my home office to my laptop in the living room using the two 104s is about 15 Mbps or so as measured by Netstat on my laptop. Is it equal to Cat5? Is it ANYWHERE NEAR 85 Mbps as Netgear advertises? NOT A CHANCE. Connecting the laptop to my LAN by directly connecting into the WRT54G resulted in the same file being moved from the same PC at just over 75 Mbps. So, the 15 Mbps speed of the 104s is about 20% of the LAN's speed moving the same file.

The Netgear software says the two are connected at just about 40 Mbps. So, figure less than half that in real speed.

But overall, it does work. It's more than enough speed for me to avoid the hassles and drops of wireless, not to mention having to use WEP since my Tivo can't currently support WPA.

Clearly, this is a YMMV product. Buy it and take the shot. You might get enough speed. Or you may not even have it sync up. That's why I bought it from Amazon so I could return it if I had too. Could have gotten it a bit cheaper elsewhere, but why risk it?

If I was streaming HD files, it wouldn't work. But for not having to deal with cutting through 19 (!) wireless networks that my 802.XX Site Monitor can see, and fighting the inevitable XP wireless drops, it works fine for me. I was going to go for the Slinglink first but figured I might as well try for faster speeds. I'm glad I spent the extra $$$$ over it and the older Netgear 102s.

5 stars for ease of use. 1 star for the laughable real speed versus Netgear's advertising. Thus, an average of 3 stars.

EDIT TO ORIGINAL REVIEW: I have `SBC/ATT/Whatever they are today' DSL. I tweaked my RCP Receive Window (RWIN) from blank (whoopps) to 17,424 (as well as other settings) per DSLReports.com's suggestion in order to accommodate the new 6.0/764 RT based speed profile I recently received. In doing do, the speed of file transfers referenced above via the 104 dropped from about 15 megs to less than 10. When I removed the RWIN setting restoring it to its state before messing with it, the speed returned to the 15 megs.

So, if you've tweaked your registry settings for maximum broadband download speed and are not getting great results with the 104, you might want to do a little tweaking trade off between the two to get the speeds you're seeking on both the 104 and your broadband access. My results of both speeds is still in 'messing around with' mode and I haven't yet found that perfect blend.

EDIT TO ORIGINAL REVIEW #2 - 06/11/2006: Still working fine. Speeds are consistent with what I originally posted. It's never failed once to work the way it's intended. I've never dropped an IP and I've never plugged in the laptop and not had it work within a few seconds. A good product in my specific enviornment. I'll buy another one so I can plug in the laptop anywhere in my place, even the deck outside and not have to fight wireless drops. Now if they'd only release the 1.6 firmware....

57 of 59 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Simple and Easy-to-Use. Works Well. 85 Mbps? I Just Don't See It., May 31, 2006

By 

FPGA (Soquel, CA, United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: NETGEAR XE104 85 Mbps Powerline 4-Port Ethernet Adapter (Personal Computers)

PROS:
=====================================
* Works very well!
* Easy to install and to use
* Built-in 4-port router in each module!
* Reliable 30 Mbps connection, but speed will likely depend on your specific location.
* Includes all the required pieces to install one end point (module, Ethernet cable, software, manual). You need a minimum of two such modules.
* Reasonably good documentation on CD-ROM.
* Bright blue HomePlug network LED is extremely bright--a free nightlight!


CONS:
=====================================
* Never saw 85 Mbps but did reliably see 30 Mbps+.
* You need a minimum of two of these units. No manufacturer seems to make this clear on their web site.
* Optional but highly recommended encryption utility isn't obvious or convenient (you need to record the password printed in small print on the back side of the module). Also, it seemed like I was always setting up the module at the opposite end of the connection.



I purchased two of the Netgear XE104 units (one for the cable gateway, one for the remote destination). While the Linksys WCG200 cable gateway has an 802.11G wireless connection, the power isn't sufficient to reliably reach all locations in my old house (what's in those walls anyway?). I was hoping that the XE104s would reliably deliver > 6 Mbps (Comcast HSI speed) to any point in the house, which it does. Using the Netgear-supplied utility, I'm seeing 30 Mpbs+, which is more than sufficient for my needs.

The unit was easy to install and use. The HomePlug connection established itself within seconds. I connected one unit to the router on the cable gateway via a Cat5 Ethernet cable. This unit connected to a nearby wall-plug (no surge protectors allowed).

I then plugged a second unit upstairs to another wall-plug. The HomePlug light lit up almost immediately. I then plugged this unit into my laptop's Ethernet port and had connectivity within about 30 seconds. At this point, the Netgear reporting utility showed about 45 Mbps (again, nowhere near 85 Mbps but then again, I really didn't expect it either).

The default connection isn't encrypted. Netgear highly recommends encrypting the connection, which I image would be requisite if you live an appartment or condo. The encryption utility isn't obvious. You need to write down the password data written in small print on the back-side of each module. The encryption utility asks for this information. In my case, the utility could only "see" the module at the opposite end of the connection, which made the installation a little more confusing. With a little fiddling, it all worked fabulously.

Each of the modules includes a built-in 4-port hub. Consequently, up to four computers or equipment can share an endpoint.

I'm happy enough that I plan to purchase an additional module.

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best Networking Equipment I Ever Bought, March 7, 2006

By 

M. Habeck (Oshkosh, WI United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: NETGEAR XE104 85 Mbps Powerline 4-Port Ethernet Adapter (Personal Computers)

Works as advertised and easy to set up in minutes. Just make sure you buy two (one for area with PC and one for area you need connection).

I run Xbox LIVE over this and have had no lag or any performance hit. It's great for gaming.

I'd buy this again in a heartbeat. 100% satisfied.