Customer Reviews

NETGEAR XAVB101 Powerline AV Ethernet Adapter Kit

5 star:		(200)
4 star:		(39)
3 star:		(16)
2 star:		(13)
1 star:		(18)

 

 

This product is awesome for people that do not have the time or money to wire their house with Cat 5 cables. I previously had wireless adapters connected to my computer and xbox 360 two floors away from my router and they were getting 16-24mbps max with pings from 150-200ms. With these powerline adapters I constantly have a connection speed of 90-100mbps with pings around 25-65ms.Super easy to set up, just plug each end into a WALL power outlet and connect the ethernet cables(one to a router/modem) and your good to go.My house is about 25yrs old so I dont think you need a new house for these to work. I tried plugging these into a surge protector on one end and speeds went down to about 10mbps. So, if you have connection issues or slow speeds make sure they are not plugged into a surge protector.Overall great product.

Have had Directv for years. Felt it was about time for me to upgrade to one of their new products......I think technology has left my old brain in the dust! Anyway, I got the HD DVR, which is capable of VOD (video on demand). To use this service it requires a hook up from the internet router to the Directv receiver. Well, my router is in the den and no where close enough to the new HD equipment. I really felt that the digital video recorder and the receiver would be the extent of my use. I was reading about the Netgear Powerline Adapter and was hoping it would solve the VOD hookup problem (terrible to have something and not be able to use it). Was thinking I would have to call someone in to help set this up, as my lack of understand electronics would amaze anyone. The product arrived, hardly any instructions. The two units plug into a wall electrical outlet, one in each room. The one in the den plugs into the Linksys wireless G router with the supplied Ethernet cable, the second unit plugs into an electrical outlet near the TV and the satellite box, hooked up with a second Ethernet cable. Now the unbelievable part of the story----the whole thing works and I did it myself! I am bragging because I have a problem screwing in a light bulb. Now, thanks to the Powerline AV kit I have video on demand, which I thought I would never get to use. I am sure if you can plug in a toaster you will have no problem hooking this up. Hope I didn't bore you with this, but you must understand this is a major accomplishment for me.

Our wireless router just wasn't able to get a good connection to our new video room so I started looking at options. I had to send the connection from one side of the house to the other and while I've stayed away from powerline adapters in the past, I found that some of the newer ones were getting decent reviews, including the XAV101s. I bought the 'starter pak' and after 10 minutes had them up and running. The remote is connected at 152 Mbps so I'm happy as can be with the connection. I see no difference in download speeds whether I'm directly connected to my router or to the remotely located XAV101 so any lag is with my internet ISP, not my powerline units.

I bought the NETGEAR XAVB101 Powerline AV Ethernet Adapter Kit based on the reviews here, and my desire to use a hard connection to my iMac to replace the wireless 802.11n I've been using so far. The proported speed of 200 Mbps of the kit tracks very nicely with the maximum speed of 802.11n, and it would eliminate any wireless interference issues I might have.

Set up was very easy - just plug one Adapter in a power outlet near the router (make sure you don't plug the adapter into a surge suppressor), plug the other Adapter into a power outlet close to your PC/game console, connect both with the supplied ethernet cables, and away you go! Without any prior set up of software, drivers, etc., both Adapters immediately recognized each other and began to send and receive data! If only other computer peripheral installations were so easy.

There are 3 lights on each Adapter showing the status of the unit. There's a Power light that shows if the unit is receiving power or setting up security protocols, an Ethernet light that shows if the Adapter is linked and if it is sending data, and a Powerline light that shows if the Adapter is connected to the Powerline network, and the approximate Link Rate. Since the XAVB101 version of Netgear's Powerline Adapters should have a maximum transfer rate of 200 Mbps, I was dismayed that the Powerline light glowed RED, signifying a Link Rate of < 50 Mbps. I thought that possibly this status might not be right, so I performed several data-intensive operations, such as adding album art to Apple Lossless music tracks on my ReadyNAS music server. Much to my chagrin, the speed was no better than my wireless 802.11n connection. When I ran an ethernet cable directly from my router to my iMac and performed the same tasks, they ran lightning-fast. Not a true scientific test, but the comparison was dramatic - from just minutes to complete to TENS of minutes.

I tried other power outlets in our house, but they all showed RED for the Link Rate. It may be the wiring in our 50 year old home, but I don't have anywhere else to test the Adapters. In any case, where I NEED to use the Adapters, the throughput is dismal.

So, anyone looking for an easy connection to their network and is not worried about the speed of the connection, then by all means get the NETGEAR XAVB101 Powerline AV Ethernet Adapter Kit. But if you're like me, you need a FAST connection, look to other solutions.

The device in no way will offer you the same bandwidth or responsiveness that genuine CAT5 cabling will. That said, you don't have to rip your walls open or run cabling over the floor. Also, these devices will more than keep up with the bandwidth coming from most Broadband services(20Mbbs Verizon Fios for myself). It is incredibly convenient to use these to connect an Xbox or video player that needs occasional firmware updates(like my Sony blue-ray player) and to have a convenient link where you can plug a laptop in for a guest.

The documentation is a little sketchy and the interface for the configuration tools could use some work. The netgear website is a headache for finding the up to date firmware for the devices. [...]
If you buy more than one set configuring them to work on the same crypto key can be frustrating but you will get some good exercise running from room to room to press the security button before the two minute timeout expires. Still once they are setup and working on the same key and firmware they stay working reliably.

SUGGESTION. BEFORE you plug them in, as soon as you take them out of the box, write down the passwords(they look like Microsoft Product Keys) and the MAC-ids that are on the back label of the device. This way when you're setting them up and one needs to be reset, reconnected or updated you can know which one is which. This is especially true if you have bought more than one set.

Small design complaints. The quality of service light(the middle LED) is smack in the middle of the box. The way the device is designed you definitely want to put this box on the bottom socket of a wall socket. The problem is that when you plug almost anything else in the socket above it, the powercord invariably drapes right over that LED so if you're across the room the powercord obscures that display. A 'pass through' plug so that you can keep using the wall socket would be nice but that may raise the cost of the device since I think that puts it into a very different safety category.

I bought two sets, using three of the four units. One for the router, one for an Xbox and one for the living-room table where someone can plugin their laptop and I have 1 spare. If I needed more, I'd buy another set. If someone wanted to setup a home network in a hurry, I'd recommend these.

I wanted an internet connection primarily to stream Netflix through an Xbox 360 to a 46 inch Samsung TV. I didn't think my router was up to streaming video and also did not want to invest $100 in the proprietary Xbox Wi-Fi adapter when there was no assurance it would work in my situation. I have a large house with four split floor levels and I needed a connection from the extreme top corner of the house diagonally to the extreme corner of the bottom floor. Needless to say there are a lot of circuit breakers involved and from the reviews I read I was skeptical that a powerline adapter would be a viable solution in view of the problems users have had in homes with complex wiring or with interference.
This is my experience: There is no setup required; plug it in and see what happens. The middle light indicates if there is a powerline connection and at what speed it is transmitting. After trying a combination of various plug locations, the best speed I could get was with the middle light showing red which indicates a transmission rate of under 50 Mbps. The extender utility in Window's Media Center indicated that the signal was inadequate for streaming video.
Rather than experimenting any further, I tried streaming Netflix and I am amazed at the results. After about an initial 20 second buffer period, I'm getting a full sized, excellent picture on my TV, actually a much better picture than I'm getting on my HD computer monitor.
I don't know why this is working so well given the above indicators, but I'm not complaining. I would recommend this to anyone looking for a quick and easy alternative to messing with a Wi-Fi solution which may entail buying a new router and adapter, agonizing over settings, and possibly having it not work. If you have use for a powerline adapter, my recommendation is to buy this product and you might be very pleasantly surprised. There is no investment in setup time and you can always send it back if it's not satisfactory.

I bought two Netgear HDXB111 Powerline HD for two rooms on the same floor. They worked fine for 2 months, and then collapsed. Constant red light. I tried to reset passwords maybe 30 times, different ways. Everything else in the internet system works, but the Netgear boxes. No effective customer service. Expensive for two months of use.

I have only had this device for 2 days, so I can't speak to long term reliability. However I can say it worked plug and play right out of the box. Across 2 rooms I got 160mB according to the utility. I tested my speed at toast.net. My PC gets 10MB from my ISP. This adapter in my home with 25 year old wiring got a 6MB download speed. I will try it from one end to the other in my house and report back.
I recommend changing the security encryption key as every device in your neighborhood has the same key by default. This is easy to do by following the instructions in the manual which has to be downloaded from Netgear and is not in the box. The link in the instructions is wrong. Go to support.netgear.com and enter the model # to find it.
This will generate a random password, but only once. If you need it again, or it does not work, you have to reset the devices.
So as far as the basics are concerned, 5 stars.
The downloaded configuration utility allows you to see device status and connection quality. However when I installed teh software it wanted to install a utility called WinpCap. I was suspicious as it is not mentioned in the manual and so called support. what a nightmare. I got a person easily who seemed to have no clue what I was asking and then said he would have to charge me for the call if he went further. He transferred me to free support who sounded like he had never heard of a powerline adapter XAV101 or WinpCap or the software. Just as others have said .. don't buy Netgear if you need support. I don't .. I understand networking.
Turns out winpcap is OK. It provides low level network interface that allow Netgear software to work. So install it. (windows).
I also tried updating the firmware. However the utility does not display correctly. It says 'press next' and there is no next button and no cancel button. Nada. I shut it down at the task manager. I don't think support knew what firmware even is, so I decided to let sleeping dogs lie and not upgrade.
So happy with the device and the price. Give that 5 stars. Take off a star for support.
If I wasn't an expert, might take of at least 2.
For those who are not. just install plug and play; download the manual and set security per instructions with the button on the device.
Also, try it close to your router first and get a baseline. Then move it where you need it so you know if issues are the device or your wiring.

UPDATE AFTER TESTING OVER 3 DAYS:

The good news is that the device works well with plug and play. When I move it and replug, it works seamlessly. Bad news is it loses quite a lot across my 2700sq ft 25 year old house. I tested with file transfer from my laptop to my desktop. Bottom line is throughput went from a best case in the same room of 50MBPS to 19MBPS halfway across the house to 15MBPS at my TV and 12MBPS at an adjacent outlet next to my receiver. I used DUMeter to measure which is an excellent tool with a 30 day free trial.
(measurements in bits per second). Worst case transfer was an avg of 1.2M Bytes per sec. At this speed surfing was really fast and acceptable. Youtube videos played fine and download ran ahead of playback. Pandora was great. 10gb Backups might be slow!
I did not test streaming video which uses UDP and not TCP. I doubt if streaming video in my situation would work but I am going to use it for my receiver to get audio like Pandora and my DVD player to get You Tube and that should work fine.
So as others have said, if you don't need fast speed and streaming then it works. If you need it very fast, this is not for you. I'm not sure what is except expensive wireless gear and luck, or wired Ethernet which costs a bundle.
Knocking another star off for throughput.
A couple of tips:
a)It is not magic. The further you go; the older your wiring and the more electronics and microwaves to interfere, the worse it gets.
A good FAQ at [...]
b)Try different outlets. I got 3mbps more out of an outlet in the next cabinet and will run the Ethernet a few feet in order to use it. I am also going to try a splitter for my receiver and DVD player.
c)The Netgear utility gives you an idea of relative quality but it does not measure throughput. It showed me 50mbps local and 92mbps remote halfway for 19mbps throughput and 45 local and 25 remote for 12MBPS throughput at my Receiver.
4)If you have a laptop and DUmeter, it only takes a few minutes to experiment. It's worth it if you have options. More reliable I think than an iffy wireless signal.

Fantastic! Saved me having to run over 100 feet of cable through my walls and attic. Now I have full-speed internet capability throughout the house, without the problems of disconnects and speed loss I was getting with wireless.
Love it.

I bought the Netgear wall-plugged ethernet adapter at BestBuy, easy to set up and worked fine for several months. Then it stopped working. We replaced EVERYTHING in the Internet path (new router, cables) and the connection to my LG Bluray player still didn't work. So we ran a hard wire directly from the router (same plug as the Netgear box had been connected to) straight to the Bluray player, worked fine. So we knew there was no problem with the 1. Internet provider, 2. modem, 3. router, 4. cables, and/or 5. the device being connected at the end -- since everything worked when the Netgear boxes were taken out equation. So I call their tech support (naturally got bounced to the other side of the world) explained everything, and asked for an address where I could send them since they were under warranty. 40 minutes later (after doing every troubleshooting step I had already done twice) they still wouldn't give me an address, telling me everything should be working. So I ask for a supervisor, who tells me to take them back to BestBuy to have them test the adapters and call Netgear back. Yeah, like that's going to happen.