Netgear Powerline USB Adapter (XA601)

by Netgear

Product Details

Supplementary Guide [1.07mb PDF]

• Item Weight: 1.7 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B00006F6ZH
• Item model number: XA601
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: July 16, 2002

Product Description

Manufacturer's Part # XA601NA
This product is Brand New.Completely network your home by plugging in to the existing electrical outlets in every room. The XA601 Powerline USB Adapter makes a high-speed cable/DSL connection available anywhere in the home without running any cabling.

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 good-looking XA601 case complements your living environment and sports NETGEAR's new, easy-to-read icons. Setup is wire free.

Your existing 110V electrical outlets can now be used to supply a seamless network connection for your Cable/DSL access throughout your entire home.

Imagine networking PC's in different rooms without running any unsightly cables. Your network connection is as close as your nearest electrical outlet.

Features:

• No New Wires
• Uses existing 110V Ethernet Cabling
• Simple USB connection
• Allows sharing of Internet files and printers
• Resists interference from other household appliances

This product is Brand New and comes with a 1 year warranty.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

33 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Easy, reliable networking for the network novice, October 24, 2003

By 

Curtis E. Huber "Biz_Point_Reader" (Anacortes, WA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Netgear Powerline USB Adapter (XA601) (Personal Computers)

Both my wife and I work from home two days per week, and we both need high speed Internet access to be our most productive. We created a network in a previous house by purchasing a router and running a cable between two office areas. Now we were in a new home and needed to setup our network again, and running a cable would have been a major construction project. What to do?

We immediately thought of a wireless network. But, as we did our research, we saw repeated reports of the network "dropping off" unexpectedly. Neither of us liked the idea of being in the middle of a discussion with a co-worker, boss, or client while looking at information online and having that information disappear. We wanted reliability and simplicty.

The answer? Powerline networking. New technology had overcome some of the earlier electrical interference problems with powerline networking. We already had a Netgear router from our previous home network that had worked flawlessly for several years. So we purchased the Netgear powerline adapter.

The setup couldn't be much easier: connect the adapter to the router with a standard supplied network cable and plug it in; in the second work location plug in a second adapter, and connect it to your second computer, in our case, my work-supplied laptop.

We've been using this product for 18 months without any problems. On rare occasions my laptop won't "find" the connection. If I unplug the adapter for a minute or two and plug it in again, I'm re-connected. My connection has never dropped off once I'm connected.

The powerline solution isn't quite as "elegant" as a wireless network; you do have to be plugged in to a power outlet, so you don't have the same mobility that you get with wireless. But if you're a serious teleworker, you probably have a work space established, and papers spread out around you anyway. You need to be "at work" not roaming around the yard with your laptop. And if your going to be at work for 8 to 10 hours your laptop will also need to be plugged into an outlet.

If you're looking for a reliable, easy to setup home network system, I highly recommend this Netgear product.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Beware the XA601!, March 3, 2005

By 

P. Wai (California, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Netgear Powerline USB Adapter (XA601) (Personal Computers)

I have tried Powerline products from various manufacturers, including the Belkin F5D4050 USB Adapter (don't bother, it's garbage), GigaFast PE902 Powerline Ethernet Bridge, the Netgear XE602 Ethernet bridge, the Netgear XA601 USB Adpater, and the Linksys PLUSB10 USB Adapter.

What can I say about the XA601? It is cheap (you can get one from eBay for $12 shipped) and when it works it works great.

The problem I have with the XA601 is when the unit is plugged into the electrical outlet for more than 24 hours the LAN connectivity stops. The only way to fix this is by unplugging the power cord, waiting a few minutes, and plugging it in again.

Maybe the XA601 has a problem with overheating - I don't know. I emailed their Tech Support over a week ago and so far, no response.

If you're looking for a Powerline USB Adpater I suggest the Linksys PLUSB10. The unit I have has been working flawlessly for over 2 months. But they are expensive and hard to find.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars great product, December 20, 2005

By 

J. Fu "Netgear User" (Birmingham, AL, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Netgear Powerline USB Adapter (XA601) (Personal Computers)

This is a great product, easy installation, fast and stable. Performance certainly beats wireless. Netgear has a new powerline wall-plugged adaptor XE102 that is smaller, but is under recall because it could cause fire. XA601 is well designed for desktop placement, I used it for 2 years never see it got overheated.