Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
There's a lot to like here, June 14, 2009
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
Others have already described this product very nicely. So, I'll focus on a few areas that I think merit attention.
# Simplicity
As anyone who has tried helping a parent install a wireless networking product over the telephone can attest to, "networking" has always been synonymous with "complexity". With this product, it took me longer to get over my skepticism, than it did for the product to actually begin working!
# Transfer Rate
This device is rated at 200 Mbps over standard power lines, and 10/100 Mbps over Ethernet. To test this, I connected a notebook to each MegaPlug, both of which were connected to the same wall socket, and transferred a 1.3 GB file. The transfer rate averaged 57 Mbps, over a green Link LED indicating a good line.
[Notebook1 -> MegaPlug1 -> electrical wiring <- MegaPlug2 <- Notebook2]
Checking online quickly confirmed my suspicion that 200 Mbps is probably what can only be achieved under ideal test conditions. In other words, your mileage will definitely vary depending on the quality of the electrical wiring, and other factors such as electrical interference, etc. However, a rate of 57Mbps more than suffices for transmitting high def content, so this is probably as good as it gets.
# Switch Configuration
I also tried connecting one of the wall outlets to my router that is connected to my cable modem, and the other to a separate router in a different room, to which I connected my notebook. That worked just fine as well. So, you really just need one MegaPlug per network access point.
Notebook1 -> Switch -> MegaPlug1 -> electrical wiring <- MegaPlug2 -> Wireless Router -> Cable Modem
#Security
Security can be a problem in a multi-unit building since data signals travel through circuit breakers and stop at a transformer. Fortunately, these units come configured for 128-bit AES encryption.
Unfortunately, the User Guide on the ActionTec web site starts by saying "By default the adapters are NOT encrypted." That didn't jibe with what the MegaPlug QuickStart Guide claimed, "These adapters ship with a generic encryption key."
Since there's no way to tell whether on not encryption is enabled, I chose to follow the User Guide's advice.
However, the little black buttons on all your MegaPlugs must be pressed within 2 minutes of starting the process. (I had visions of an entire family darting around like fireflies if they had a full complement of 16 MegaPlugs installed!)
# Why this rating?
This product works as advertised, and provides the comfort of having a relatively secure and stable connection, making it a solid 4-star ("I Like It") product.
However, if I were buying this for a tech novice user, I'd rate it at 5-stars ("I Love It!") since the ease of setup and use would easily trump the convenience and cost of wireless. Ditto if I were trying to establish a network connection to a wireless dead spot.
Averaging this gives me 4.5 stars, and I'm rounding up.
Good Luck!
- Damodar
# Updated June 24, 2009:
Whoa! Belkin just announced the first Gigabit (1000 Mbps) Powerline product to reach the market (model F5D4076). As would be expected, it costs a tad bit more.
The max transfer rates will again depend on real-world conditions (such as electrical wiring, interference, etc.) But with 1 Gbps, there should still be plenty of headroom to spare.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Shock, awe...This kit actually works! Costly, though..., August 19, 2009
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
Years ago, I purchased one of the first through-power-line Ethernet kits on the market. At the time, the claimed throughput was low (say, 10mbps), and the actual throughput was ridiculously slow. Not to mention the fact that the connection seemed to hang inexplicably with great frequency. In a word: Not ready for primetime, not ready for anything, really...
Fast forward nearly a decade. By now, wireless Ethernet routers are cheap and easy to use and just about everyone has one.
Into this environment, Actiontec has dumped their new MegaPlug "200 Mbps" powerline network kit.
Your first question, and it's a good one, is: "What's the point?" And for many people the answer will be "none, really, in your situation."
BUT there are two sets of people for whom something like this--if it works--is a godsend.
First off, there are those who simply cannot set up something like a wireless router. It's not hard, but there are still a lot of complete tech phobes out there. Think: your Grandparents, or maybe even your parents. Sure, you could go over and set things up for them. But then what happens the first time the router goes down and needs to be rebooted or whatever? Panic calls at midnight are not most people's idea of bonus time.
The second set of people who could use something like this, if it works, are those with wireless dead spots in their homes. There are a lot of people like this, actually. No matter where you set up the wireless transmitter, some places just get no signal, or a very lousy one. Now, you can--if you are technically inclined--set up a wireless repeater to address issue. But it's a bit tricky for most people who don't relish spending their Friday night shopping the halls of Frys, Microcenter or BestBuy. This kit offers a simple alternative to a wireless repeater.
OK, enough on who might want this. On to the more significant question: Does it actually work, and how easy is it, really, to set up.
I'll answer the second question first. It is ridiculously, stupidly, unbelievably easy to set this up. Plug one unit in one wall outlet. Run ethernet cable from unit to your router. Plug second unit into another wall outlet anywhere else in your house. Run either cable from unit to the device you want to talk to router. And you are done. Even if you have trouble figuring out how to open the door of a refrigerator, it can't take you more than 5 minutes to set up.
And how does it work? SHOCKINGLY well. In a three story home with about 20 separate circuits (lines on their own circuit breakers), I was unable to find two outlets that could not communicate with each other at a reasonable speed, and without any disruptions. You aren't going to see 200Mbps in the real world, but I saw between 24Mbps and 34Mbps, depending on where I placed the two outlet plugs. Before you sneer, this compares to a normal transfer rate of about 18Mbps for a GOOD wireless G connection. In other words, the Actiontec kit gave transfer rates that were between 33% and 90% FASTER than wireless G!
I can recommend this unconditionally to those who need an alternative to standard wireless with one caveat (and it's a big one): This kit is quite pricey. It runs over a hundred bucks at the time of this writing, as compared to a good quality wireless G router, which can be purchased for as little as $30. In addition, this kit is good for connecting only one location to another single location, whereas wireless is...everywhere.
But if you can get past the price, this kit is terrific.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Works reliably with some caveats, August 20, 2009
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
Powerline networking can be a great solution if you use it for the right reasons. Obviously a CAT5/CAT6 wired network is going to be the best and most reliable way to connect up your equipment, but sometimes that's not practical. Wireless is great for laptops and such, but is subject to interference (at least one of my computers would drop connection for a bit any time someone used the microwave oven) and throughput can drop sharply as you get get farther from the wireless access point.
Right now, I've got two sets of Powerline network adapters running in addition to my wireless access point. I use them to bridge the upstairs and downstairs networks, and to connect a printer that isn't located near the wireless. Two are these Actiontec adapters and the other two are Netgear 200Mbps adapters. I've found the Actiontec units to work just as well as the Netgear, even with encryption turned on. I've been meaning to go through the extra effort to try to get the Actiontec to actually communicate with the Netgear but so far haven't succeeded in doing so. I'll update this review if I do. In the meantime, they're running in parallel with different devices using each, but still on the "same" network.
Once caveat with powerline networking is that most houses have at least two phases coming into them, with approximately half of the outlets on each one. Depending how your wiring is done, it's often possible to find two outlets that simply cannot communicate with each other. I haven't had any problems with these, however, I already have a phase coupler installed because I use X10 devices and wanted those signals to traverse both phases. That might be why it's working well with a variety of outlets, or I might just be lucky but overall throughput has been much higher than my wireless G network and they've been 100% reliable; never dropping the connection once so far.
Since these have worked well, I'm considering putting a file server in the basement and using another of these adapters to link it to the network. I wouldn't want a file server to have only a wireless connection and would prefer to avoid the hassle and expense of fishing CAT5 all the way to the basement (or the ugliness of stringing it across the ceiling or running along the baseboards) so I think these are my best solution for that purpose.
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