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5 Powerline Networking Devices Reviewed

Posted by timothy on from the floor-to-floor dept.

An anonymous reader writes "Most people who can't or won't hardwire for broadband have an obvious alternative: Wi-Fi. Unfortunately, there can be architectural anomalies between floors or even between rooms that can interfere with Wi-Fi signals, resulting in spotty, or even dead, signals. So what do you do? Well, you can try using a powerline device. Computerworld reviewer Bill O'Brien tests powerline units from Belkin, D-Link, Linksys, Netgear and Zyxel, and compares their performance to that of his wired and wireless setups."

7 of 153 comments (clear)

  1. Wow... by fuzzyfuzzyfungus · · Score: 5, Funny

    A little slow; but at least they are flaky and expensive, so I give them a thumbs up.

    1. Re:Wow... by hansamurai · · Score: 4, Funny

      Sounds like my ex.

      --
      Reviewing just the first hour of video games.
    2. Re:Wow... by peektwice · · Score: 4, Funny

      nah, she wasn't all that expensive.

      --
      Other than this text, there is no discernible information contained in this sig.
  2. Re:Seriously? by Chabo · · Score: 5, Funny

    Right now you can think freely, but they're working on that.

    --
    Convert FLACs to a portable format with FlacSquisher
  3. The winner is obvious by 2phar · · Score: 3, Funny

    From personal experience, I have to say the Belkin Powerline AV+ unit is by far the best of the bunch here. Rock solid performance all the way. Look no further!

    Sincerely,
    Mark Bayard

  4. These things work...sometimes...if you're lucky by DrVomact · · Score: 3, Funny

    I tried using Netgear powerline devices to connect my outside security cameras to my router about a year ago. It kinda worked--as long as I didn't expect too much in the way of throughput—like streaming video instead of occasional JPEGs. I also had a couple of computers connected via Wi-Fi at the time, and was so (unreasonably) encouraged by this less than stellar success that I switched them over to powerline "warts" too. They worked pretty well.

    Then I moved my router to another room, and I haven't gotten these things to work ever again. Apparently, if your house wiring is just so, the powerline warts are fine; if the wiring—or the wiring between the points you are trying to connect—is not what the warts want, you won't get a signal.

    Somebody told me I should try one of those "bridges" that the X-10 people use to connect different parts of their home wiring so their X10 devices work, but messing with these things was giving me a worse chronic eyelid twitch than wireless. Luckily, I discovered that my youngest daughter has all the necessary qualifications for an excellent cable monkey—mainly, she's petite enough to worm her way through tight, dark spaces, and isn't afraid of spiders. So I just tied some CAT5 to her ankle and sent her into the attic. No more problems now, everything's connected. Wire is good.

    --
    Great men are almost always bad men--Lord Acton's Corollary
    1. Re:These things work...sometimes...if you're lucky by spandex_panda · · Score: 4, Funny

      So I just tied some CAT5 to her ankle and sent her into the attic.

      So err... you must let her out for sunlight every now and then right? Sounds good otherwise.

      --
      like phosphorescent desert buttons singing one familiar song