Get a FREE fully-working copy of Steganos Security Suite 7 (worth £49.99) when you sign up to the Practical PC Newsletter. Review: Belkin 200Mbps PowerLine AV Networking Adapters
Don Bradbury looks at a new option for home networking via your AC mains circuit
| Product | 200Mbps PowerLine AV Networking Adapters |
|---|---|
| Company | Belkin Corp |
| Web | www.belkin.com |
| Price | RRP £99.99 incl from Belkin; currently offered at £60.67 incl from MicroDirect |
| We like | Easy setup; adaptable; stable connection under adverse conditions; 128-bit AES encryption. |
| We don't like | Internet connection speed will depend on network traffic, building materials etc. |
| Rating | 9/10 |
| Requirements | Windows 2000, XP, and Vista 32-bit, Mac, UNIX. |
There are several manufacturers of so-called 200Mbps PowerLine Adapters on the market for connecting suitably equipped PCs, printers and AV devices, all generally recommending that you plug the adapters directly into your three pin wall sockets. The Ethernet cables carrying the data signals are in series with the units and power cord, so that arrangement is normally recommended rather than interposing a power extension lead which could, of course, potentially provide additional connection range as well as extra power sockets for your networked gear. The point of the adjacency principle usually adopted is that there’s less likelihood of signal corruption and hence decreased connection speed if the overall length of the lead is kept short.
But with these Belkin units you have the option to either connect directly to the wall socket as shown above, or interpose the six feet length of extension power lead that’s supplied, as shown below. This means that the combined power and signal cabling brings a total of about 10ft of stand-off to your device’s Ethernet socket, and that’s very convenient when it comes down to device placement in the workspace.
Setup
Installation was very quick and easy; it was just a case of connecting the power to each unit by one or the other of the options described, and connecting the Ethernet sockets of the adapter and your device using the supplied cables, the first device connecting to a spare port on your previously set up router.
No setup beyond that was actually necessary, and the Internet connection was achieved automatically. The units do incorporate 128-bit AES encryption, and that’s applied without user intervention. However, the default password for this can be changed to a randomly chosen alternative by depressing tiny buttons on the base of each unit for between 0.5 and 3secs within 2mins of each other. That level of security is about as safe as you can get, or need, for this type of networking. Depressing the encryption buttons for >10secs resets the password, and pressing separate reset buttons puts the units back to the factory default settings.
Connection Indicators
Three bright LEDs display power, Internet connection, and speed. The latter can vary in colour from green, through yellow, to red, each colour indicating a speed range. The HomePlug spec 2.0 covers up to 200Mbps units, but that’s only the physical connection speed; the actual operational speed will be much lower. We found that no matter how we connected these Belkin units to our ring main, the green LED indicating 20Mbps or higher was never achieved. With the standard cabling, with or without the optional extension provided, we sometimes saw the yellow (described as ‘normal’) LED, indicating a 10-20Mbps connection, though at other times of the day we would get the red Internet connection LED indicating <10Mbps.
This was especially so, not surprisingly, when we interposed a huge additional 35ft power extension cord of our own - a setup that was never envisaged by the manufacturer, we have to point out - at which time we saw the connection routinely drop to <10Mbps as indicated by its LED changing to red.
However, and crucially, whichever speed indicator we obtained, the Internet connection was always rock solid, and unless it was one of those ridiculous times of day when everyone in the locality was hogging the service, both download and upload speeds were generally indicated as being exactly the same by the www.speedtest.net web site, which for us was 3.3Mbps download, and 0.35Mbps upload. Only with our 35ft long power extension in circuit for testing would that generally drop (to about 1.8Mbps download) ie not to unusable levels, and a solid, completely viable Internet connection remained. We pushed our luck even further with a total of 60ft of power extension cord, yet still we could not break the Internet connection these Belkin units provided. The speed dropped further, of course, down to around 1.5Mbps download, but the connection remained quite usable and very stable. Most impressive!
The Internet connection speed was one thing, but the local connection speed between devices was another. Those who prefer, or need, the highest local data transfer rates might ensure they installed the shortest lead length that was feasible, although Vista’s Network and Sharing Centre always indicated 100Mbps local connection speed, no matter what. Suffice to say, we considered overall Internet operations to be perfectly satisfactory, even under the worst conditions as outlined, albeit using our particular ring main for testing. Noisier mains circuits may not prove to be so cooperative.
We have to say that these Belkin adapters worked satisfactorily under conditions that left some other PowerLine adapters we have tested altogether dysfunctional - though the latter also worked very well under more normal circumstances. The Belkin units are believed to be the only ones featuring the interchangeable power cable, leaving the user to decide whether they need a connection directly to the power outlet or making use of the stand-off provided by the extension lead. These units also featured integral surge protection so the need for a separate surge protector should be well out of the question.
In conclusion
Compliant with Windows 2000, XP, and Vista 32-bit, Mac, and UNIX, the Belkin 200Mbps PowerLine AV Networking Adapters were easy to set up, reliable in operation, and hugely convenient in the logistical department, that’s to say by way of the total power cable length that could be added to the devices without making the Internet connection unusable. That made device placement far less of a hassle than with other adapters we have seen.
The quick start leaflet was perfectly adequate, the CD-based multi-language user manual was brief and to the point, and altogether these units were considered good value, especially via the discount market. They are recommended. We didn’t expect to see anything like the theoretical connection speeds claimed for version 2 of the HomePlug spec; we were just happy to see a stable, usable Internet connection virtually whatever we did by way of connection setup.
