equazcion wrote:You can get a nice standard wireless N router that can go about the same speed for around the same price. I find these things that run "over your power lines" too obscure. I'd rather utilize a widely-used standard.

I have an N router that goes for $200 some bucks at Best Buy, but my XBOX 360 and Wii are lacking in a wireless dongle and have crappy wireless built in, respectively. So I wanted one of these so I can actually have internet on them.

jeffiekins wrote:Up to 85 Mbps -- almost as fast as a wired Ethernet, and many times as fast as the fastest Internet connections.

Maybe almost as fast as the "old" 10/100 Ethernet standard, but many of us are running Gigabit Ethernet now (1000 Mbps).

You're correct that 85 Mbps won't limit Internet connections, but it will severely slow down file transfers or streaming over the network, compared with Gigabit.

fencepost wrote:85 Mbit isn't so bad, but 56-bit encryption? Can't you crack that with a graphics card in about 30 seconds?

You can only crack the encryption if your in the house and hooked in to the network. The signal can't travel past the master breaker in your home, so it can't go out to the pole.

Catbertthegreat wrote:Don't forget you can't run these things through a power strip, their design often destroys the signal that the powerline kits generate.

I run mine through one.

youtube

does it work with windows 7?

csimmon1 wrote:i wonder how well this works in old houses

Our house was built in 1920. Works fine

feralparakeet wrote:Apart from interference issues with cordless telephones that run on the 5.8GHz frequency, what exactly is the benefit of this kind of setup versus a standard wireless router?

Is there some sort of distinct advantage, or is this for networking novices?

malkav11 wrote:Wireless can have positional issues depending on the layout and structure of one's home, and as far as I know is about half the speed.

That said, I don't believe there's any real reason to go powerline networking if all your network appliances are in one room.

Well, there is the basic differences of (a) speed and (b) range as well...

Hmmm interesting product but it seems like a wireless bridge is still the better way to go.

roadhunter wrote:The advantage is that it isn't wireless. Therefore, it's not prone to interference or loss of signal. My 802.11 G wireless router with an 8dB gain antenna still can't throw a signal through my entire 3,400 sq/ft house.

Disagree... these bad boys interfere with a larger amount of household devices, than one would think. Especially, depending on the quality of wiring and connections in your house.

roadhunter wrote:Would you mind giving us a review of your experience with these devices? No? What do you mean, you've never used them?

I can't see any reason anyone should ever want to use them, which is why I never have. I'm a techie and can safely say that when there's a standard available that everyone uses, has the same features and is the same price, versus an obscure technology that relatively few people use, it's a much safer bet to go with the standard. Not only is there a much better chance it'll work reliably, but if it ever needs servicing, you'll have about a million times more choices for who can help you.

You might run into signal noise problems since the ethernet is sharing the same cabling as your electricity. Another thing to consider is the age of the wiring in your house. If your house & wiring are older there's a chance that this device won't work.

feralparakeet wrote:Apart from interference issues with cordless telephones that run on the 5.8GHz frequency, what exactly is the benefit of this kind of setup versus a standard wireless router?

Is there some sort of distinct advantage, or is this for networking novices?

If you have a house like mine, where nothing wireless works well, you wouldn't have to ask!

Lots of formerly exterior walls between rooms, some with foil vapor barrier intact. Cordless phones, networks, and even X10 remotes don't work well.

lethargicmass wrote:But a corduroy detector will work fine...

yup you got that right!


its hard to find expander outlets with out surge protectors, I know ACE Hardware sells one for cheap!

equazcion wrote:You can get a nice standard wireless N router that can go about the same speed for around the same price. I find these things that run "over your power lines" too obscure. I'd rather utilize a widely-used standard.

Yes, you can, but I use mine for my Dish Network receiver which is nowhere near my phone lines or router and doesn't have a wifi card, hence needs to be hardwired... This is the perfect solution.

equazcion wrote:You can get a nice standard wireless N router that can go about the same speed for around the same price. I find these things that run "over your power lines" too obscure. I'd rather utilize a widely-used standard.

Yes, you can, but I use mine for my Dish Network receiver which is nowhere near my phone lines or router and doesn't have a wifi card, hence needs to be hardwired... This is the perfect solution.

Sandy106 wrote:does it work with windows 7?

I see what you did there.

feralparakeet wrote:Apart from interference issues with cordless telephones that run on the 5.8GHz frequency, what exactly is the benefit of this kind of setup versus a standard wireless router?

Is there some sort of distinct advantage, or is this for networking novices?

If your house has lots of wireless dead spots due to some types of wall construction, it can help a lot.

fencepost wrote:85 Mbit isn't so bad, but 56-bit encryption? Can't you crack that with a graphics card in about 30 seconds?

Maybe... if you can tap into the signal; it should be inherently more secure than wireless in that you'd have to plug a similar unit or something to even receive your traffic to then try to analyze and break into, compared to some dude outside your window that's trying to break into your wireless.

The Amish Chronicle tech reviews are not positive. Beware.

Is it Mac compatible?

According to this site, it IS Mac-compatible, provided you have (access to) a PC to configure it with. Once it's configured, you can use a Mac with it.

Catbertthegreat wrote:You can only crack the encryption if your in the house and hooked in to the network. The signal can't travel past the master breaker in your home, so it can't go out to the pole.

I think I read once that X10 signals can travel to houses on the same transformer. Which is the case in high density places. But realistically, I don't think it is a problem.

I have to say that I was skeptical of these things at first, but I have since purchased and used a pair of these and it is absolutely awesome. It worked right out of the box, plug it in to the network, plug it into the wall, then plug the other one into the wall and into your PC and that's it.

Someone talked about it not working in an "older house." This is not true. What actually happens is that there are 2 big wires that come into most homes' fuse/breaker box from the power lines outside. These two wires are separate circuits and would not let these devices talk. In some businesses there are actually 3 big wires that come in from the power lines.

In a home environment with the 2 different wires supplying your power you basically have a 50/50 shot of being able to run a network from one room to another.

There are also devices that you can clip to the two sides of the power line inside the fuse box that will effectively (and safely) bridge the two sides together to make your whole house's electrical grid connected.

I don't know how fast they can really go, but I can say that I was able to saturate by 10 Mbit/s cable internet connection through one of these.

fencepost wrote:85 Mbit isn't so bad, but 56-bit encryption? Can't you crack that with a graphics card in about 30 seconds?

Don't you trust the people in your house?

feralparakeet wrote:Apart from interference issues with cordless telephones that run on the 5.8GHz frequency, what exactly is the benefit of this kind of setup versus a standard wireless router?

Is there some sort of distinct advantage, or is this for networking novices?

I've got a pair of these (different brand, but same 85Mbit adapters) -- the reason I switched in the first place is that I was getting a ton of dropped packets on wireless because of all the different access point around me (I think, maybe it was just all the different routers/wireless cards I tested were garbage, who knows). Basically it got to the point where I couldn't play games online over wireless.

The bandwidth on these things is unimpressive (usually around 10Mbit), but the latencies are consistently good.

fencepost wrote:85 Mbit isn't so bad, but 56-bit encryption? Can't you crack that with a graphics card in about 30 seconds?

Someone would have to plug into your house's power, unless you're in an apartment, duplex, etc. Then I'd be more concerned.

Wow some of these questions are pretty silly. Maybe I'm the only old fart on here.

1) They come in pairs because you need two; one to the modem, one to the destination (ps3, pc, etc)

2) These are CHEAP, $120 anywhere else and they work great!

3) This is perfect for people trying to replace a wireless router that doesn't reach; cannot setup WDS or simply want a more robust "wired" type connection stability.

theshwam wrote:I've got a pair of these (different brand, but same 85Mbit adapters) -- the reason I switched in the first place is that I was getting a ton of dropped packets on wireless because of all the different access point around me (I think, maybe it was just all the different routers/wireless cards I tested were garbage, who knows). Basically it got to the point where I couldn't play games online over wireless.

The bandwidth on these things is unimpressive (usually around 10Mbit), but the latencies are consistently good.

Bottom line is that (for now) wires are almost always going to be better than no wires. Anyone who tells you different doesn't know what they're talking about.

I have one behind my televison with my moxi dvr, xbox 360 and blu ray all attached. I have the base unit attached in my basement to the wireless router. I have zero issues with it and regularly stream 1080p movies from xbox live, netflix movies in the hd standard they use, and file downloads for my xbox. I am grabbing another one of these for my bedroom.

These things, like many balderah techie gizmos, don't even seem like a good idea for fifteen seconds, at which point you ask yourself, "is this really worth the hassle and aggravation?" Woot offers many cool, groovy items from close outs to stuff that just didn't make it in the marketplace. This isn't one of them. This is just wierd and a hassle all rolled into two packages.

fencepost wrote:85 Mbit isn't so bad, but 56-bit encryption? Can't you crack that with a graphics card in about 30 seconds?

Catbertthegreat wrote:You can only crack the encryption if your in the house and hooked in to the network. The signal can't travel past the master breaker in your home, so it can't go out to the pole.

You wouldn't even have to be in the house. Most houses have external AC outlets that could easily be accessed. The only thing stopping someone from hacking the network would be the 56-bit encryption.

mtnsports wrote:You can't stream 1080p even on Gigabit ethernet (which is more than 11x faster than 85 Mbps).

Too bad I stream 1080p content over my gigabit network every day...

diamonddog1111 wrote:The Amish Chronicle tech reviews are not positive. Beware.

Always my first source for gadget reviews!

showcaller wrote:These things, like many balderah techie gizmos, don't even seem like a good idea for fifteen seconds, at which point you ask yourself, "is this really worth the hassle and aggravation?" Woot offers many cool, groovy items from close outs to stuff that just didn't make it in the marketplace. This isn't one of them. This is just wierd and a hassle all rolled into two packages.

Sorry, but you're wrong.

I actually just recently picked up a pair of Netgear XE104 units at Newegg.com (4 port, 100mbps units). These XE104 units are rated at 88Mbps. (pair of refurb'd units cost $60)

I tried them at two different houses, using different computers....same results.

If on same circuit, about 30Mbps. If on different circuits, about 12Mpbs.

From this review, and others, these Linksys units are similar. http://www.pcper.com/article.php?aid=643.

I've sold my pair now...just not worth it. Sure the units are fast enough if on the same circuit, but that would typically mean the same room, or adjoining room.... wi-fi or a 20ft Cat5 cable would be better.


Also, per comments above about 56bit encryption... unless you're in a dorm, there's pretty much a 0% chance of someone stealing your data. these unit will almost never work over different circuit panels (apartments) and have limited range (between houses)...not to mention the technology is so obscure, who would bother trying?

Anyhow...these are pretty awesome if you have a 768K DSL or slower connection and don't want share data between computers.


My $02

feralparakeet wrote:Apart from interference issues with cordless telephones that run on the 5.8GHz frequency, what exactly is the benefit of this kind of setup versus a standard wireless router?

Is there some sort of distinct advantage, or is this for networking novices?

This is a great solution for houses that have, for instance, a brick wall up the center that blocks wi-fi. I have a network set up with a cable modem connecting to a wireless router on one side (A) of the house, which connects via an ethernet cable to a Netgear powerline bridge that plugs into the wall. On the other side (B) of the house, I have another Netgear powerline bridge connected via ethernet cable to an old wireless router that has been flashed with firmware and configured as a wireless bridge/access point. The internet signal goes from the cable modem to the router on side A, gets broadcast on side A, and then comes out of the wall on side B and is broadcast on side B.

No drilling holes in the wall. Instant setup.

I can also go anywhere in the house, even the basement, and get a faster and steadier connection than wi-fi, if I plug my laptop into a spare powerline bridge via ethernet.

That reminds me - this is also a good solution for a home office in the basement if the wi-fi signal doesn't reach there.

Encrypting this signal is important if you think someone is going to jack into your house lines and use your internet connection. Or if you are living in an apartment building. Otherwise, the signal is not being broadcast.

ryanmmorris wrote:Too bad I stream 1080p content over my gigabit network every day...

Not uncompressed...

mtnsports wrote:You can't stream 1080p even on Gigabit ethernet (which is more than 11x faster than 85 Mbps).

You can stream mkv 1080p easily.

mtnsports wrote:Maybe almost as fast as the "old" 10/100 Ethernet standard, but many of us are running Gigabit Ethernet now (1000 Mbps).

You're correct that 85 Mbps won't limit Internet connections, but it will severely slow down file transfers or streaming over the network, compared with Gigabit.

If you're running gigabit you've got a wired connection. If you've got a wired connection, you don't need these. It's like slagging a netbook because it doesn't have a 32" monitor.

btw - What are you streaming that is requires gigabit? Blu-Ray disks top out at about 40 Mb/sec.

Or is this one of those "this one goes to 11" kind of things?

mtnsports wrote:You wouldn't even have to be in the house. Most houses have external AC outlets that could easily be accessed. The only thing stopping someone from hacking the network would be the 56-bit encryption.

True, but the crooks would have to know that you had one of these, then they would have to be crouched in your bushes with their laptop connected through one of these. THEN they would have to crack your encryption.

mtnsports wrote:You can't stream 1080p even on Gigabit ethernet (which is more than 11x faster than 85 Mbps).

Umm, Blu-ray tops out at around 40-50Mbps and 1080i broadcast TV tops out under 20Mbps.