Devolo and Solwise HomePlug kits

[WilHarris]

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/200...g__kits/1.html

[DougEdey]

Short, concise, effective.

I remember the original 5MBps we had at maplins years ago. They surprisingly sold quite well, especially for the older generation as it was easier then running a cable up the stairs or arranging the WIFI encryption.

I seem to recall that they reccomended not to use them in surge protected outlets. Has this issue been solved or it is still direct to ring main connection?

[DaSuperFly]

"you'd be made not to save yourself the £25."
They're pretty cool products but I feel that WiFi is still pretty good for most situations especially as the cost of having a simple two computer network using power cabling is still expensive at £74!

[Krikkit]

Can you use more than one of these things then? Or is it 1-1 communication between them?

[Tim S]

AFAIK, the Solwise plugs are sold individually, and you can team up as many as you want, so long as they're all plugged into a switch. (you need two for one computer if you're networking)

[MiNiMaL_FuSS]

fantastic idea.

Do you see the speeds increasing much as this technology develops? or do you think that it will be limited to roughly the speeds its reaching now due to electircal wiring in our homes.

[Mother-Goose]

Interesting mum told me to read about this in computer-active becuase she is gettin pissed about my cable across the landing. BUT what i want to know is will it slow my downloads much (torrent downloads that is, not file sharing downloads)

[sinizterguy]

No it wont slow your downloading unless you have a 100mbps LAN to your home.

[Agent_M]

well it says 48mb/s on the review, unless your downloading at more than that it shouldnt be a problem

i remember they were having trials for internet through power cables in texas awhile back, cant remember the exact speeds they said it could go to but i believe it was 1gb+ no idea what happened to the trials though.

[K]

Originally Posted by MiNiMaL_FuSS

fantastic idea.

Do you see the speeds increasing much as this technology develops? or do you think that it will be limited to roughly the speeds its reaching now due to electircal wiring in our homes.

The Solwise website has a 200mbps version due out in October.

This would be a good solution in my girlfriend's house, where her WiFi connection to the router downstairs is ridiculously unreliable. Hopefully the technology will come down in price soon.

[Ramble]

Looks awesome.

May have to consider this one day.

[dire_wolf]

Originally Posted by K

The Solwise website has a 200mbps version due out in October.

cheers for that K!

[BioSniper]

What I would like to know is what happens if each plug is on a different ring main in the house? does this affect its speed at all?
How about if you live in say ... a Flat? Is it possible that people could essentially share the network?
How about rooms in uni halls? If they share power does it essentially create a network between all of them unless you setup the WEP type encryption?
If you swith off everything in the house thats running on the same ring main does the speed increase?
What happens if its on say.. the kitchen ring main and something with huge power draw, like a microwave, kicks in? Could it cause a surge in the network taking out everything connected to it or does it cause dips in the speeds?

Imo this review wasn't a review at all because it didn't really cover anything you can't already find out via google. Felt too much like a "yep, we plugged it in and it seems to work" type thing

[yahooadam]

you also didn't cover the extra noise that this introduces into the mains

ok most people don't care, but if your interested in a nice hi-fi system, or getting rid of buzz in your electrics these aren't the way to go
Then again a lot of people use dimmer switches which are worse anyway

And you never investigated if you could pick this up from another building or something, seeing as they would share the power lines

[Kipman725]

if your rearly into HIFI you shouldn't directly power it from the mains anyway

[Comrade Penguin]

I actually have been using devolo highspeed 85s for about 9 months now. They are very reliable and deliver good speed. I have one plugged into a netgear router and the other into connected to the 2nd computer. I had WiFi before it but with thick walls and multiple levels it just didnt cut the mustard. It's particularly good for people who move around a lot and want the speed of a wired network without having to lift up cables every few months.

On the earlier comment about hifi I jsut unplug mine whenever I want to do serious listening to my setup. The other person in the house with a far more impressive hifi (LP12, B&W 803s etc) actually has his on a seperate electrical spur and I'd advise anyone truely interested in the effect their mains has on their HiFi to invest in that and some Russ Andrews blocks.

Oh and generally each flat is wired up to it's own individual spur so getting this network in another shouldn't be a problem. If this wasn't the case how would they measure electrical use by each property? Despite this my DeVolo's insisted on being password protected.

[DXR_13KE]

my future house will be cabled and/or have tubes for extra cables my present house has all the cables in plain sight with all the other power and phone cables.

this technology is very interesting and there is a school here that has internet via the electric wall socket, IIRC it is a T1 connection.

[Shadowed_fury]

Interesting!
So, for the internet in my room, i'd just need to buy this and stick it in the wall with cable, and viola? Is that it?
No subscription etc? Just plug and play? (I have a feeling I missed something!)

[perplekks45]

Nope you didn't it's that easy. A friend had this like 2 years ago... not that speed but enough for (il)legal file sharing and internet.
For myself I have to say my WiFi simply rocks! 108Mbit/s, two walls between the two PCs... 12.5-13 MB/s average. What more could I wish for without cables for Gbit LAN?

[cpemma]

Both kits are based on the same HomePlug technology from Intellon. They use the same central chip - they're almost the same units, in fact... you'd be mad not to save yourself the £25.

It doesn't follow that they should be the same price, though. My cheapo router/modem has the same chipset and features as much more expensive brands, will even take their firmware, but corners have been cut on other components and build quality to get the price down. Now if the reviewer had them to bits and said they were exactly the same boards I'd go straight for the cheapest.

The Devolo retails for £100 at Amazon, whereas you can pick up two of the Solwise adaptors for £37 each, that's £74.

Being picky, the Solwise price works out over £82 a pair after delivery and their credit card surcharge ("All Credit Cards are surcharged at 1.5%." )