NETGEAR 85Mbps Powerline Network Adapter Kit XETB1001

Not so fast alternative

This unit worked great connecting a downstairs computer with upstairs DSL network. Very easy to install and no software to mess with computer saw and connected to the network instantly and without any prompting from me. Unfortunately when I upgraded from DSL to fiber it stopped working. Nothing I are the installing tech. could do to get it to connect with the web or even see the other computers or router. I suspect the fiber was to fast for the 85 Mbps unit.

I bought this product to stream video in my house.It can’t even stream standard def reliably. You can do basic Internet surfing, but forget about streaming video. In the item description, it says “Ideal for powering a wireless router and extending an Internet connection to a computer, set-top box, game console, DVR or print server.” That is very misleading. It is too slow for video.I ended up buying the WD Livewire Powerline AV Network Kit 200Mbps for less money, and it works great. Netgear does make great products, but avoid this model if you are looking to stream videos.

The home where my mother-in-law and her boyfriend live has DSL at one end of the home, and the bedroom where my mother-in-law is most typically confined to bed at the other end of the home, a recipe for a horrible Wi-fi connection if ever there was one. Realistically, mother-in-law could get a connection on her little netbook computer, but it would fade in and out and was just flaky enough to be really frustrating.

Having tested another set of these devices in the past (Logitech HD Powerline 200a Starter Kit for Logitech Revue & Internet-Connected Devices (930-000131)) I had learned many of the restrictions and possible constraints with these items and in the effort to help set up a more stable network for my mother-in-law opted to go with these Netgear devices partly based on pricing and also because I’ve had good experiences with Netgear equipment in the past.

These devices are basically plug and play, though they do come with a small amount of printed documentation. That documentation notes that you can’t or shouldn’t plug these devices into power strips, rather they must be plugged directly into a wall outlet. That required a little juggling of the items plugged in behind the DSL router/main computer, but was achievable, leaving the concern about where I could plug in at the other end of the home. Thankfully there was an outlet there that had nothing plugged into it, so setting up the “remote” unit was pretty easy.

Last issue to resolve was setting up another Wi-Fi router down in that end of the home. For that, a separate item ordered when I ordered these was put to use: Cisco Linksys Refurbished E1000 Wireless-N Router. With that router plugged in, the home now has two Wi-fi networks working perfectly and mother-in-law and her boyfriend can now use networked devices in either end of the home without worrying about dropped signals.

Granted, stringing a traditional Ethernet cable from one end of the home to the other would have been less expensive, but that would have involved drilling holes through walls, or floors, and would have had me or someone else pulling about 75 feet of cable through all of the obstacles in the way. With these little gadgets in place, there was no need for the ugly but direct approach. There’s also the added flexibility of being able to move these adapters to other locations if needed, though with the Wi-Fi router in the remote location providing good coverage, there’s no real need to worry about moving either of these adapters.

Well worth the purchase price, even though I might wish these were lower cost than they currently are.