Homeplugs/powerline network adaptors

[saabw]

To cure a problem with the location of a wireless laptop connection ( laptop located in bedroom above the kitchen and losing signal when the microwave is working) I'm thinking of installing a pair of Homeplugs/powerline network adaptors.

I want buy 200mb ones so my question is which make is the best netgear,zyxel,belkin or devolo?, has anybody any preferences.

[HPsauce]

No preferences, but one of my (non-IT-literate) customers got some Netgear ones recently and set them up themsleves with no issues at all.

[silversurfer44]

As far as my experience with them goes, watch out for the physical space they require. You will lose a socket for each end and if they take up too much space and you use a trailing extension, or double socket,  you can lose two sockets, one for the homeplug and one at the side of it.

[saabw]

Well I've a Netgear 4 port one and single for the router, brill connection wel pleased.

[geep]

Hi,
When I used a Netgear HDX101 my wireless mouse stopped working.
When I unplugged it the mouse was OK again.
Admittedly I was using it on an extension cable, which I seem to remember
is not recommended. The HDX101 worked fine, but I only tried it over a short
distance.
Cheers,
Peter

[general disquiet]

I've used Netgear HDX101's since they first hit the market and think they are wonderful.  I'm using them on a fairly complicated power set-up, with the remote plug on a spur from the meter and not on the main ring circuit.  Absolutely no problems.

Equally, some homeplugs have been implicated in wifi problems.  No sign of that whatsoever.

[Adder]

I bought the 200Mbps Devolo when they first came out, (a 2 pack starter kit) and they were great. It eliminated all of the problems I had streaming from one room to another, (I used to use wireless). I recently bought another 3 so I've got 5 around the house now and they all work flawlessly.

I can't comment on the other makes you mentioned because I haven't seen them, but I expect they're all quite similar. I like having the 200Mbps ones as it gives that bit of extra bandwidth in case any is degraded over your internal cabling. I know that some of them have a pass through so you don't lose your power socket but the Devolos don't. This isn't really a problem for me, but if you're short of power sockets, it's worth noting.

[roseway]

There's one little caution I should perhaps mention, although I don't really know how significant it is, if at all. As homeplugs become more popular, there is in theory at least an increasing possibility that a neighbour who is also using homeplugs could inadvertently connect to your network and use your internet connection, or vice versa. Most homeplugs are, I believe, set up by default without encryption, so I think that it would be sensible to configure them to use encryption.