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D-Link DHP-301 Powerline HD Ethernet Starter Kit
Price: £129.99 inc VAT

Features
Performance
Ease of use
Value for money
Overall

Reviewed By: Andy Shaw

This review updated: 16/08/2007
Featured in magazine:
Issue 168
Manufacturer Contacts:
Supplier: D-Link
Tel: 020 8955 9000
Web Address: www.dlink.co.uk


Best Price:
Although Wi-Fi is generally recognised as being the most popular route to networking the home, it isn't the be-all and end-all.

Powerline networks use cables, but don't require the laying of new wires all over your house – instead, they use the existing electrical cables, via the power sockets. They then plug into Ethernet sockets on your computer equipment and – in the case of this particular starter set – are incredibly easy to set up.

Features
With two 200Mbps plug adaptors, this set is enough to establish a basic network connection between two Ethernet-enabled devices, such as a computer or games console and a broadband router. You could thus move your computer away from your phone socket or network a second device to your main computer to connect it to the web.

Performance
The fact that these are 200Mbps devices is important. This product uses a relatively new strand of the powerline technology specifically designed for people who are doing heavyweight internal networking tasks: playing games on more than one device; transferring video, music or other high-volume files around the home; or using devices like a network hard disk to store large files.

The other useful thing about this type of networking is that there's less of an issue with factors like distance, thickness of walls and devices located on separate floors, all of which can affect Wi-Fi performance. Although there is some drop-off of speed depending on the distance between the two plugs, it's not as dramatic as with Wi-Fi.

Ease of use
On a basic level, these devices are reassuringly simple. Just plug them into your existing Ethernet ports – between a router and a PC, for example – and you get an instant connection, without the need to set anything else up. It's recommended that you install the supplied software, however, to secure the network with a password. But it makes life a lot easier if you do this after you have already checked that your devices work with one another. This particular product differs somewhat from most of the other powerline alternatives we've seen and is certainly easier to set up than most.

Value for money
D-Link has positioned this well at £130 – about £25 less than a leading rival product we reviewed earlier in the year. This is aggressive pricing that's good news for the consumer. However, if you're only looking to share an internet connection rather than shift big files around your house, you could save money by opting for a device with less capacity. D-Link doesn't offer anything in this area, but if you're willing to accept a drop in maximum possible speed from 200Mbps to 85Mbps, you can cut your costs by around half – see http://tinyurl.com/39uazw for some examples.

More Networking reviews:

• Solwise HomePlug AV
• Archos TV+ 250GB
• Devolo dLAN Wireless Extender
• FritzBox Fon WLAN 7140
• D-Link DHP-301 Powerline HD Ethernet Starter Kit