The market is darn near flooded with
HomePlug AV-compatible powerline solutions, but
Zinnet has seen fit to one-up the networking mainstays by dishing out a product that serves not one, but
four Ethernet-packin' devices simultaneously. Designed for use with its brite-View
CinemaTube (but fully capable of working with game consoles, Blu-ray players and media streamers), this two-piece kit allows internet content to flow through your home's existing powerline network and hit up to four devices on the other end. Simply plug the solo port adapter into a wall socket beside your router or broadband modem, and the four port adapter in your home theater room (or den, for the simplistic among us). From there, you can connect your Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Roku set-top-box, Blu-ray player, CinemaTube deck or any other AV device that benefits from a wired internet connection; just like that, you've got a makeshift connection to four devices, and you'll never have to worry over WiFi dropouts again. All that's required to bring this joy into your life is $89.99 and a basic understanding of online checkout procedure, both of which we're sure you can handle.
posted March 9th 2010 5:59PM
really good idea to combine router and ethernet link over electricity !
@huffy15 wait did I miss something, this is just a switch not a router right?
@marcwomack I think that you use all the ethernet port at the same time so you don't have to switch between 'em as router maybe.
I've been using a Linksys version of this for a few months now. Albeit it was a bit more expensive.
http://www.linksysbycisco.com/US/en/products/PLK300
@putnaar
yes a little more expensive is all is was for a product that came out months ago
i bought it for xmas and its been no problem
it even comes with a stand
@putnaar Ditto as I've been using mine for a while too. Works great.
@putnaar
There's also a netgear solution, but $149 for a similar kit (1 to 4)
@putnaar I love my Linksys PLK300 - and note that this device maxes out at 200MB/s whereas the Linksys is 300
@midimid Sorry, the linksys is 200Mbps as well. That's at the physical layer, so your actual speeds will be that minus overhead.
@midimid Not actually true, the PLK maxes out at 200 as well.
http://downloads.linksysbycisco.com/downloads/PLK300_V10_DS_A,0.pdf
Powerline blows...fuses.
MoCa FTW.
200mbps...What is that exactly? I wish they would just say, "30 megs / sec" or however that translates intro layman speak.
@YukYuk 25.6 MB/sec
@YukYuk
The conversion is Mbps/8 = MB/sec = (probably, though it's an ambiguous descriptor) Megs/sec, so 200Mbps = 25 MB/sec, or assuming the same overhead as standard Ethernet (around 10%), about 22 MB/sec.
@stufflebean I don't think that's what he means. What he means is what REAL transfer rate will he get. I think the correct answer is "sorry, that depends."
If the two power plugs are on different circuits, and you haven't added a bridge, then the transfer rate will be zero.
If the two plugs are next to each other in the same room, the transfer rate will probably be close to 200Mbps.
In any other case, your mileage may vary.
It depends.
@YukYuk divide by 8. 8 bits = 1 byte
I've been after something like this for a while - currently i have an ethernet switch connected to one of my ethernet over power adapters but this will free up a precious plug socket for my gadgets :D
I've had this for at least 6 months now and works flawlessly, it's crazy how it just works...
In other words, they've combined a regular powerline ethernet adapter with an ethernet hub. Why all the hype making this sound remarkable?
if they drop the price ..say another $ (15-20), i'll consider it. In the mean time, i;ll try to wrap my brain cells around how the whole jambalaya works...
Yeah, I'm sorry to say, but this isn't new. I've had Netgear powerline devices for three years that have four ethernet ports on them. And the advantage is that you can use only the four-port models, because they all act like switches. Here's an example:
I can run one cable from my router to one of my Netgear four port powerline devices. I can then connect up to three other computers to the remaining ports. I then plug in a second powerline device, and plug in four devices to that. So from a pair of these things, I can run 7 devices, and then add up to at least two more plugs elsewhere in the house.
The problem is that powerline is not very fast or reliable. If something is causing noise on your power lines, it's worse than noise on wireless. Also worse than wireless is the speed rating. That is only a maximum. Chances are your home's wiring will not allow for the rated speed.
I switched to using a second Airport Extreme to go N wireless for my remote devices. It's not perfect, but it's better than powerline.
Now if only they could get powerline to be as reliable as MoCa... I tried a powerline adapter, and had to return it because it was evidentally interfering with my energy efficient lightbulbs.
hmm does it work on 240V as well..?
@airbag888 yes
I hope these things are more reliable than they used to be (referring to the entire class of devices, not this one in particular). I found myself being very intolerant to dropped links. 99.9% up time may *sound* good, but if it still means you have to unplug and replug the box every few days, that gets old really fast. The ones I had also ran warm, which is not great power-wise for something that's on 24/7. I finally gave up and crawled through the attic with CAT5E. Now I have ZERO down time. I understand that running cable is not an option for everyone, but if it is AT ALL possible for you, please trust me that you will be much happier with plain ol' wire in the long run (pun intended) :-)
@appsman They sucked back before they really nailed the tech down. I remember those days, and they were a joke.
But my Dad's house is a WiFi black hole, lots of interference and the like, he was getting a lot of signal fluctuation, and didn't want me running ethernet cable, so after going through 2 WiFi adapters (thought the first was bad) and a bridge (which died), I got fed up and plugged in one of the Netgear powerline adapters and it's been perfect ever since. No. I'm serious. Not a single dropped connection. In a Victorian house that was built before electric power. The wiring is probably as old as my Dad, and he's 70. Speaking of Dad, he's just happy that he can "Google whatever the hell pops into my head."
Wow! Four ethernet ports on one powerline AV device? Why, that is fanta...oh, wait, I've had that for about 6 months with a Zyxel PLA-470 switch. Never mind.
Zyxel did it YEARS ago!
And if you are already exited by such a rather boring device, check out the Zyxel NBG-318S which is a Wireless HomePlug AV Router ;)
The low price of this thing kills any excuse that makes people use unreliable Wifi (yeah, I'm sure some of you have no issues) instead of proper Ethernet.