Final Thoughts
Powerline devices are a life safer for me – in the house we live in there are certain rooms I just cant get a decent wireless signal in from the router in my office. Unfortunately one of those rooms is the living room where we have the TV, Xbox, Media Center, etc, so the only solution for me has been powerline devices. Because the devices I have used up until the dLAN 500 Wireless+ kit have been a single connection I have then had to connect the adaptor I was using to a switch and also to another wireless device in order to get both wired and wireless connection. Whilst that worked well it did mean 3 separately powered devices running.
Now enter the dLAN 500 Wireless+ kit to save the day. The adaptor has 3 Ethernet ports on it which means I can get rid of the switch and it also acts as a wireless hub meaning I can also get rid of the other wireless device. And on top of that it also has a pass-though plug socked on it so I can plug in another electrical device into the adaptor if I want saving another power point (so in my case I have managed to get rid of two extra powered devices and a power extender strip).
As I mentioned earlier, the setup was a breeze – just plug the two adaptors in and that’s it – wired will be working straight away. If you want to encrypt communication between the devices (and I highly recommend you do that if you live in a shared house or a flat, otherwise anyone with a powerline device could connect to your network) you just have to press a button on both devices and the encryption is taken care of for you. You can do it manually if you so wish, or if you have an older device you want to use as well, and even that is simple.
Wireless works out of the box as well – you can keep the name and wireless password that then device ships with and you can be connected and running in seconds, or you can make changes, including allowing 5GHz broadcasting if you wish. If you don’t have a device that supports that then just leave it as is.
I did a quick speed test on my iPhone once it was all connected and I was getting around 38 Mbps on the dLAN where as before I was getting around 10 Mbps with my previous setup, so needless to say I was very happy with the results.
The addition of the free iPhone and Android app is a good move too. You can check the status of your devices, make changes and more all from your mobile device, should you wish.
The cost of the devolo dLAN 500 Wireless+ Starter Kit is around £129.99. but as usual have a look around for the best deal. Amazon have a good deal on at the moment (see the link below):
So all in all, the devolo dLAN 500 Wireless+ Starter Kit is a must have addition to your home network setup if you have the need for network connectivity in any rooms in your home, or office that just can’t get a decent wireless signal. Well done devolo!
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