14 DAY TRIAL // Physical networks usually need technicians to come over, set up an access hub and spread some cables throughout a household, so that computers may have something to plug their LAN cables into.
Wi-Fi routers can make it so that cables are unnecessary, but they don't always reach throughout the whole home, not through too many walls.
Range extenders can help offset this problem, but they are pretty expensive and, in the end, unnecessary in the face of an alternative like Powerline adapters.
These small things just plug into an electrical power socket and are able to allow LAN data to travel from one room to the other through the electrical wiring of a house.
TRENDnet has just released a new adapter kit, called Powerline 1200 AV2 Adapter Kit model TPL-420E2K.
Powerline 1200 AV2 Adapter Kit TPL-420E2K
To use it, all you need to do is plug the two adapters in and connect one of them to whatever router you happen to own.
Powerline MIMO technology uses all three electrical wires (live, neutral, ground) to reach Gigabit speeds through the LAN ports over an area of 5,000 square feet / 465 square meters. Linear distance over Powerline is of up to 980 feet / 300 meters.
Adding more adapters to the network is, of course, possible, and will allow you to extend Internet access to however many computers there are in a house.
Using the new kit for business and office work is also a viable idea, since the signal is pre-encrypted out of the box. The adapters auto-connect too, so they're easy to set up and use.
The only downside is that, with Powerline MIMO tech reliant on three electrical wires, the product won't be much good outside the US, since many countries, especially in Europe, use two-cable electrical installations and sockets instead.
Finally, the Powerline 1200 AV2 Adapter Kit can enter a power save mode (80% less energy use) and is compatible with Powerline 200, 500 and 600 adapters.
Availability and pricing
The Powerline 1200 AV2 Adapter Kit should go up for sale soon enough for an as yet unknown price.
"Powerline 1200 offers double the speed existing Powerline 600 solutions," stated Zak Wood, global marketing director for TRENDnet. "We are confident in the performance of our TPL-420E2K and look forward to product reviews."