About their PowerLine XE102G networking units, NetGear says “For a simple way to bring the Internet to any room, look no further than NETGEAR’s PowerLine Ethernet Adapter. It plugs into an electrical outlet and uses your existing electrical wiring to give your entire household access to your Cable/DSL connection.” And they are absolutely correct.

I recently used the NetGear PowerLine XE102G to connect a Windows Vista desktop computer to a network that was located in another part of the house. I admit that I was a bit skeptical about how well these devices would work but as soon as I had them working, my doubts were eliminated.

The box contains 2 units for instant networking. There is no need to purchase 2 boxes unless you have multiple locations to network devices together.

The devices install so easily it is funny.  First, connect the first unit to your router or switch (you must have a device providing routing features) via an Ethernet cable and plug the unit directly into a wall power outlet. Powerstrips do not work with these units. Second, go to where the computer or other device is located and plug the Ethernet cable into the computer and the PowerLine XE102G unit and plug the PowerLine unit into a wall power socket. Assuming that your computer’s network connections work and are enabled, that’s all there is to it.

The advertised speed of these units is 14 Mbps which is faster than most home Internet connections. They typically run about 1.5 to 2 Mbps so these are much faster than your Internet connection. The only issue I have with the NetGear PowerLine XE102G is that they advertise a 14 Mbps transfer speed but say they only provide a 10BaseT physical connection which is limited to 10 Mbps. Thankfully this is still faster than home Internet connections.

So my thoughts? If you need a network connection and don’t trust Wireless connections like WiFi, try the PowerLine XE102G. It is as simple as network connections come and your neighbors can’t steal your Internet connection.

Happy Computing,
Tim

Biden PC is a Computer Network Consulting Company.

If you found this post to be informative, consider subscribing to our Biden PC’s RSS feed.

1. Profundox Says:
   December 24th, 2008 at 12:48 pm

   Second that motion. I just plugged it in and it works. I’ll be putting the other end downstairs and plugging my second wifi router into it. Wifi upstairs and down with no more dead zones. Let’s see if two iPhones, two Tivos, three laptops, my gaming behemoth, an iMac, and the cop that hangs in front of my house pirating my wifi can all get along.

2. Tim Says:
   December 25th, 2008 at 7:19 am

   You have a cop who hangs out in front of your house and steals your wifi? Have you ever considered blocking him? I mean, it IS illegal for him to do that. OR… maybe you could just give him a bagel or donut in return for more security at your house. =)

   But on to the “Second Router”… Have you thought about using an “Access Point” instead? It is a lot cleaner and easier to do that than to have 2 routers. Having 2 routers can cause problems if you use the WAN port on the second, and/or don’t turn off DHCP in the internal configuration. Or if the DHCP randomly turns itself on at some point. Strange things like that sometimes happen.

   Tim