TP-Link PA411KIT (Powerline adapter Reveiw)

[jameshumphries47]

So nipped into Curry's/PC World earlier and some of you may know I am going to get some servers in a few months. And my first problem was a solid wired internet connection directly connected to my router. so I thought hey lets cable Ethernet around the house, drill holes and run it under floor boards. but that was inconvenient so I decided to buy a power line adapter. Had a look on Curry's Website and there is a sale on the TP-Link PA411KIT was £50 now £24.99 so I thought may as well go pick one up, as I have nothing to loose.

    So I got it home and had a look at the package, and I was concerned that they had messed up and only put one in as the box wasn't very big not a lot bigger than a normal computer mouse. So I took off the plastic film covering the box (I never understood why they did this as it doesn't serve a purpose other than a pain to take off.) which revealed the box. I opened the box and was greeted by plain white box (Like a game of pass the parcel) I opened the second box. which showed the contents of what I had bought. their where the 2 adapters I was shocked how small they were. literally the size of a plug.

they were secured in the box with some foam.

   After I removed the foam and put the adapters aside, I had a rummage around the secondary box in the box (Don't know how else to put it.) which has two decent size cat 5E Ethernet cables. tied with that twisted wire things, 2 of them per cable. Then there was a pretty page that had a diagram of a house with the adapters in use. then a small disk that didn't need to be in there as I set it up perfectly without it. then finally a setup guide.

  Back to the adapters they were very small. On close inspection they had 3 LED's one indicating power and one indicating a network and the finial on showing if the information Is being travelled trough the adapter. they had a small pair button on both of them that was very small and hard to press if it was down the back of a wall. 

  It was so simple to set up I didn't even bother with the manual. I simply plugged a cable in the back of the router and the other end into the adapter. the second adapter plugged into the back of one of my pc's and the other end again plugged into the adapter. then you press pair for 1 second on both adapters and Pooff you have a secure wired network anywhere in your house.

  I was simply shocked and the simplicity of the connection I couldn't believe it, so unplugged the WIFI card in the back of my pc and ran straight of the adapter and did a speed test. if I plugged my pc directly into the router I would get PING: 45 DOWNLOAD: 4.35mbps UPLOAD: 0.75mbps, with the adapter about 100meters away from the router I was achieving PING: 56 DOWNLOAD: 3.97mbps UPLOAD: 67mbps. so I was pretty pleased with the results. Just to back me up I unplugged the Ethernet and plugged back in the WIFI and the results I got PING: 78 DOWNLOAD: 3.15mbps UPLOAD: 0.45mbps. so the WIFI is no more Ethernet all the way!!

  The adapter are light weight and were not made with millions as you would expect just plastic but they do as they say on the package. And I would say its a barging for £25 so guys go order yours I would buy them again if needed, i give it 4 out of 5 stars due to it not feeling greatly robust and having a small pair button I found hard to press when the adapter was in position. 

  Sorry if some off this doesn't make sense I am only 13! I love my tech.

thanks for your time

sorry for the bad picture quality I took them using my ipod

~James

this is what I mean with the button its to small.

Here is the size comparison to a Xbox 360 controller.

Here is the Tplink plugged into the wall by the router.

here it is plugged into the back of my router that's how simple it is!!

Her

Here the second one is plugged into my room

And finally here it is plugged into the back of one of my pc's which will soon be plugged into my servers

[geogga]

You should add some photos

[jameshumphries47]

will try when I get time!

[jameshumphries47]

pics uploaded

[rmonty]

Nice review, but what sort of LAN speeds are you getting with these?

[jameshumphries47]

not sure how do I check

[rmonty]

Sorry I misread your post, I thought that you already had the server up and running.

[jameshumphries47]

ahh okay I downloaded a lan network speed tester lol