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(More customer reviews)How do you run ethernet over powerlines anyways? Well remember DSL many years ago - they ran etherent over telephone lines for 15,000+ feet at 1.5 mbps. Of course you don't have 15,000 feet of electrical wire inside your house, so just like the people who lived next door to the phone company you get to up your speed. And Logitech's dsl-over-powerline extension is "up to" a whopping 200 mbps - twice a 100mbps connection (or realistically 100 mbps each way). Basically the data is converted to radio frequencices and coupled onto the power lines inside your house then the process is reversed and the tuned data is converted back to ethernet. This works both ways, but one "end" will be the end with the ethernet link to the public internet. The other box will go where you need an ethernet device to work and you have no cable there. Both boxes plug into the power outlet and use the power lines to couple the radio onto the power wires.
SIMPLICITY. Folks, it just doesnt get any easier than this. There are two boxes - both are the same! You plug one into an ethernet jack where the internet comes into your house (cable, dsl, uverse, fios, even dialup if you have a switch or router). You take the other one to a house plug where you WANT an ethernet jack but DONT WANT to pay someone to crawl around and run the cable under the house or through the attic. I ran mine to the back bedroom bluray player which has ethernet to play netflix on demand -- xbox and playstation can also use it. Plug box #2 (again it doesnt matter which is which) into the wall and out comes high speed internet into your TV - I watched a movie on netflix with it. Simple, no problems whatsoever.
Gotchas:
If you have a BIG house (over 2000 sq ft) or you have LOTS of electrical outlets, you may have some work to do to ensure that both the two logitech boxes are plugged into the same "half" of the powerline. Let me explain what I mean by "half"In the united states you get 2 coppies of 117 VAC (on average - it ranges from 110-120 so we call it 117 nominal) - the two coppies are out of phase by 180 degrees so if you connect between the two of them you get 234 (on average at least - we call it 240 volts by convention but i've seen 230-242 volts) - it looks like this
(wire 1) (neutral/ground) (wire 2) (this is what comes in from the power company)
These are the 3 wires you get from the power company - the neutral and ground are bonded together at your power panel. These home power units work best when they are plugged into the same "HALF" of the power link (the same copy of 117 VAC) - nobody knows which "HALF" they are plugging into unless their house is VERY well wired (and very few electricians are that detailed or they can't make a profit) so you may need to check around. You have a 50/50 chance of getting the same "half" of the 240 VAC delivered to your house (the same 117 VAC) One way to tell is to use a digital voltmeter - often the two halfs have different voltages by just a bit - one will be 115 and the other 118 vac - a good meter can tell you which you have. This unit will work better with both the two boxes plugged into the same half if you can tell. Other ways are to go to your electrical panel - it alternates halves every other breaker. If you call one half A and the other B, then using full size breakers (not the doubled up breakers where you get 2 in one) will be layed out like this:
A
B
A
B
A
B
A
B
(8 breakers in a panel)
or
A B
B A
A B
B A
A B
B A
A B
B A
(16 breakers in a panel). Not all panels are made the same - but when you see the dryer breaker or electric stove breaker (the double wide ones) they sit on both A AND B - the rest get A OR B.
A simple method is to find the breaker your internet side is connected to - figure out if its an A or B, then locate the nearest outlet that has the same code to plug into on the equipment side. A little knowledge of electrical wiring goes a long ways, but do not open the electrical panel because hazardous voltages are all over the place without insulation - opening the cover to see the switches like when you blow a breaker won't hurt, but don't remove the screws that hold the safety cover in place over the breakers - that one should stay put.
If you put both halfs of the transmitter/receiver set on the same half of the electrical panel you will get the FASTEST link speed and the longest distance. If you connect them to opposite sides, they may still link up (but in order to get from B to A they would travel through a 240 VAC device such as the clothes dryer - its a longer path and the signal strength is not as good - sort of like being further from the phone company on dsl - and the distance will not be as great, so a little work to figure out which circuits you are plugging into will go a long ways to getting the most reliable and fast, longest connection. Just remember that some "double" breakers do exist which only take one spot in the panel (an A or B) and have two half wide levers, and 2 wires leaving the single breaker - both wires are considered to be on the same circuit (A or B).
If thise seems confusing, a good book is Wiring Simplified: Based on the 2008 National Electrical Code and will go a long way to explain how homes are wired in two halves of 117 VAC, each out of phase with the other.
With a little work, the power line system can go thousands of feet - it's been tested between well pumping stations down a mountain road - all were on the same "A" circuit and sent their pump data back to a data logging system via tcp/ip. The newer systems are faster and more reliable - and easier to use. Logitech hit this product out of the park with a good design and LOTS of simplicity -there are 2 leds - blue means you have power, green means you have a link to the other end. There's even a switch to turn off the LEDs when you are done futzing plugging it in and setting it up.
Last note - do NOT plug this into a UPS or a power outlet strip with an attenuating "NOISE FILTER" - that "NOISE" is your DATA! - the last thing you want to do is filter it out! Just use a simple household outlet - that will be the best link. (you can still run the product on a UPS but it will loose the internet link upon power failure.)
FINALLY THERE ARE PEOPLE WHO ASK "IS MY DATA SAFE" - yes - the power line devices stop at the transformer that services your house. I tried an experiment and setup the transmitter on my house then went next door to my neighbor and could not get the green light to come on - just the blue power light. Security is the last thing to worry about with this product. Logitech isn't broadcasting to the world.
This is a great way to run ethernet through your house to any outlet and very good for older homes that were not wired with cat-5 everywhere.
Click Here to see more reviews about: Logitech HD Powerline 200a Starter Kit for Logitech Revue & Internet-Connected Devices (930-000131)
Logitech HD Powerline 200a Starter Kit uses your home\'s existing electrical wiring to turn any outlet into an Internet connection, so you can use your Internet-connected entertainment devices in any room in your home.
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