Review: Netgear's Powerline Adapter Offers An Alternative To Wireless

Until recently, there wasn't much you could do to remedy the situation short of hardwiring your house -- and if you live in a rented apartment, or if you don't want to start drilling holes in your ceiling, you could have a real problem. There's now an alternative: Recent developments in BPL (Broadband over Power Lines) have resulted in products such as the Netgear Powerline HD Ethernet Adapter HDX101. These devices offer connectivity through home electrical systems -- you connect one adapter to your router or network switch, connect another to your computer's Ethernet port, and plug both into nearby 110-volt AC outlets. That's it -- no other setup is usually needed.

I decided to test the HDX101 with a home computer that used an 802.11g wireless network to communicate with a router on the floor below. Because of the structure of the house, the connection varied from good to weak; the biggest problem was with a VoIP phone service where voice quality was usually miserable and calls were often lost in midstream.

The HDX101 adapters are not large -- each is about the size of a desk of cards and has three status LEDs that indicate power, network status, and network traffic. It is strongly recommended by the manufacturer that you don't connect the device to a power strip, extension cord, or surge protector -- this means that you may have to dedicate an outlet to the HDX101, since it could get in the way of other plugs. (On the other hand, I plugged the review unit into the lower socket of an outlet, and was still able to use the upper.)

Installation of the two HDX101 units was frighteningly easy; it took less time than it takes to describe the process. The improvement was immediate -- Web surfing was perceivably faster, especially when it came to video viewing. As for the VoIP, that went from being unusable to reliable -- there were no more call interruptions, sound quality became quite good, and I was actually able to use the service for important calls without bringing out my lucky rabbit's foot.

The Powerline HD Ethernet Adapter HDX101 comes with a six-foot Ethernet cable and a configuration utility on a CD (for households that have other Ethernet devices on the electrical system) .

This isn't an inexpensive solution -- the HDX101 sells as a single unit for $75-$88, and the HDXB101 two-unit kit can be found for $140-$200. However, if you're struggling with an inadequate wireless network and can't run Ethernet cabling, the Powerline adapters are a great alternative.