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Review of Devolo dLAN 200 - Ethernet over power

4 January 2012

Devolo dLAN 200 - Ethernet over powerline adapter

I have already written a review of an earlier model of the Devolo Ethernet over power adapters.

These devices provide an ethernet network connection by passing the signal over the mains electricity cables within the house. These are useful for devices that don't have built-in wireless support (eg. blu-ray players, Internet enabled TVs and games consoles). The reason that I use these is because they are not susceptable to wireless interference which causes problems with my miniPC which is located at the opposite side of the house to the wireless router.

My earlier adapters had a maximum bandwidth of 15Mbps, whereas these newer ones are designed for up to 200Mbps. Devolo also make ones that can work at up to 500Mbps but as I it is being used to connect between switches designed for 100Mbps there is no benefit in having a faster connection.

The devices under review are the basic models which consists of a plug-in module with a RJ45 ethernet port and a setup button. There are also version with pass through sockets (so as not to block the socket from other use) or with a built-in wireless access point, which are more expensive.

The devices are avaiable in a starter pack with a pair of modules, or individually.

The configuration of the powerline devices is much easier than the earlier version. Instead of having to connect to the devices to pair them, it is now a case of pressing the configuration button on each device. It is still possible to configure using the supplied software, but that is now optional.

There is still a supplied software CD which includes the software for Linux. It needs to be compiled but it's a simple process if you have the development packages installed.

In use the connection seams to be reliable. I have not got any accurate benchmarks but it does feel noticeably faster than previously.

These are a good solution to provide network connections without needing to run cables around your house and avoiding problems with wireless signal drops or interference.