Introduction:
Home networking is a subject that is affecting more and more people these days. You have more than one computer in your house and now want them connected so you can share files. What are your options? You can run ethernet cable throughout the entire house, but that is tedious, tiring work. If you rent the place, you may not have the option of running cable through the walls. You could try WIFI, but signal can be lossy depending on the building, and others can listen in. This is the necessity that fueled Netgear’s ingenuity when they developed the XAVB101. By running ethernet over powerlines already installed in the building, Netgear overcomes the obstacle of insufficient wiring. So does this new technology have what it takes to traverse the tubes of TechwareLabs’ network, or will this electrical invention come up short? Read on to find out.
Specifications:
Network Ports
- One 10/100 Mbps Ethernet port
- One 200 Mbps† Powerline HD interface
Power Supply
- 100-240V @ 50-60HZ
LEDs
- Power
- Status
- Ethernet
Environmental Specifications
- Operating temperature: 0º-40 ºC (32º-104 ºF)
- Operating relative humidity: 10% to 90% non-condensing
Physical Specifications
- Dimensions: 98 x 72 x 40 mm (3.86 x 2.83 x 1.57 in)
- Weight: 0.18 kg (0.4 lb)
Electromagnetic Emissions
- FCC Part 15 Class B
- CE
- C-Tick
Power and Safety Regulations
- UL Certified
Typical Coverage
- Up to 5000 square foot home
Warranty
- NETGEAR 1-year Warranty
Package Contents
- Two (2) Powerline AV Ethernet Adapters (XAV101)
- 1.51 m (5 ft) Ethernet Cable
- Installation guide
- Setup CD
- Warranty card
- Support and information card
So does this work if you have it on a separate circuit within your house or does it have to be tied into the same one? Can you tell me a bit more about how this manages to transmit data across a powerline? We are talking positive and negative here, two wires. If they can do this across power lines why does the PC industry still use CAT 45?
a resource to read: http://computer.howstuffworks.com/power-network1.htm
Still your question about outlet circuits is good question. 1 or more are acceptable, not sure!
ron
You beat me to the answer. This site: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_line_communication and this site: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HomePlug_Powerline_Alliance also have very good information if you’re interested in the nitty gritty technical aspects of power line communication.
In our testing we found that you can use it across different circuit breakers, but the further you get from the other adapter, the more noise in the channel and the less bandwidth you have. This is one of the reasons why they still use CAT 5. You can run it for long lengths and not have an individual connection affected by other traffic (providing the CAT 5 cable is properly shielded).
I think i’ve seen this somewhere before…but it’s not bad at all
What is latency like with these? Considering a set for my PC so I can get into online gaming again, wi-fi is a bit temperamental sometimes so if it can offer CAT5-like latencies, that’d definitely help.
The latency is comparable to CAT 5, but your results will vary depending on the noise in your electrical grid. It should still have better latency than WIFI overall.
The only problem with powerline networking is that they create a tremendous amount of interference for two-way radio devices. The deployment of the broad band equivalent was halted in Australia due to this interference impeding emergency services radios.
is this compatible with all routers
Yes. The only limitation is speed depending upon interference which is directly proportional to the distance between the 2 devices.
Just moved into a new appartment and my PC will be far away from the network socket so am considering going via the electrical socket. I am a hardcore gamer and am worried that it will cause lag or simply not be sutable for lets say Battlefield 2142. Do you think this will work fine?
I purchased this item in November and it works as promised – plug one into one outlet, and another into another outlet, wait a few seconds, and then connect your ethernet cable to each one and you’re up and running in no time. No software to install, no crazy configurations, it’s as easy as pie.