Billion P106 HomePlug AV 200 Ethernet Adapter Starter Kit (Includes 2 x BiPAC 2073 R2)

I've been using several plug-in Ethernet home adaptors for a couple of years now and have only the 85mbps type devices and they have been bullet proof.

Just a word of warning about homeplug devices, these devices MUST be plugged directly into a mains socket or extension lead that DOES NOT have any kind of anti-surge of anti-spike device fitted, they will NOT work if plugged into this kind of device.

These Billion homeplugs have speeds of up-to 200mbps and are suitable for PC's, internet TV and plain old networking one PC to another. The big advantage with these devices is that they work through your home's electrical wiring circuit, so you can have internet or network access in any room around the house, even in the garage or in our case shed/workshop. Unlike wireless connections the speed of these devices are not effected buy interference or distance, as long as they are plugged into a socket on your houses wiring then a connection is possible. I use homeplugs for a print server, network hdd, 2 PC's and a Humax Freesat box, laptops are connected wirelessly to my router.

Billion claim these devices are energy saving, seeing as they will be plugged in 24/7 then this is very welcome, they reduce their power consumption by 50% during standby and even during use they use 20% less power than other homeplugs.

The setting up of these devices could not be easier, simply plug and play. The LED's on these devices indicate, power, powerline connection and Ethernet connection, the powerline and Ethernet LED's blink when data is being transferred. There are two buttons on the device, one is a reset to default button(hold for 3 seconds) the other a sync button, this is used for syncing homeplug adaptors together and is a security feature on the device.

These devices are half the physical size of my old plug-ins which is good, they come with 3 clip-on mains plug adaptors, one of which allows one the device to be used upside down, handy with using them on and extension lead.

In the box,

2 x Homeplug devices
2 x RJ45 Ethernet cables
1 x CD containing quick start guide, user instructions and a utility program.
1 x Quick start guide
1 x Warranty info.

The speed of these devices is impressive when networking, a quick a reliable connection , although using the internet is as normal due to my 8mb connection speed.

So, these devices are recommended to those who don't have wireless connections available and want a secure network around the house or just want a pc in a room where a telephone socket is not available and want internet access, with all the new technology that is centring around internet TV and programs on demand these devices are going to come in very handy in the future.

Recommended.

I am no stranger to the magical world of Powerline Networking. I discovered the brilliance of these sort of devices several years ago when I was throwing good money after bad trying to make a wireless connection more reliable and functional and failing miserably. I think some houses just have bad areas for coverage and that's just how it is.

Powerline networking gets round this by turning your house/property's electrical ring-main into a network cable so that your devices can hook up without the worry of wires. It solved my problem at the time (which involved a Playstation 3 which as anyone who has one will tell you, are best connected by wire instead of wireless to get optimum networking performance) and ever since I have been a virtuous follower and promoter of the standard.

Anyone buying into Powerline Networking needs to be wary of a few things:

A) Some houses have dreadful electrical wiring which can cause problems or prevent the devices from functioning. I've experienced this first-hand and there is little that can be done about it.
B) They need an un-filtered socket to be plugged into, so don't go plugging them into a surge-protected socket as the surge-protection will stop it from working.
C) If you have lots of things you want to plug in, bear in mind that the router-end of the device is only able to utilise 1 socket from your router, so all devices you are plugging in round the house will be sharing that 1 socket's bandwidth.
D) There is a standard, called "Homeplug". It's worth doing some research to make sure you get the varient of this standard that meets your needs. Homeplug 1.0 was the original standard and offered speeds of 85Mbps (45 up / 45 down). Homeplug AV became the newer standard offering advertised speeds of 200Mbps (100 up / 100 down). Homeplug AV2 is a new standard that offers up to 1000Mbps (gigabit) speeds. All of which vary in real life due to the losses of performance that can occur through the power grid. All the standards can share the same power grid but won't necessarily talk between eachother - you'd need to check with models individually.
E) Some devices out there include extra features such as push-button added security (might be helpful if you live in a shared building), pass-through socketry (if sockets are at a premium), in built 4-port switch (extremely handy if you have several devices at the point of device connection) and even a wireless access point which can effectively create wireless access from any point in your house on it's own or in addition to an existing wireless router.

Onto this Billion kit itself, I have been aware of Billion but never before purchased anything by them. My history with Powerline Networking includes Devolo (the daddies of the standard if you ask me), DLink and Linksys. Provided a manufacturer sticks to the Homeplug standards, the performances between different brands shouldn't be too major. In fact compared to my existing Devolo HD powerline plugs, I couldn't tell any difference, and some Linksys devices I have out back are no different (did I mention I'm a bit of a fan of Powerline networking?)

These have the nice tidy plug form factor as you'd expect (in days of old, you could buy ones that consisted of a cable and a device that sat on a desk) with a Sync and Reset button to allow you to create some rudimentary secure linking of the devices. I never had this on my Linksys or Devolo devices, but some newer Devolo boxes I set up for a friend had a similar function which I imagine would be cross-compatible (but don't know for certain).

They have been manufactured in a slightly cheaper way by having a detached plug part that you click in - done so to allow for mass production to international markets so they only need to add in the correct pin adapter. But once you've attached the adapter, it seems solid enough. They do state in the manual that you shouldn't keep removing the pin adapter as it could damage the product - which is a bit disconcerting, but then I can't see the need to do that anyway so they're probably just covering themselves.

That's about all there is to say on these devices, because once you plug them in, they just work - such is the beauty of powerline networking. I never bother with any of the additional security software because I live in my own house with no requirement for added security.

The price is not bad at all for a kit pack (one that contains 2x devices).

So in summary, they are built to a price, but perfectly functional. No surprise-and-delight extra features like more ports, but then you get what you pay for. Check out the other brands at the time in case amazon are doing any deals, because for the bread-and-butter models with no additional features, there is little to separate them.

Having been frustrated by intermittent wifi drop-outs and having become fed-up with ethernet cables being run from room to room, I decided it would be worth a shot to give this solution a go. I am so glad that I did as I can now surf the net reliably anywhere in the house.
This starter kit comes with everything you need to make a mini wired network - 2 Homeplug adapters and ethernet cables (albeit short ethernet cables!) One adapter gets plugged into the wall and an ethernet socket on your router. The other adapter gets plugged into a wall socket in whatever room you wish to use it in and the ethernet socket on whatever device you wish to link it to. Simple as that!
What I love most about this system is that it is fantastically flexible. I can move my portable adapter with me anywhere in the house and be instantly online and I can also use the same adapter with multiple devices (e.g. laptop, PS3). I'm seriously considering purchasing one of the Billion Wireless Adapters to add to this brilliant little system.
I can really recommend for reliable, flexible and versatile connection anytime, anywhere in the home!