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Linksys PLK200 PowerLine AV Ethernet Adapter

Linksys PLK200 PowerLine AV Ethernet Adapter

(100Mbps - MPN: PLK200)
Description: Powerline AV is a powerful solution to connect media adapters, set top boxes and other networked entertainment devices to a home network. The high bandwidth and increased range of the PowerLine AV offers a powerful networking solution.The P.... Read More

User Reviews

3.5 Star Review(6 Reviews)

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Date Reviewed:  11/25/2007
  • MittyAN
  • Member Since:
    Jan 2006

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    Reviews
    Product Experience:
    1 Day
2 Star ReviewGreat When it Works
Strengths: It's fast and the best alternative to wired ethernet if you can't or don't want to use wireless.
Weaknesses: A lot of household devices can cause interference, causing the connection to drop.
Summary: This thing is great when nothing is on the powerline to interfere with it, but as soon as you turn on an electrically noisy device, the connection will become very slow or drop completely. I switched back to using wireless ethernet because these were too unreliable. If you want to spend the money to electrically shield every appliance in your house and to then buy these, then by all means go for it, but it's probably a better idea to just get a nice wireless-N router or just run ethernet wires.

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Date Reviewed:  12/21/2008
  • N/A
  • Member Since:
  • Product Experience:
    1 Years
3 Star ReviewGood
Strengths: Convenience - very easy to extend your network, flexibility - can add network drop anywhere there is a power outlet
Weaknesses: Poor setup instructions (typical of Linksys), bulky size (blocks access to adjacent outlet plugs)
Summary: Overall this product works as advertised, and when it works it works great. However Linksys has poor documentation and setup instructions, leaving the user to spend more time and effort than needed. The other problem I ran into is that if the primary unit (connected to the router) is on a busy circuit (used by many plugged devices) the noise will interrupt the signal to the receiving devices. These caveats are not explained in the documentation. In summary, with a little tinkering the PLK200 can be a very effective and convenient way to extend your network.

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Date Reviewed:  08/22/2008
  • IbarraYJ
  • Member Since:
    Sep 2007

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    Reviews
    Product Experience:
    4 Months
Strengths: East to setup!
Weaknesses: The box that connects to the outlet is a big.
Summary: I've setup two of these Linksys PLK200 Kits and have had no problems with them. Setup only takes a few minutes and the software does all the work for you. The only thing I don't like about the hardware is that the box is large and if only have two outlets the box will block the other because of its size. Other then that I have to say its a great feature to be able to use your electrical outlets as network cable.

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Date Reviewed:  04/02/2008
  • Mr. Film
  • from MD
  • Member Since:
    Apr 2002

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    Reviews
    Product Experience:
    1 Weeks
2 Star ReviewIt works but...
Strengths: Portability, Set-Up and Expandability
Weaknesses: Connection Issues, Interference and Price
Summary: Here are couple of things I like about it. It's portable which means you can use it pretty much anywhere in your house. If you have an electrical outlet you have an ethernet drop. The set-up was pretty straight forward. I installed the monitoring software on my computer and plugged them in where I wanted them and the computer recognized them and I could see what kind of signal they were getting. Another thing I liked was that you can add as many devices as needed. I think I read you can have as many as 16 of these devices in your house, but I can't imagine anyone needing that many.

Now here comes the bad. I have been having a lot of weak signal and lost connection issues. I'm not sure what is causing them. It could be that they are all on different circuits in the house and the signal doesn't travel across different circuits well. I don't know what's causing the weak signal but another thing I read is that lamps, TV's and other devices can cause interference and this interference can cause weak signals. You know, I don't know anyone who has a house that doesn't have lamps, TV's, refrigerator and other devices but if you run across someone like that you let me know. I also thought the price was a bit steep for the PLK200 two pack.

Overall, I have been extremely disappointed with the poor signal strength with these devices. If I had it to do over again I would not have bought it.

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Date Reviewed:  02/07/2008
  • mander11
  • from IL
  • Member Since:
    Mar 2004

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    Reviews
    Product Experience:
    1 Day
Strengths: Fast, Easy Set-up
Weaknesses: None
Summary: This product is easy to set-up and faster or just as fast as wireless. I'll be using it to run YDL Linux on a PS3 where YDL could not activate the wireless adapter.

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Date Reviewed:  11/12/2007
  • quadmaster224
  • from WI
  • Member Since:
    Dec 2006

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    Reviews
    Product Experience:
    2 Months
Strengths: Unbelievably easy to setup and use. True plug and play.
Weaknesses: Would be nice if it could be a little smaller.
Summary: I am now using four of these units throught my house. They take about 5 seconds to set up (not kidding). This is by far the easiest way to set up your home or small business network. I have my home computer, my PS3 and PS 2 all running in to one port on my router

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