If you’ve got a solid wireless home network, you might still not be achieving the best possible speeds between your devices and your router — and that might be getting in the way of high-bandwidth applications like 4K streaming or low-ping online gaming. A powerline wired network adapter directly connects your router and a device through your home’s electrical wiring, and D-Link’s latest are just about the best you can get.
D-Link says it’s selling more powerline adapters than ever before, and with good reason: they’re getting a lot better. The latest PowerLine AV2 2000 kit (DHP-P701AV) supports up to 16 adapters in total around your house, but the biggest advantage is that the adapters actually pass through power through the socket on the front, so you won’t be wasting your precious wall outlets. You get a single 2000Mbps Gigabit Ethernet port at the top of the powerline adapter — so you’ll need one near your router, and the second near whichever device you want to hook up.
The latest iteration of the kit has MIMO tech, so it’s able to use two of the three wires in your wall’s power wiring for receiving and transferring data, significantly boosting real-world transfer speeds. There’s also a line noise filter that should ensure that electronically noisy appliances — think basic things like corded drills or stick mixers — don’t knock your networked devices offline temporarily. A power saving mode also cuts the adapters’ energy consumption by 85 per cent when they’re not actively transferring data.
The PowerLine AV2 2000 Gigabit Passthrough Kit (DHP-P701AV) will set you back $249.95 through D-Link’s resellers and its own website. You get two in the box; we’re chasing up prices for individual additional adapters if they’re available. [D-Link]
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