NETGEAR XAVB5201-100PAS Powerline 500 Nano Adapter Up to 500Mbps NETGEAR XAVB5201-100PAS Powerline 500 Nano Adapter Up to 500Mbps

Pros: – Very easy and straightforward setup
– Less than 0.5W power consumption
– LEDs are not overly bright
– Reliable, has been running for 36 days straight without dropping signal

Cons: I am using a ASUS RT-N66U and CAT6 cables for this test:

– Netgear advertises 500Mbps speed but provides you a Megabit 10/100 port.
– For the price, these adapters do not feature a wall socket pass-through. Since you cannot plug these into a power strip/surge protector it will most likely occupy one wall socket if not the entire socket.
– No where near 100Mbps let alone 500Mbps, this is further affected by how your house is wired and distance
– With a 5GB file I averaged 47Mb/sec (Megabit/sec)

Other Thoughts: If you want 500Mbps speeds go with a REAL Gigabit port adapter. The purpose of these powerline networking adapters is to get internet to places in your house that wiring and WiFi cannot reach. It is no substitute for wired (CAT5e/6) networking.

Pros: Easy to set up, just open the box, plug in to a power outlet by your router, plug the ethernet cable into the router and adapter, go to the other room you want internet it, plug into the outlet and plug the ethernet cable into the computer and adapter. Done, you now have a pretty fast connection.
Each adapter has 3 green LED's on it to show status, not too bright or annoying.
They work with other brand's adapters (at least with my TP-Link ones).

Cons: Pricey for what you get. There as similar products from other makers that do the same thing for a lot less. Not really sure of the price premium for these.
If I had to make a choice based on price and performance, the TP-LINK TL-PA4010KIT I have is almost 1/2 the price and I noticed no difference in the performance.

Other Thoughts: These work well and do what they are supposed to. Easy to set up and secure if you want. Decent speeds (not as fast as my hardwired home gigabit, but much easier and faster for apartment dwellers who can't run cable and want better stable speeds than wireless).
If these were on sale for around $50, sure, but at full price, there are better cheaper options.

Pros: It's packaged excellently and works very well right out of the box. There's no hassle, no need for reading instructions even (perhaps minus the part where you don't plug it into anything other than a direct outlet - no extension cords, no power bars).

So far as I can tell it works as advertised with good speeds (see other thoughts).

There's really not much else to be said, it's fast, simple, and works.

Cons: The only major con I notice is that there are competing models that work just as well as this, if not better, from other companies that are a much lower price. I like Netgear enough to usually go with them by brand name alone, but it cannot justify doubling the price tag to other competitors.

Other Thoughts: I was able to test this with the best of what equipment I have available. My internet connection speed is not "top of the line," but it's definitely considered "average or better." I had no speed loss from the internet speed, and it worked fine in any room of my house. Again, my house isn't huge, around 1100 SQ. FT home, but testing from the furthest outlets apart, I had no issues and no signs of quality degradation. Other reviews have remarked that this can be an issue, but I can only hazard a guess that they live in much bigger homes, in cities with better internet speeds, near other homes that could possibly have interfering devices.

Bottom line, top notch product, maybe a little expensive, but would definitely recommend it as a good solution for someone in need of a Powerline Kit.

Pros: Very easy to setup, easy to use, worked with existing Powerline kit with the same certification (Powerline AV).

Cons: Speed not as advertised. Seemed that this kit was effected by distance more than my current Powerline kit, although my current kit is only a 200Mps kit.

Other Thoughts: I received this kit for an Eggxpert review. The kit came with 2 four foot LAN cords and 2 Powerline wall units. Was very easy to set up. Plug one unit into a socket near your router and plug the lan cord into the router and then the unit. All three of the LED indicators went green immediately, letting me know it was working and I had the best connection speed. Used a laptop for my test, down one level in our house and at the other end of the house too. Plugged the wall unit directly into another socket, then plugged the second lan cord in the wall unit and into the laptop. Win 8 reported my connect at 200 Mps. Next up were a few connection tests.

I used LAN Speed Test Lite with a 200Mb file to test the connection speed. I also ran tests on my desktop pc, which is plugged directly into the router.

Writing (Uploading) Speed:
XAVB5201 Wireless G Desktop PC
1,485 Mbps 4,924 Mbps 10,077 Mbps

Reading (Downloading) Speed:
XAVB5201 Wireless G Desktop PC
4,122 Mbps 470 Mbps 3,757 Mbps

As you can see, connection speed for Reading is virtually the same as a desktop plugged into a router. The Writing speed is substandard, not even beating out a Wireless G connection.

Overall, this Kit is great for someone looking to add an internet connection for a non-wireless device in a room without a LAN plug (TV, Bluray, Desktop pc, etc.). Speeds aren't quite as advertised, but it's more than enough to stream Netflix, Youtube, Vudu, Hulu or any other set top service on a non-wireless device without any loss of audio or video quality.

Pros: Setup is easy. Plugin both adapters, wait until they establish connection, then press “security” button on one adapter for 2 seconds and press “security” button on the other adapter within two minutes, and you are connected. The connection between adapters is then encrypted. With these adapters, there is no need to run separate Ethernet cables. An existing power line is used to transport internet signal. The kit includes 2 power line adapters and 2 Ethernet cables. However, more adapters can be added to your network. All adapters on the same network share up to 500 Mbps bandwidth.

Cons: Each adapter will occupy a wall socket. These adapters cannot be plugged into power strips as most power strips have surge protectors built in. These surge protections tend to filter out data and therefore interfere with the adapters. Connection speeds tend to fall quickly with distance. Advertised 500 square meters coverage is probably the best case scenario. While the advertised connection speeds between adapters are “up to 500 Mbps” the actual Ethernet ports operate at only 10/100 Mbps (not a Gigabit). You should also avoid placing these adapters on more “exotic” circuits like four-wire-three-phase circuit.

Other Thoughts: These adapters replaced another set of power line adapters I used before. I use these adapters to connect my XBOX to my wired network. My XBOX is located in family room about 55 feet away from the router. The connection speed is sufficient. My power line adapters are setup on different power lines, which means the connection is routed through the fuse box. I also tested the speeds at various outlets in my house using my laptop. I conducted several speed tests utilizing LAN Speed Test Lite software. For my tests, I transferred 200 MB of data between my laptop and my Home Media Server. Naturally, the adapters placed on two sockets in the same outlet had the highest speeds. I was able to achieve average 54.6 Mbps (Write) and 72.6 (Read) speeds. This probably represents the highest “real life” speeds a “100” Ethernet can achieve. At the distance of 15 feet, the average speed dropped to 48 Mbps (Write) and 49.8 Mbps (Read). At 35 feet distance the average speed dropped to 21.1 Mbps (write) and 23 (Read). At 55 feet the average speed dropped even more to 21.1 Mbps (Write) and 25.7 Mbps (Read). The connection was also pretty reliable. My upstairs spare bedroom was a different story, I was only clocking 4 Mbps (Write) and 11.8 Mbps (Read). Yet my master bedroom, which is even further from the router, was getting pretty impressive 34.6 Mbps (Write) and 22.9 Mbps (Read). Therefore, the distance alone cannot be an indication how well your adapters will perform. In reality you need to spend a little bit of time and test a few outlets (if you can) to see which setup will perform the best. Compared to my previous set of power line adapters (which was also rated at maximum of 500 Mbps), these adapters performed better. If you need power line adapters, you cannot go wrong with Netgear XAVB201-100PAS.

Pros: The NETGEAR Powerline 500 Nano was literally a plug and play experience right out of the box. The consumer has the option to secure the connection with the push of a button, and it works perfectly! The “Pick-A-Plug” feature is handy, and assisted me with locating the best possible circuit connections to get the highest reliability signals.
Most small network users will find this item as a welcome addition to their system. With this networking option available, the addition of a connection anywhere there is a power outlet is simple and straightforward. A new streaming connection? No problem!

Cons: Only 2 adapters in the kit! I kept wishing that I had another one!

Other Thoughts: When testing items as a Newegg Eggxpert, I expect to receive the very same items from off of the shelf as any consumer would be able to purchase. The NETGEAR Powerline 500 Nano FALLS SHORT in this respect.
First of all, this item arrived as an opened box, with opened and repackaged adapters, and a letter from NETGEAR thanking me for reviewing their product. “To help ensure you have a positive experience, we invite you to reach out to us with any questions or comments via a special e-mail address reserved just for this community-- NewEgg.EggXpert@xxxxxxxxx.com
I believe this is what we call “cherry-picking” an item, to ensure a good review.
This letter than continues on with all of the “special” features of this particular model.

Pros: Works as stated if your running on the same room and that same room is on the same fuse in the fuse box. This device will even work well enough to game in another room but it loses speed the more sockets and the more fuse boxes you put between them.

Here is what I found
I have Fios 150/65 1ms hop to the speedtest server
Same Power ring no sockets between 130Mb/65Mb 4ms
Bedroom one 65Mb/61Mb 5ms
Bedroom two (Furthest socket away) 25Mb/12Mb 5ms
Laundry room (this is breaker) 21Mb/20Mb 14ms

As you can see different mains effect speeds.

Cons: Its not perfect.
Greatly effected by distance far more than Ethernet.
Greatly effected by crossing multiple circuits in the home.

Other Thoughts: If your live in a condo or single floor home then this would be ideal for remote wired access. This is great for games or streaming HD TV across the web via a wired streaming device.

I will be using this with the Belkin TV Plus to stream TV to my phone and laptop on my travels.

Pros: This product comes with two (2) adapters, two (2) CAT 5e cables and a small instructional card. The adapters plug directly into the wall outlet and have three LEDs. One indicates power, the second indicates the presence of a powerline connection and the third for connection with your PC or Game Console.

Installation is about as simple as you can get. One adapter (it doesn't matter which one), gets plugged into an outlet near your router and then connected to your router with one of the supplied network cables. Carry the other adapter to where you want to connect your device, for example, behind your TV for your Xbox. Plug it into the wall and then connect your device to the adapter.

It's really that easy. The adapters found each other in about 2 seconds in my house. I tried almost every outlet in the house and didn't have any issues making the connection.

I was able to stream a 1:1 BD rip from my server to my desktop via the adapter without any buffering issues. I also tested the device for use with my Xbox and didn't encounter any lag or connection issues.

Cons: The device provided nowhere near the "claimed" 500Mbps, nor is it even possible to reach those speeds (more on this in the Other Thoughts section). My max file transfer speed measured a paltry 90Mbps (11.3MB/s) using the powerline adapter. That is slow for a LAN connection, but won't have any effect on your Internet access.

My FIOS speeds were unaffected using the adapter. Ping time was also unaffected, which is a big plus for any gamers out there that don't want to spend the $100 on the branded MS wireless adapter.

Other Thoughts: What really irritates me about this product is the blatant misrepresentation by Netgear. The box says "Powerline 500 Mbps Adapter" and has a huge red speedometer that says "500 Mbps". Even the adapter is labeled "Powerline AV-500" making you think the device is going to perform at 500Mbps.

Unfortunately, there is no way this thing will ever even get close to 500Mbps when it's bottle necked with a 100Mbps connection speed.

How can you advertize something as "500 Mbps" and then give it a 100Mbps connection?!?!?! Seriously? If you ask me, it's a very underhanded move by Netgear and leaves a sour taste in my mouth.

I'm always irritated when a company initiates such a deceitful and blatantly misleading marketing campaign.

Pros: Integrated well with other PL equipment. Worked through junction boxes. Slightly but consistently a little faster than 200Mb/s devices. Physically small and does not block the top outlet when plugged into the bottom one. Quick recognition. Kit is complete, with two devices, and two cables.

Cons: Unreliable. First one device started intermittently dropping; ok stuff happens. Then, less than a week later, the other one dropped too, and would no longer even pick up an IP address. LEDs did not indicate a problem. Devices hadn't been obstructed or confined, but had run a little warm.

Other Thoughts: I feel a little bad submitting this rather incomplete review, but BOTH units dropped their connections, and the second one would not reconnect. Put back in the same spot, older devices worked just fine. I wanted to like these; they're small, and the slight speed improvement (really, the ISP is the bottleneck) was noticeable. My testing was abbreviated, however, when the second one failed too, and multiple resets and unplugging/replugging did not even pick up an IP address. Network connections need to be reliable, and these units just weren't. The package showed no sign of shipping damage.

Pros: I'll make sure and say this right away, because even I was confused about it at first: THIS DEVICE IS NOT WIRELESS. IT DOES NOT SEND OR RECEIVE ANY WIRELESS SIGNAL. The 2 devices use the electrical current in your house to communicate with each other. Now that that's out of the way, on to the review.

This device is good for houses that have dead zones for wireless internet, and where using an ethernet cable is impractical. You plug an ethernet cord with internet into one of the provided devices and plug it into the wall, then you plug the second provided device into an outlet near the appliance you want to supply internet to and connect it using another ethernet cord.

When you can get this thing to work correctly, the connection is strong and stable. I have a 25mb/s internet connection and it was connecting at those speeds with no issues. There's no fancy buttons to mess around with here, meaning less ways to screw it up. There is one button on the side of the devices that acts as a connection lock, so you can lock the signal between only the connected devices. If that somehow locks the signals out and you mess it up, there is a factory reset button on the back that you can press and unlock it.

There are no drivers to download or software to install, you just plug them in and go. I tested them on an internet TV, with my laptop, and with my desktop PC. The connection stayed strong and never cut out at any point during the testing.

Cons: A few key factors make this device fairly obsolete and apart of a niche market.

-They are in no shape or form wireless. You can only provide internet using a wired ethernet cable. Devices such as tablets, phones, and whatever else doesn't have an ethernet port will not be able to get internet from this.
-From my testing, I found that you cannot use these reliably on a power strip. You must connect them directly to the wall, and that can be a deal breaker for people who simply don't have the room for it.
-Not all outlets are ideal. Outlets located in the basement or attic, and even ones located in the house proper of some older homes, have hit and miss, at best, electrical connections.

Other Thoughts: Consider the cons above and do your research before deciding on this device. When it works it works well, but it's impossible to guarantee it will work for you unless you know how the electrical wiring in your house is done. You're much better off investing in a long range wireless router if distance is the issue. I certainly have no need for this device because everything I own has wireless capability, and if yours does too, I would skip this.