D-Link DHP-309AV PowerLine AV500 Mini Adapter Starter Kit

Pros: grabbed this on sale. needed an upgrade over an first gen Rosewill powerline adapter. this d-link is smaller, speedier and runs cooler. no software to install a worthwhile budget upgrade for tweny dollars. about a 1 mbps increase over av200

Cons: not pass through. those come in handy there are so many device nowadays

Overall Review: need longer time with this to see if any dropouts that are bothersome with av200 first gen products

Pros: Easiest way to get network to remote parts of a house. Plenty fast enough connection for streaming HD video too. Just plug in and you're good to go. I also found that more of these used together improve things. I have 4 in my house now.

Cons: I have seen them quit once in a while. Unplugging them and plugging them back in makes them work again. Fortuantely it's rare that this happens.

Overall Review: One thing folks need to keep in mind on these is that they only work if your outlets are all on the same "side" of your electrical service. All homes have two 110V lines feeding from the pole. That's why you see two rows of breaker switches. One line on one side and the other on the opposite side. If you plug in one of these extenders in a plug and another in a plug that might be on the other side of the breaker box, it won't work. The fix here would be to have an electrician rewire your breaker box to put all outlets on one side only.

Pros: - They work, but are only able to use the default network name. - They are Plug and Play with other network adapters (and brands) (assuming you are using the default public network name - see cons for details) - Cheap (if you get them on sale)

Cons: - Software provided doesn't see or detect the adapters - therefore you are unable to configure them. - Unable to update the adapters without using the software, which isn't possible as the software doesn't see or detect the adapters as mentioned above. - Adapters were provided at firmware revision 2.00 (based on the on device sticker) which has problems coming out of the power save mode (This is based on other reviews I've read, I can't use them as I can't configure them to work with my network, but am listing this as an issue that others might run into) Note: at the time of this writing the latest firmware for revision B (which I received) is 2.02. - Poor support from the manufacture - It took multiple weeks for the manufacture to respond to my support request via e-mail (after filling out their online form) to address the above issues, and their response was (and this is copy/pasted): "D-Link USA technical support only provides after market support for products bought and used within the USA. You are seeking support from outside the United States. Please contact the D-Link offices which are closest to your geographical location." I purchased these from the USA newegg site, had them shipped to a USA address, and attempted to use them at the USA address, and contacted USA support. As of this writing I'm still waiting for support to follow up with some useful information after informing them of these facts (and I never mentioned my location so I'm not sure how they would (accurately) determine if my location either is, or is not, in the USA).

Overall Review: I'd advise against these unless they are (virtually) free and you don't mind (potentially) having a set of useless adapters lying around if they don't meet your needs out of the box. They could be useful as a temp solution for troubleshooting or other tech support related activities, but I wouldn't get a set for permanent or long term use, especially not at full price when there are other adapters from other brands that work better and don't suffer from the fatal flaws that I've encountered with my set. My setup: I've got 2 pairs of adapters from other manufactures, one from TP-Link and the other from Trendnet. One set (I forget which) is of the 500AV standard and the other is the 200AV standard. Both sets are able to see each other and work together on my private powerline network at expected speeds based on the standard they were built to, and my house's wiring, and the remote device they are communicating with. I bought this set of D-Link adapter to replace one of the 200AV adapters and to extend my powerline network into another room (leaving the replaced 200AV adapter as a spare). The software for both the TP-Link and Trendnet adapters works fine, and allowed me to create and secure my custom powerline network, but the D-Link adapters are useless if I am unable to have them join my existing network and I refuse to switch over to the default unsecured network just to use a pair of cheap-o adapters and save a couple bucks over buying hardware that works properly.

Pros: Relatively easy setup, comes with two 3' CAT5E cables, offers convenience using the AV+/500 standard.

Cons: Not able to communicate with the units via the Powerline AV Utility despite being plugged directly into it with all other network adapters disabled. Can even get network access and Internet through one and still no detection. This requires manual encryption matching which could be described better in the manual. Speeds are lackluster unless you show dedication.

Overall Review: I am using these adapters to provide a bridge to a cheap wireless router to act as a ranged network repeater, which is not the typical setup or use for the devices. I was able to get the units up from an initial speed of 30Mbps to a solid 60Mbps through various techniques. First, once you have selected your target circuit you should unplug everything but the powerline adapter and try every outlet before settling in on the best. Then you can add the other devices back on to see if any of them introduce interference. I would suggest both a network and an Internet test for this procedure. You will want to do this for the source room circuit as well. Second, you will want to provide filtering for any and all devices that cause or could cause noise. Surge protectors work fine for this - I am running three on the source circuit and one at the destination, and they successfully remove interference. Lamps tend to not be a problem but computers and computer equipment, chargers, and LED lights with an adapter may cause issues. Prepare to do a lot of testing and moving of cords. From reviews I was anticipating speeds of 55-60Mbps (in each direction) for my particular setup and, with work, I got exactly that. You may get as high as 80 but you should expect around 60 with effort. The powerline adapters produce minimal latency; even over the wireless repeater through the powerline it's only 3ms round-trip. So far the connections have been completely stable and reliable. For those calculating for streaming, the blu-ray spec calls for a maximum of 54Mbps, which again I achieve with these units. Compressed files and lower resolutions require less. I haven't had any issues combining more complex network elements, including a switch and wireless repeater, with the adapters in this regard. If I add more units I may report back with my findings. One last thing: you want to avoid AFCI (arc fault) and GFI/GFCI (ground fault) breakers if possible. Certain brands of AFCI's are fine, including Eaton and Square D. I myself have Eaton AFCI's and was able to test their impact, which was minimal. It is important to do reconnaissance of your electrical system before deciding to embark on powerline networking!

Pros: The DHP-309AV PowerLine AV+ Mini kit is just what the doctor ordered for our HTPC. We live in a three story townhouse and the 802.11n signal always struggles to get to our HTPC in the opposite corner of the house, two floors down, which tends to lead to buffering and inferior quality with Netflix, YouTube, Hulu, etc. The DHP-309AV kit fixes all of that. It really is as easy as plugging it in, pushing a button to get the two talking to each other and then plugging in the ethernet cables. A quick Speedtest.net run shows there is zero loss between the adapters, getting 18MB/s down and 2MB/s up with a ping of 26ms, just like the PCs wired directly to the router. It doesn't get any better than that on our cable connection, literally.

Cons: Works best plugged directly into an outlet. Using an extension cord or power strip does not work as well. In fact, the power strip I tried (a brand new, well rated Belkin strip) didn't work at all. If available, you'll want to use a dedicated wall outlet. The supplied ethernet cables are quite short, approximately 3 ft long.

Overall Review: As mentioned in the Cons, the PowerLine kit works best when both are plugged into the wall directly. It did not work at all through a surge protector, but does work acceptably well through a cheap extension cord. It is able to max out our cable connection up and down through the cord. If you don't have an outlet right next to where you're using them, you should consider buying a longer ethernet cable so you don't have to use an extension cord for the PowerLine adapter.

Pros: Easy to install, cheap and easy alternative to wireless network for those with very few devices or trying to connect across a large house or multiple floors.

Cons: Questionable maximum connection speed. May not be as high as advertised unless both access points are connected on the same circuit breaker. If both access points are on the same circuit though, just buy a longer cat5e cable as a cheaper option.

Overall Review: Works as intended. Took me a while to find in the instruction manual that I was supposed to do initial connection setup on two outlets in the same room (same circuit), and then move the device access point to where I wanted it in my house. Once I did that, connecting the two access points was a quick and easy 1 button press. Runs video streaming services flawlessly for my wife's TV on the opposite corner of the house.

Pros: Easy to use

Cons: None

Overall Review: I bought this kit to help extend internet coverage in the part of the house that doesn't get good reception from our Apple Airport Extreme N. So, I connected one D-Link unit to the Airport Extreme. Plugged the other D-Link unit in our bedroom wall and connected it to a second, low-cost Wi-Fi router. Boom! Super-fast wireless in the other half of our house. I'm thinking about getting another unit to put near our entertainment center to get even better connection to our AppleTV and BluRay player.

Pros: This is a great product, I'm getting really good speeds with this. I don't believe my internet connection is actually limited by this product at all I am getting download speeds of up to 3MB/s which is usually the site's upload speed limitations not my download.

Cons: None really. some might say the provided Ethernet cables are short, but they worked for me. If you have a long distance (more than 6 feet) you might want to pick up a longer cable.

Overall Review: I'm getting speeds way higher than any wireless connection I ever had. This is a much better solution to networking if you need high speeds or can't use wireless.