I’ve been using this unique combined power strip and powerline HD adapter for some time now so it’s about due a review. Read on to get the low-down…

What is powerline?

Many readers will already know what Powerline is all about (in which case, you can skip this bit) but if you don’t: Powerline is a way of using the existing mains cables in your walls to make a network. You just need two free plug sockets – plug an adapter into each one and voila – network!

Unlike wireless, thick walls and long ranges are no impediment to powerline transmission and as far as the PC is concerned, the adapters are just standard Ethernet ports.

The standard for powerline is called “Homeplug” and it comes in different flavours – effectively high speed and low speed. The high speed version is branded as “Powerline HD” and this is what I’ve been testing.

What’s unique about the Piggy6?

Because it uses your house ring main to transmit networking traffic, powerline equipment needs to be plugged directly into a socket for maximum effect. Plugging a powerline adapter into a power strip (especially a surge protected one) will reduce the speed you can achieve. That means you effectively lose a plug socket to the powerline adapter.

The Solwise adapter I’ve been using incorporates its own surge suppressor and 6 way power strip, as well as a 3 port Ethernet hub. This means that a) you don’t lose a plug socket to the adapter and b) you can hang up to 3 computers off the back of it.

Design

OK, so it’s looks like something out of Space Invaders. I don’t think it will be winning any design awards. There’s an upside though – the placement of the plug sockets around the top of the unit means that each one can accommodate a chunky power adapter without interfering with it’s neighbour. That makes all 6 sockets usable, unlike some traditional 6 way power strips.

Installation

If only all PC hardware was this simple. Installation consists of plugging it in. And that’s it  – things get marginally more complicated if you want to encrypt your transmissions (just in case your neighbour shares the same ring) but at a basic level there really is nothing to it.

As an aside, the adapter at the other end of the link doesn’t need to be the same brand – any devices supporting the “Powerline HD” standard should talk to each other quite happily.

Performance and conclusion

Powerline HD promises up to 200mbps. That’s twice as fast as standard “fast” Ethernet and 20 times faster than your broadband. In theory.

In practice, just as with WiFi any number of things can influence this speed. In tests I’ve received between 50 and 80mbps from this adapter. That may sound way short of the theoretical maximum but it also beats the pants off 54g WiFi in the same situation (which gets slightly less than half that speed, about 20mbps)

Meaningless bandwidth testing numbers aside, the reality is that I can stream stutter-free HD video from one side of the house to the other using this setup and I can’t with Wifi.

Overall I’m happy with the technology and I’d recommend this adapter to anyone looking for a hassle free networking solution.

You can find it on BroadbandBuyer for a shade over £60.