This is a follow-up to the 802.11a thread from yesterday.

I decided to try the power line networking. I am driven by a need for instant gratification. As a result, I am up and running already.

I went with 3 Netgear XE602 powerline-to-ethernet bridges. I bought these Netgear ones for a couple reasons:

• There were 3 available at a Circuit City about an hour away. Every other CC in the area only had one in stock. CompUSA had them, but their return policy sucks and there was a good chance I would only be "trying" these things.
• The Netgears are best rated from the one halfway decent review.
• They require no software to be installed. It comes with a CD, but I didn't even open them.
• They use a 2-prong wall plug, not an AC adapter.
• They look damn sexy.

I initially only set up two of them. Without any configuration, I plugged each into the wall and then into a hub. I then renewed my IP on my machine. Magically it worked. It is astonishing to me how effective this solution is. It is literally a device that makes an RJ-45 port from an electrical outlet. It is amazing.

Then came the true test.... Windows file transfers. This was my main gripe about Wi-Fi. Without doing any real benchmarks, I am seeing very close to 10Mbps speed (pure estimation)! The files transfer very quickly and without hiccups. I then proceeded to re-arrange my network to fit in the 3rd XE602. This one is also hooked up to a hub and works just the same as the first two! Why is this technology not very popular? This is some very cool sh*t!!!!!!

So, here are the pros and cons as I see it:

Pros:

• 10 BaseT speeds without running Cat5
• Easy set up with no software to load
• Affordable
• Resilient. I have two air conditioners running, one 220v and one 110v. They don't seem to be affecting the powerline network at all.

Cons:

• Ethernet port on XE602 device is 10Mbit half duplex only. Speed advertised on box as 14Mbit.
• Security. All my neighbor has to do is get one of these and they can mooch my internet. They would also be on the same network as me... if they even know what a network is outside of AOL.
• There will probably be a faster version in a few months.

This post would probably be of much more interest on the RioReceiver BBS. If I had this instead of wireless, a lot of headaches would have been saved. I think I will cross-post in a bit...