Belkin Powerline AV+ Networking Adapters Review

Belkin Powerline AV+ Networking Adapters Introduction

When I ran across the Belkin CEDIA display, I was only interested in one thing - HDMI. It's what everyone is concerned about, what everyone is talking about, and frankly, it grabs reader's attention. Well, Belkin grabbed my attention with the Powerline AV+ Networking Adapters. This is an "over your existing power lines" solution to the problem of connecting your home theater to your router. Sure, more and more devices are coming with wireless connection but there are plenty that will either perform better hardwired or won't perform at all without one. The big selling point for me was that the Powerline AV+ not only connects your home theater to your office, but acts as a hub so that you can connect three devices to one port router! I've quickly run out of ports on my router and have been manually switching cables for some time. This sounded like the perfect solution. Now to see if it worked.

Belkin Powerline AV+ Build Quality and Setup

One thing that companies often try to do is to fool reviewers with fancy packaging, free t-shirts, CDs full of marketing about how great their product is, and the like. Of course that stuff doesn't work on us here at Audioholics but that doesn't stop the marketing drones from trying. Personally, I say, "Thanks for the t-shirt," and "Your product got a 1," without breaking a sweat. Now if it was a gold-plated t-shirt…

But I digress.

Belkin's Powerline AV+ system arrived in a brown box with some of those air bags that are so common these days. According to the Internet, it should have arrived with two Powerline Networking Adapters, two Ethernet cables, two power cords, two wall plug adapters, quick installation guide, and CD with installation software and user's manual. What I got was two Powerline Networking Adapters, one Ethernet cable, one power cord, two wall plug adapters, no quick installation guide, and no CD with installation software and user's manual. Instead, I got a small pamphlet with a few instructions and a printout of the press release from Belkin's website. I thought, "Wow, this isn't starting off well." A little research showed that the Powerline Networking Adapters are new, very new. So new that they are still on preorder from Amazon as of this writing. My guess is that the official packaging (which is sure to be very nice) isn't ready yet.

Ignoring the condition of the product when it left the factory, the network adapters are extremely attractive with a high gloss black finish, a few lights and symbols on the face, and an encryption button on the side. The lights are very unobtrusive and faint. I consider this a plus as the last thing I need is yet another AV device shining blue light in my room. On one side there is a button and the other is the Ethernet port or ports. The back has a plate that can be interchanged with either a power cord or flush mount (so that it can be used like a wall wart). When flush mounted, the tongs grip tight enough to keep the up to three cables from pulling it out of the wall though I wouldn't have minded a bit more grip.

Set-Up

I'm a bit confused by the listing on the website for an installation CD and the compatibility with only Windows 2000, XP or Vista 32-bit. I can see no reason why the setup wouldn't work with any computer type. As it is, I only have Window XP available and didn't need to install anything to get the system to work.

There is a very simple setup procedure with the Powerline AV+ product. Plug in the multiplug hub in your home theater and the adaptor near your router. Press the encryption button (it has a padlock icon on it) on the adaptor and hold it for 10 seconds. This resets the 128-bit AES link encryption password. Next, press that same button for more than 0.5 but less than 3 seconds. Last, get to the hub within two minutes and press that button for .5 to 3 seconds. When the connection light turns blue, you're good to go. If you want to add another hub into your system just repeat the last two steps but with the initial adaptor and new hub. According to Belkin the system will support up to 16 total adaptors but they don't sell single adaptors. Ebay maybe? If you run into any major problems you can do a factory reset by pressing a recessed button on the side with the encryption button with a sharp pointed object. You'll have to hold it down for about a second. From there, you'll need to do the entire setup process over again. The review unit never "crashed" (even after days of testing) so this seems to be a precautionary measure only.

On both units there is a Powerline light. When it is blinking it means that the units are transmitting or receiving data. The color of the light, which is a little hard to read, will indicate the data transfer rate. Green means excellent with greater then 20Mbps transfer rate, yellow equates to normal with 10–20Mbps, and red means low with 0–10Mbps. The light is supposed to shut off if there is no activity. Apparently, one or both of my devices is constantly accessing the network as it never shut off for me. The only real problem I had with Powerline AV+ was that the Powerline light was really hard to read. It was supposed to be green, yellow, or red but it always looked amber or pink to me. Was that a combination of red and yellow? Was that supposed to be yellow or red? At times I would catch half the light looking very blue. Basically, I never really knew what the connection speed was. Also, there is no indication if the connection speed is based on the speed between the two Belkin units or if it is the speed at which you are connected to the Internet (which would be based on your service provider's speed). I contacted Belkin and they informed me that it was the former (which is what I would have preferred). This could be made more clear in the manual.

One thing to remember is that the Powerline AV+ is rated for up to 200Mbps and 300 meters across in-wall wires. That 200Mbps is most likely in a lab with something closer to 80Mbps more likely to be the max in your home (fast enough for most anyone). You may be tempted to think that you are only sending the signal from one room to another. Not so. Your rooms may be adjacent but if they are on different circuits, the signal has to travel all the way back to your junction box before it can get to that second outlet only five physical feet away. The second thing to consider is that you don't want to plug these things into a surge protector. If you are anything like me, this will make you nervous. Unlike many products that just tell you not to use surge protectors, Belkin actually specifies that they have built in protection circuitry.

Belkin Powerline AV+ Use and Conclusion

After I went through the initial setup, it was only a matter of plugging in a few devices and letting them go. I hooked it up in my home theater and connected up the Squeezebox Duet and Xbox 360. This leaves one port free for that Profile 2.0 Blu-ray player when I finally get one. To test connection speed, I went to one of those "how fast is my Internet connection" websites and ran a few tests. I connected up directly to my router and through the Belkin. Both speeds were the same. The Squeezebox ran smoothly without any breaks or problems. The real test was online gaming as that is where lag can really kill your experience.

One thing about doing a review of any product is paying attention. I know that sounds silly but think about it. If you've been listening to the same music without really paying attention and then suddenly someone asks you to really listen to a song, you begin to notice things you "never heard before." This is one of the ways the audiophile brigade tricks listeners into thinking that their silver wires or cable elevators are making a difference. The same effect can come into play with a review of something like the Belkin Powerline AV+. I've been playing games like Army of Two and Gears of War online for a long time. Suddenly, I get online with Clint DeBoer (Editor in Chief of Audioholics) and every little hiccup is the Belkin's fault. So, taking all that into account, I can say that with the Belkin my gaming experience was identical to wiring my Xbox 360 directly to my router.

My last test was to break the rules. You know you are out there - the people that don't buy that "don't plug it into a surge protector" type. You don't believe Belkin and you're going to do it anyway. Well, I have numerous surge protectors around the house plus an APC H10 power conditioner/regulator/surge protector. I plugged the Belkin Powerline AV+ into a surge protector, into the APC, and into a surge protector which I then plugged into the APC (something you are also not supposed to do). In all cases the Belkin retained connection. Again, you don't need to do this and according to Belkin you shouldn't. This also doesn't mean that it will work with your specific surge protector.

Conclusion

Sure, there are those that will talk about how you can set up another router as a wireless access point and negate the need for a product like this, but my experience has been that you need quite a bit of technical savvy to pull that off. Even when you do get it working, you are only a hiccup away from having to do the whole thing over again. Running wires would also be cheaper but sometimes it really isn't an option. In my theater, my equipment is on an exterior wall. My roof is at a very shallow angle which means that the closest I could get a wire is about five feet from the back wall on the side walls. With two outlets on that back wall, I would never have had to deal with trying to hide wires running along the floor just so I'd have a wired connection for all the devices that need it.

If you can't tell that I like this product, English must be your second language. Belkin has hit the ball out of the park with the Powerline AV+. The Belkin Powerline AV+ is everything I like in a product - simple to integrate, beautiful to look at, and well worth the price. As more and more devices (including Netflix enabled Blu-ray players, video game systems, displays and AV receivers with network ability and more) are requiring access to your router, I predict the Powerline AV+ will soon become a staple in many a living room.

Belkin Powerline AV+ Networking Adapters

$179.99

Belkin International, Inc.
501 W. Walnut Street
Compton, CA 90220

1 800 2 BELKIN
1.800.223.5546 

www.belkin.com

About Belkin
Belkin offers a diverse product mix that provides people with seamless electronics integration in their homes, cars, and on the go. Founded in California in 1983, Belkin is a privately held company and the recognized leader in connectivity solutions, in addition to accessories for MP3 devices, computers, and more. We provide extensive solutions for networking, home theater—with our PureAV® line of cables, power, and digital wireless accessories—and many more categories. You can view and purchase them at www.belkin.com, as well as through a network of major distributors, resellers, and superstores.

Belkin’s phenomenal growth has led to our expanding global presence. In addition to corporate headquarters in Los Angeles, we now have offices throughout Europe—in the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and Germany, among others—and in the Asia Pacific region, including Australia, Shanghai, and our regional headquarters in Hong Kong.

The Score Card

The scoring below is based on each piece of equipment doing the duty it is designed for. The numbers are weighed heavily with respect to the individual cost of each unit, thus giving a rating roughly equal to:

Performance × Price Factor/Value = Rating

Audioholics.com note: The ratings indicated below are based on subjective listening and objective testing of the product in question. The rating scale is based on performance/value ratio. If you notice better performing products in future reviews that have lower numbers in certain areas, be aware that the value factor is most likely the culprit. Other Audioholics reviewers may rate products solely based on performance, and each reviewer has his/her own system for ratings.

Audioholics Rating Scale

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Metric	Rating
Build Quality
Ergonomics & Usability
Ease of Setup/Programming/Integration
Features
Performance
Value