Actiontec MegaPlug A/V 200 Mbps Ethernet Adapter
See it at Amazon.com for $108.99Average Customer Rating
(4.5 out of 5)
Amazon Customer Reviews
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(4 out of 5)Much Better Than Wireless
It's nice when something works right out of the box with no problems.
I don't get the 200 Mbps that is claimed but I didn't expect that. Not with a 100 Mb/S network adapter.
I did some simple benchmarks copying files from a Network Attached Storage (NAS) drive to a notebook PC and here are the results:
Copy a 2 GB File from a NAS disk to local disk: 661 Secs = 3.02 MB/S or 30.2 Mb/S.
Copy 814 files (fonts) as above, total of 104 MB / 814 files = ~128KB/File: 135 Secs = 770 KB/S. The slow result is probably because the Windows create file process is slow.
Copy a 125.5 MB File as above: 35 Secs = 3.22 MB/S or 32.2 Mb/S.
Copy a 19.8 MB File: 5 Secs = 3.94 MB/S = 39.4 Mb/S.
The performance might be better with a GigaBit Ethernet adapter but the notebook PC is not equipped with one.
All in all, 30 to 40 Mb/S is just fine with me. And the connection is extremely reliable, unlike wireless. The setup is a snap. No drivers are required. The supplied software just enables data encryption.
I strongly recommend this network device. I have ordered a second pair and plan to turn off my wireless.
Update - 01/08
I now have two pairs of MegaPlugs and no longer use wireless.
The benchmarks I did before were repeated with two PCs with Gigabit Ethernet adapters and files copied from PC to PC instead of using a NAS disk. Here are the results:
Copy a 2 GB File from one PC local disk to a second PC local disk:
310 Secs = 6.45 MB/S or 64.5 Mb/S.
Copy 814 files (fonts) as above, total of 104 MB / 814 files = ~128KB/File: 98 Secs = 1.06 MB/S. The slow result is probably because the Windows create file process is slow. As before, the worst result of the bunch.
Copy a 125.5 MB File as above: 20 Secs = 6.275 MB/S or 62.75 Mb/S.
Copy a 19.8 MB File: 2 Secs = 9.9 MB/S = 99.0 Mb/S.
Again, I didn't get the advertised speed of 200 Mb/S but 60 to 100 Mb/S is very good by my standards. And it deserves repeating - the connection is flawless! Never a hiccup or glitch - wireless rarely achieves that.
Great product. Should be available in a single unit package.
Actiontec MegaPlug A/V 200 Mbps Ethernet Adapter
(4 out of 5)Awesome network solution
I don't normally write reviews - too lazy I guess; but this product rocks! My daughter and son were on our home wireless network with moderate to poor connectivity. Since their poor connectivity really did not affect me, my wife and I are hard wired (Ethernet) into our Linksys Wireless G 802.11g router, I could live with it; if that makes me a bad Dad - so be it. And, frankly they did not know any better, anyway.
Recently, however, we decided to purchase a Tivo3 and an XBOX 360. Wireless just isn't ready for prime time on either of those devices. After a little Google web homework I read a couple of rave reviews and I bought a pair of these Actiontec 200 Mbps plugs on Amazon to test on my daughter's computer. The product comes with two Ethernet cables, two Actiontec Megaplugs and an installation CD. I plugged one Ethernet cable into the last available Ethernet port on my router, plugged the other end into the Actiontec plug and put it into the wall socket. Next - I plugged the second Ethernet cable into the second Actiontec plug, connected the cable to my daughter's computer and plugged the Actiontec product into the wall socket by her computer. I added her to the network using the windows network wizard and she was off to the races. Her connectivity is as good as mine is, now.
Next, I bought another pair of plugs on Amazon. This is where the installation CD comes in: you can have up to sixteen devices plugged into your home's electrical sockets - but - you need to change the default security key (password) on all of the Actiontec Megaplugs to the same key (password). It is essential to do this, because each pair of plugs comes with its own key and a second set of plugs will conflict with the first pair's key; therefore rendering all four plugs inoperative. But, it's a piece of cake to make things work right. After installing the Megaplug AV Configuration Utility onto my laptop from the CD, I plugged the Ethernet cable into my laptop and put the other end into the Magaplug and placed it into the wall socket. Then I ran the Configuration Utility and, one by one, I configured all four plugs with the identical key (password). Next I replaced the plug at my router, my daughter's computer and then added in my son's computer and voila - both kids are cruising the internet at hard wired speeds.
Now, I'm buying another pair for the Tivo3 and the Xbox 360. The only reason that I did not give this product five stars is because it is not possible to buy these plugs one-at-a-time. I'll end up with one unused plug. You have to buy the pair. And I looked for a vendor that sells them that way - no luck. Yet, this product is a great solution without having to tear up the walls and lay tons of Ethernet cable.
(4 out of 5)Very stable/reliable, but max speed drops with distance
So I did my own benchmarking of this product just yesterday. The conclusion overall is that the product is stable, but the 200Mbps is a wildly optimistic speed.
For all my tests, I used one piece of software: Aida32. It runs a point-to-point network speed test, and gives you max, min and average transmission speed. No maximums were more than 15% of the average.
Here are my tests (averages listed):
1) Run at work, 100Mbps rated LAN, going through 3 switches ~ 60Mbps
The rest of the tests were at home (1000Mbps - gigabit - LAN):
2a) PC-to-PC, going through a single router, CAT 6 cables: 590Mbps
2b) PC-to-PC, going through a single router, one CAT5 cable in the mix: 370Mbps
- the rest of the tests didn't show almost any difference between CAT5 and CAT6 cabling -
3a) Actiontec's are on the same extension cord, inches apart - fastest possible setup: 58Mbps
3b) Actiontec's are on the same circuit breaker, outlets 15ft apart: 50Mbps... that's about equivalent to a G wireless router
3c) Actiontec's are on diff. circuit breakers, I estimate about 80ft of wiring between them (my ultimate use scenario): 20Mbps
There were never any powerstrips involved, and I ran two tests for each scenario, each about 10-15 minutes in duration.
I'm still keeping these, but folks, there's a big difference between 200Mbps and 20Mbps.
(3 out of 5)Two caveats to be very wary of
I like the product but beware of the following two caveats:
1) Since the ethernet jack included in the product is 100Mb/s you are never going to achieve the 200Mbs stated speed.
2) It is NOT compatible with other Homeplug products - and this includes Actiontec's own 14Mb/s and 85Mb/s products. I have 4 85Mb/s Actiontec adapters and this product was unable to create a link with them. This problem has been confirmed with Actiontec's support personnel so I'm not sure why they continue to advertise backwards compatibility.
(4 out of 5)Good but not excellent
I bought this one mainly because I want this to link my SageTV extender.
I first tried wireless solution. I have a Zyxel-550 router and use dd-wrt modified Buffalo 125G (setting as bridge client) to connect both. My computer is on the second floor and the TV is on the first floor. The throughput can be from 10Mbps to 20mbps (I tested by using both echeck and copy large files). It is ok for watching some HD video but not for HD TV and besides, it is not very stable.
I then tried Linksys 310N, 150N, D-link DIR-655 and Linksys 350USB. I can get up to 40-50mbps throughtput. But the problem is that it could drop to very low like <10mbps sometime and it is not even as stable as my previous combination. That combination almost never goes below 10mbps but this combination can be like 2-3mbps.
Then I purchased this product. The installing is extremely easy (or simply no need to install). I simply plug one in upstair and connect to the router and plug the other one downstair and connect to my laptop (to test the throughput). The throughput I tested by echeck is 30mbps and is 26mbps when I tested by copying big files. The good news is that it is very stable. With 802.11n or 802.11g Turbo, I sometime get better throughput than this puppy but not always. The best throughput I saw in 11n or 11g turbo can be as high as 60mbps. But can also be as low as 2-3mbps. That is not a big problem for browsing web or downloading files but it is a big problem for video streaming. The throughput of this product, even far below the advertised 200mbps, is very stable. I tested several times, no more no less. It is good for streaming most HD video but still not good enough for extremely high bitrate HD video. But I have been very satisfied with it.
One other problem for it is that it is very bulky. When you plug it into a plug, it takes too much room. If you use a mulitplug, it may take 3 positions.