Amazing little things. Loved the first pair so much I bought TP-LINK Adapter Starter Kit another pair! I decided to get the 500mbps instead of the ever-so-slightly cheaper 200mbps and I don’t think there would be much difference in performance but I like to future-proof since we’ve just had fibre optic installed (can handle our 30mbps connection no problem)
TP-LINK Adapter Starter Kit Review
TP-LINK PA411KIT AV500 500 Mbps Powerline Adapter Starter Kit- Twin Pack
REMEMBER: 500mbps doesn’t mean 500megabytes per second, it means 500megabits per second.
(Google it if you want to find out more but you divide the mbps by 8 to give you megabytes value)
Quite easy to setup, little instruction manual explains everything pretty simply.
MY ONLY WORD OF WARNING
To pair the connectors up in a network you need to press the button for a specific length of time, and wow it has to be exact. If you’re not getting the power light blinking slowly its not looking for anything to pair BUT keep trying! Try and press it for a bit longer perhaps – until you get the power light to flash – then the same on the other plug. Adding the second pair was easy, do them one at a time – Trigger it to begin pairing, find an existing one and tell that to pair, wait a minute or two for them to get acquainted, then same for the forth.
EQUIPMENT TESTED ON:
So far tested successfully on: NAS (Network Attached Storage) Drive – NSA310 Zyxel to be exact Sony Playstation 3 Numerous Desktop PCs and Laptops – Win 7, Vista. Sky Anytime box to give Anytime+ HD (niiiiiiice) Additional switches – so you’d like to split the connection further once its back out the wall, pick up a cheap ethernet switch and you’re sorted. Theres a relatively cheap TP Link Switch on the market for around £13-£15 that Im sure would do the trick but I’m using an Edimax I had spare. (P.S. Might help if it states its a Gigabit switch too, just in case)
5 stars
DO I HAVE TO PLUG THEM DIRECTLY INTO THE WALL?
Not always. They word fine on a NON-SURGED extension lead, just like those cheap 4/5 plugged ones from IKEA, I’ve found they dont always have to be plugged into the wall socket – especially since they can be a bit wide. Thats also worth noting for extension leads. If you’ve got a 4 socket extension, you may struggle to fit something next to the Adapter. For surged extension leads the speed can drop off. Would you notice in browsing the web? Not sure – but if you do it, try to use non-surge if you’re desperate for additional ports.
DOES IT COME WITH CABLES?
Yes, two yellow Cat 5e cables which is a nice extra – it would have been a pain to hunt around for spare cables.
DOES IT PLAY HD MEDIA?
On our house yes it does. Successfully streaming 10GB+ High Definition movies from bottom floor to the attic. Transfer speed tops around 8megabytes a second which is excellent (thats not the same as 8mbps remember
We gave the TP-LINK Adapter Starter Kit 
