Netgear XAVB5201 500Mbps Powerline Adaptor Review

For a number of years, I’ve had my reservations over the concept of powerline adaptors and this has been a point that I’ve stood against since. This lack of faith was mainly set by a number of different kits that either resulted in very poor throughput (even when plugged in next to each other) or a total lack of connectivity. In a similar light, the concept of transmitting data across a mains cable seems to go against the grain of networking, where running high voltage power cables next to data cables should be avoided to reduce interference and data loss.

As the years have gone on and technology has improved vastly, powerline technology has also come a long way. To see if my woes about powerline adaptors can be set aside and a trust in the technology rebuilt, I’ve been invited to try out one of Netgear’s latest kits, namely the XAVB5201.

For those that are new to the powerline concept, the technology simply uses the existing mains wiring in any building to link together two remote areas that are either too far away to connect by a network cable directly or in a new modern twist, it removes the need to trail cables across the house. There is the argument that there is WiFi for this, but in certain instances, WiFi is not an option.