Solwise Homeplug Ethernet Over Mains

Solwise Homeplug Ethernet Over Mains

With the advent of faster and faster broadband speeds more homes are becoming wireless and sharing this fast internet connection around the house. While wireless may seem the natural answer it comes with some drawbacks which will be only too familiar to most of your reading this review. While WiFi is great at connecting multiple devices it is also a security risk, even when running the latest WPA systems (WEP is pointless now) and also unreliable through lots of walls or in a big house. So when we saw a system that offered the same kind of freedom and didn't need us to rewire the office it had to be worth a go. The system uses Ethernet over mains and often overlooked method of sharing a network connection through structured main wiring. The system on test with us is the Solwise homeplug, you need to buy them as a pair as one connects to your router or firewall as an RJ45 connection and the other box sits connected to your PC or laptop again by RJ45. The principle is simple enough your incoming broadband connection is distributed over the mains system in your home and can reach up to 200 meters and at speeds of up to 14mbps (some units can go to 85mbps) which is plenty for all but the fastest of ADSL connections. It is not operating system specific and will work with any machine or laptop with an RJ45 Ethernet port on it. Power is taken from the mains as both units are already plugged in and there are 3 indicators on each unit to show power. link status and traffic. We unboxed our 2 units to start a simple test, we plugged the first into the same plug board as our Linksys router and connected the supplied RJ45 cable to a spare Ethernet port on the Linksys. The Solwise unit lit up as soon as we plugged it in and needed no pre configuration at all. Next we took the 2nd unit to our main desktop PC and plugged it into a spare socket on the plug board. A word of caution, the Solwise plug is a little chubby and we found it had to be in the end slot as it could not fit between 2 ordinary plugs on the board (a small over sight by Solwise). Once plugged in the link light came on within seconds having picked up the network link and we then disabled the wireless connection on the main PC and forced it to acquire an IP address using the new Ethernet over mains connection. Within seconds we were on and connected at top notch speed and with a high quality of connection too as we tested using demanding application like the latest second life client, we streamed for hours with no interruption to service, something wireless users can only dream of. The Ethernet over mains solution really makes the most of every kbit of broadband connection ensuring a low latency too which gamers will love. Plus with its simplicity it is ideal for linking your playstation or Xbox to broadband without running cables or using wireless adaptors. We did see some small issues and there are two worthy of note that only became apparent after a prolonged test period. Firstly the units get quite hot and therefore you need to be careful that they do not become covered and have sufficient airflow to keep them cool. Second we did get a lock up where both units were connected but no bandwidth was passing, the solution was to reboot both units which takes just a few seconds. This occurred after 10 days continuous use so is probably related to a time period or an event that sometimes happen on the power system. One possible omission which may be of concern of those on a shared power supply is that you cannot password protect or paid the Solwise homeplugs which means that your broadband connection would be available to anyone who can plug into that ring main or phase. Priced at around "20 per plug the Solwise system is easy on the pocket too and far cheaper than a wireless set-up, in fact add in its simple plug and play set-up and it is ideal for helping relative get on the net without all the grief of WPA keys and SSIDS on wireless networks.