Devolo dLAN 500 AV Wireless+ review

The Devolo dLAN 500 AV Wireless+ HomePlug starter kit is comprised of two HomePlugs, one of which acts as wireless access point so that wireless devices such as tablets, laptops and smartphones can connect to your wider network. This makes this powerline kit potentially ideal if you have trouble connecting to your wireless router in certain parts of your home or office, or if you want to provide Wi-Fi access to your network on another storey of your house or building.

One HomePlug is a Devolo dLAN 500 AVplus adaptor that you should connect to your router via its single Fast Ethernet port. Although it might seem a little basic, this HomePlug is designed for quick transfer of data, particularly audio and visual media, and is only intended for connecting your other HomePlug to your router, the other HomePlug being the eponymous dLAN 500 AV Wireless+.

This HomePlug is a little more exciting, as not only does it have a built-in Wi-Fi access point, it also has three Fast Ethernet ports. Better still, it can broadcast on the 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands, but not simultaneously, which is a slight shame but won’t be an issue for the majority of users.

Both HomePlugs are rather large, but they’re designed so that they protrude upwards, which is an absolute god-send for British users. Many HomePlugs are designed to protrude downwards from the mains socket into which they’re inserted, which means it can be difficult to insert them if your sockets are located just above your skirting boards or work surface. This also means that your Ethernet cables are located on top of the HomePlugs, and some users may think this looks messy, but we prefer this because it’s easier to unclip and insert your cables.

Conveniently, both HomePlugs also have brightly illuminated and clearly visible icons detailing the current status of the HomePlug, such as a current connection, the strength of that connection and whether or not data is being transmitted. In the case of the dLAN 500 AV Wireless+, there’s also a Wi-Fi icon that changes colour to let you know if it’s broadcasting on the 2.4Ghz or 5GHz band.

WIRELESS WONDER

Connecting to the dLAN 500 AV Wireless+ is as simple as choosing its broadcast name from your device’s SSID list. At first, the device is secured using a default password, but you can change that after you’ve logged in or by connecting a laptop or PC to it via Ethernet and accessing its configuration page from there.

Sadly, its Wi-Fi performance wasn’t as good as we’d hoped, but it’s important to remember that the dLAN 500 AV Wireless+ is a HomePlug with a built-in Wi-Fi adaptor, not a top-of-the-range wireless router. We connected to it on the 2.4GHz band using our laptop’s built-in Centrino Wi-Fi adaptor and achieved an average data rate of 28.5Mbit/s at one metre, 7.9Mbit/s at 10 metres and 2.14 at 25 metres. These aren’t fantastic speeds, especially around the 10 metre mark, but it should be enough to provide Wi-Fi coverage over a bedroom or two.

The speeds certainly improved when we switched to the 5GHz band, with the dLAN 500 AV Wireless+ moving data at an average rate of 58.6Mbit/s at one metre, 484.4Mbit/s at 10 metres and 9.5Mbit/s at 25 metres. This is much better, and should be enough to provide network access over much of the top floor of a 3-bed suburban semi-detached. The only concern is that a lot of users won’t have a device capable of connecting to it on the 5GHz band, or if their devices do have the necessary Wi-Fi adaptors they may not know that they can connect to it this way.

To test its HomePlug Performance, we connected to it the dLAN 500 AV Wireless+ via Ethernet at a distance of just under 10 metres from the other HomePlug and saw an average data rate of 72Mbit/s. This is still pretty quick, and much quicker than we’d expect from the average router at this distance. At one metre, we saw average transfer speeds of 93.2Mbit/s, which is as fast as you’ll get over a Fast Ethernet connection.

We also connected it to a PlayStation 3 and a laptop via Ethernet and a third-generation iPad via Wi-Fi to see how it would cope when more than device was demanding data. We streamed high bit-rate 1080p video to the PS3, 720p footage to the laptop and a standard definition music video to the iPad, and were happy to see that all three videos played smoothly, so it shouldn’t have any problems serving the needs of its users.

DLAN COCKPIT

You can configure the dLAN 500 AV Wireless+ using your PC or dLAN Cockpit, which is a free app for iOS and Android devices. Although we’ve used dLAN Cockpit before, we were disappointed by its slothful response to our commands and the way it would freeze in the middle of something. It’s been updated since then and is now quicker and more responsive. You can use it to configure the passwords used to access your HomePlug network, specify the wireless channel and set the Wi-Fi password, among many other options. The app looks good and its menus are well organised.

We like the Devolo dLAN 500 AV Wireless+. It’s a great way of livening up deadspots and providing your smart TV or home cinema system with quick Ethernet access, but we were a little disappointed with its performance on the 2.4GHz band. Of course, you could always use a standard HomePlug and connect that to a powerful router in order to liven up your wireless deadspots, but that adds extra cost and complexity. If this solution appeals to you, then try the Devolo dLAN 500 AV Wireless+.