Video: TP-Link 2 Port AV600 Powerline Starter kit

If you have problems getting your Wi-Fi to consistently reach all areas of your home or office you will know how frustrating it can be. One solution is a Powerline which uses your existing mains wiring to extend your network around your home. You plug one of the devices into a mains socket next to your router and connect an Ethernet cable from your router to the TP-Link device, and then plug one of the extenders into a mains socket in a room that you want to extend the network into. The TP-Link extender has two network ports that you could plug in a PC, Xbox or any network device plus it also has wifi built it so you connect phones, tablets and laptops to the extender.

To get setup you just plug the devices in and then they work straight out of the box. You can enable 128 bit AES encryption if you like the extra security and you can extend your existing wifi using WPS. You have the option of a guest network and you can control the LED status lights via the browser interface or the tpPLC app.

The kit I have comes with the base unit (TL-PA4010) and two extenders (TL-WPA4220). Plus TP-Link’s AV Powerline kit its compatible with other AV Powerline equipment, I tried it with an old device I had and it worked perfectly without any setup.

The AV600 is rated at 300 Mbps and I found there was no speed reduction when connecting to the internet. Most importantly I didn’t suffer any network drops while on a Skype call which I was driving me mad before! The kit costs £59 from Amazon UK.

In this video I unbox the kit, set it up and see how well it works: