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Innoband HomePlug AV Wireless N Starter Kit Review
The Good: Bridges Ethernet devices and extends Wi-Fi coverage using *existing power lines*. Performance is exceptional.
The Bad: Setup is less than straightforward. Documentation is limited.
The Ugly: The 210P-I1 access point's antenna is poorly designed and fragile.
I purchased this product because Wi-Fi reception in my kitchen (which has a lot of stainless steel cabinets and is far away from our Linksys WRT54G Wireless-G Router) is poor.
Before setting up the Innoband HomePlug Kit, laptop reception in the kitchen was bad but tolerable. However, a Logitech Squeezebox Duet Wi-Fi Internet Radio we purchased recently was unusable. We had to walk out of the kitchen to use the Squeezebox Controller, and the Receiver in the kitchen simply couldn't keep up with the streaming audio. Synching with our older Squeezebox was impossible because both players would cut out for seconds at a time.
When I purchased the HomePlug Kit, I was worried that ethernet over power lines simply wouldn't work or would perform so poorly that it wouldn't be useful. I was also concerned that the 210P-I1 access point would be annoying to configure or incompatible with my 802.11g devices. Finally, I was taking a chance by buying an unreviewed product from a company that I didn't recognize.
But the HomePlug Kit does just what it is advertised to do. Namely, it bridges Ethernet devices and extends wireless coverage over existing power lines. And it does so with exceptional performance--better, it feels like, than my existing wireless network. In fact, after the 210P-I1 access point had been running for a few minutes, all 5 of the devices that had been using my router's Wi-Fi selected the 210P-I1--automatically.
My one major complaint about the HomePlug Kit is the 210P-I1 access point's fragile antenna, which I managed to snap within moments of removing the device from its packaging. The break is only cosmetic (the wiring is intact even though its housing was comepletely separated from the unit) so I decided to use some super glue rather than go through the hassle of a return. But I hope Innoband will address this design flaw in future revisions of the product.
My second, lesser complaint is that although Innoband effectively promises a plug-and-play configuration, the experience is in truth less straightforward. The main issue I found is that the 210P-I1 access point was not configured to work with my home network (it was using a different subnet and wireless network). Which isn't really that surprising, but I had to exercise some trial-and-error in order to get everything configured as desired.
In order to integrate the 210P-I1 with my home network, I had to:
1. Connect my laptop via the supplied Ethernet cable to the 210P-I1.
2. Configure my laptop for the same subnet as the 210P-I1:
IP Address: 192.168.1.1
Subnet Mask: 255.255.255.0
Gateway: 192.168.1.210
3. Connect a web browser to http://192.168.1.210.
4. Reconfigure the 210P-I1 with an IP address on my home network.
A. Click "Lan Setting" [sic]
B. Enter an IP address from my home network (e.g., 192.168.0.NNN for addresses ranging from 192.168.0.0 to 192.168.0.255)*
C. Click "Apply"
* Your specific configuration may vary.
5. Reconfigure my laptop for my home network's subnet. Generally this just means using DHCP, but you can use a static configuration like:
IP Address: 192.168.0.NNN
Subnet Mask: 255.255.255.0
Gateway: 192.168.0.XXX
6. Connect a web browser to http://192.168.0.NNN (i.e., the IP address configured in step #4).
7. Reconfigure the 210P-I1's SSID to match my router's existing SSID.
A. Click "Wireless Settings"
B. Change "Network Name(SSID)" [sic] from "innoband" to "mywifi".
C. Click "Apply"
8. Ensure that my router's wireless channel and the 210P-I1's do *not* overlap.
A. Channels 1, 6, and 11 do not overlap
B. The 210P-I1 access point is already configured to use channel 6
C. I reconfigured my router to use channel 11
9. Ensure that my router uses the same encryption and secret as the 210P-I1.
A. Click "Wireless Settings"
B. Click "Security"
C. Choose the "Security Mode" (WEP or WAP) that matches my router's
D. Enter the WEP key or WAP pass phrase that matches my router's
E. Click "Apply"
Admittedly that's a lot of configuration (and the documentation doesn't cover it adequately), but in the end the Innoband HomePlug Kit does exactly what I need it to do. Which is more than I can say for a lot of products I come across.
I plan on ordering another 200P-I1 (the wired device) to bridge more A/V devices like the Samsung BD-P1600 1080p Blu-ray Disc Player.
p.s., Innoband included a black knit watch cap with the HomePlug Kit they sent me. This was a nice gesture (and not a bad cap either).
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