devolo8289 Magic 1-1200 LAN Add-on Powerline Adapter,Stable Home Working, High Performance(Up to 1200 Mbps for Your Home Network, Internet from Any Wall Socket,Plug and Play, Easy Config),White

I bought these to replace some Netgear 1200 poweplugs that were driving me up the wall. Namely the Netgear models would occasionally drop connection and "go to sleep" now and then. An issue which I just couldn't fix as they didn't have the function to turn of this power saving feature.Anyway concerning the Devolo Magic 2-4000. What can I say... a bit like a well oiled machine they've not missed a beat in 2 months (and counting).The install software wasn't "Apple level" friendly but after a few clicks and attempts I managed to set them up to my preferences with no issue (turned off power saver mode), and once done you don't need to ever really go back. So solid stable connection.. tick!Speed wise in fairness they're not much quicker than the old Netgear 1200 models. I am getting about 140-150MB so quicker yes than the Netgear which did actually give me 120MB. However the Devolo connection is solid and stable so I'm as pleased as punch. So speed... tick!Additionally this model has three outputs on the "output" plug which is incredibly useful in this new age of home working as it means I can have multiple devises plugged in at once without having to resort to the dreaded Wi-Fi or having to purchase additional expansion units. Perfect for a small home office!So in conclusion if you are after a solid stable powerplug solution then they come really recommended, night and day compared to the old Netgear ones I had. No they probably wont give you a 240MB connection and yes they are a tad expensive but I guess you get what you pay for.

I have had a problem for a long time getting a good (or any) signal to my garden studio which is about 25 metres from the house with its own circuit breaker. I had an older dLan system which seemed to work initially but in the last couple of years ceased to function. After a lot of thought, I decided to but this Devolo system and I am so happy that I did. It couldn’t be easier to set up and I have full speed in the studio and everywhere else in the house. Most of the set up was automatic. I just plugged the first box into a wall socket and let it do its thing for a couple of minutes and then connected with an ethernet cable to the router. The other two nodes just needed to be plugged into wall sockets and left for a couple of minutes while they connected. The wifi part was set up just by pressing a button on one of the nodes and the WPS button on the router. Then the nodes can be moved wherever you want in the house and switched on and off as you wish to save power. If it proves to be reliable then it is well worth the money. I should say I am on a maximum internet speed of 70Mps as there are no ultra fast connections in my area. However I am now getting the full 70Mps throughout and even in the studio. In fact the wifi from the nodes provides this speed so I have no need of ethernet cables to the nodes. My PC works exactly as expected at these speeds as does my iPad whether attached to the charger or not. We also have a Surface Pro which behaves a little oddly. Via wifi alone it gets maximum speed but if it is connected to its charger then the speed drops to about a third as it does if the ethernet cable is attached. This has to be something to do with the surface pro as this behaviour does not occur with any other devices.Hope this is of some help.

I have had previous generations of Devolo tech so this was a next step into full mesh home setup. They’ve made the setup of the products and network really simple and effective through the Devolo Home Network app and in 10 minutes, I had both a three and a two unit set paired up to be a home network of five of these really easily. (Devolo setup used to be a nightmare of trial and error, so they’ve really sorted this out).What’s important to know is how Devolo achieves its ‘mesh network’ and that’s through powerline connection and wifi hotspot units that broadcast the powerline connection and mesh it together that way.The unit that connects to the router with ethernet sends the powerline connection to all other mesh units and these each create their own meshed wifi zones.Lots of other companies use wifi rebroadcast to create a mesh network. There are pros and cons to both approaches but I expect the Devolo mesh network to be pretty stable (a speed test on each unit is reporting maximum up and down mbps). From experience with older Devolo units, the odd power demand from an appliance (a boiler starting, for example) can cause brief outage; but only for a second or two).Watching which unit my phone is connecting to as I walk around the house (using the Devolo app) shows it switching efficiently to the nearest unit without dropout of connectivity.Where the system falls short for me is that you have to have a house and grounds where everything is on the same electrical circuit. I needed one of the units to give a wifi mesh zons in our garage (gym space) but because the garage is on its own electrical circuit, the powerline doesn’t work).I had (mistakenly) thought that Devolo Mesh used powerline and/or wifi rebroadcast to give a double layer of network connectivity and so assumed (though to assume makes an ass out of ‘u’ and ‘me!) it would be possible to disable powerline connection to just have that garage unit take a wifi rebroadcast.No such luck - this isn’t possible and so is something to be aware of if having multiple electric circuits in your home/grounds applies to you.My own solution in the end was to add a TP-Link Mesh Extender in the garage gym that is now successfully rebroadcasting wifi from the nearest Devolo unit in the house. Not perfect but working well.My only real negative in the whole Devolo setup was the brief call to Devolo’s customer support number. I explained my want with the garage gym and asked if it were possible to disable the powerline connection on the garage unit to just achieve wifi rebroadcast connection. A German company has a German call centre which is expected and fine but the person didn’t seem to understand the nuance of my query and sort of mansplained me saying ‘powerline is how mesh networks work’.In truth, that’s how Devolo’s mesh networks work and mine works very well thus far but it’s not how all mesh networks work so I felt a bit patronised and ‘told’ rather than helped.On balance though, so far this is a solid and efficient setup that was easy to get going with. (Just note the point about outbuildings and potential of separate circuits).

Solid. Just works. Requirement to plug the connected devices through it is hardly elegant.Gives primary socket problems, particularly an UK issue. Glued one of mine. Continental fittings, less inelegant.Predecessor was always a dance to get them to talk.Worth it sans speed.