With so many devices connecting to the Internet these days we like to see products like Powerline Ethernet adapters come to market. In general the technology has improved vastly since our first review back in 2006. At that time we reviewed a product that was rated at 85Mbps and we were lucky if we got 10 Mbps. So imagine our excitement when we heard about the Gigabit Adapter from Belkin (Model # F5D4076).
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Belkin Gigabit Powerline Ethernet Adapter (MSRP $149.99)
With so many devices connecting to the Internet these days we like to see products like Powerline Ethernet adapters come to market. In general the technology has improved vastly since our first review back in 2006. At that time we reviewed a product that was rated at 85Mbps and we were lucky if we got 10 Mbps. More recently we reviewed the HomeNet Powerline Adapter (Podcast 358 Audio Only) which was rated at 200Mbps. The HomeNet was actually pretty close to the 85Mbps that the first product was rated at. So imagine our excitement when we heard about the Gigabit Adapter from Belkin (Model # F5D4076). Unfortunately our excitement ended shortly after we took the adapters out of the box.
Setup:
This was easy enough. Like the HomeNet, you plug one adapter into the wall near your router and then connect it to the router via the supplied Ethernet cable. Then you plug the other adapter into any outlet in your home and you are ready to go. Our particular pair of adapters did not find each other out of the box. We were forced to do a reset of the devices. Once they were reset the adapters found each other without any further intervention. You can also lock the devices to each other with a simple procedure that is described in the quick start guide. Adding additional adapters is as easy as plugging it into a wall socket.
Performance:
The device says its Gigabit but we did not expect to reach anywhere near that level of throughput. For comparison sake we have a hard wired Gigabit network and we did some tests. We copied 12.61GB of movie files from our movie server to another computer on the network. The process yielded a data rate of 173Mbps. That's about 1.3 GB per minute. So even in the hard wired case actual throughput was not near the rated speed of a Gigabit network.
Next up was to copy the same files via 802.11n. This test took three times longer with a data rate of 57Mbps. This data rate was also lower than than the theoretical 802.11n rate of 300Mbps.
Based on the previous two tests we were hoping for data rates somewhere between the two. Unfortunately we got something less than 802.11g. In actuality we gave up on the copying of the files two hours into the process. We then wanted to see if it could pull a DVD off of the server without stuttering. To achieve this feet the adapter would have had to support a data rate of up to 10Mbps. Here the adapter failed again. We couldn't play a movie without stuttering every few seconds. There is an LED indicator that tells you how fast the connection is. In our case it always showed the slowest connection speed possible. We have pretty clean power too.
We tried different outlets but still no luck. In contrast the HomeNet PowerLine adapters supported HD, DVD, and Music streams simultaneously. Its unfortunate too. Belkin usually makes great gear.
Recommendation:
If you can't run Ethernet cables to your gear PowerLine may be a solution. You may want to give the Belkin Gigabit Adapter a try. It may work better for you. Just buy them from a place that will take them back in case your results match ours.
Download Episode #392
Sep 25
Reader Comments (24)
Would love to see you guys give one of the Moca solutions a try - like Netgears MCAB1001. I'm looking at that right now for some internet streaming to my tv
What is the quality of the Insteaon switches? I used to have X10 switches in my previous house and the toggle swtiches were low quality and felt mushy. I'vw looked at the Insteon switches when they first came out but I haven't bought any because I'm worried about the quality.
Hi Glenn,
They are well built and so far every command has been executed.
Ara
Guys,
I'd be interested in hearing more about the Insteon products. I know you said you'd do a review after you've lived with the system for a bit. A group buy kit would be interesting. Some info on installation costs. Quiality and reliability. How is it integrated with other things? Can they be eaily integrated with a universal remote, for example?
Thanks for another great show guys!
Chris
Ara was rather off in his comments about plasma displays. A modern 50" plasma does not use anywhere close to an average of 600 Watts. My older 50" Samsung plasma averages about 300 Watts and newer plasmas are even more efficient than that! My 60" Kuro uses about 400 Watts on average.
The 600 Watt figure is a lot like the spec that says that your receiver uses 900 Watts. It's a "peak" figure. Basically, it's the maximum amount of power that the device might draw when it is "working hardest". But with regular program material, it will not use that "peak" amount of power.
That said, LED backlit LCDs certainly "sip" power and use the least amount of electricity. But regular CCFL backlit LCDs often use just as much power (if not more) than similarly sized plasmas because their backlight is on all the time. Calibration also makes a huge difference. In "Dynamic" mode, a plasma could easily use several hundred Watts more vs. a calibrated picture mode.
On a different point - plasmas do all use glass screens, which means that they have some inherent reflectiveness. But the Kuro plasmas have a very effective anti-reflective glass treatment and Panasonic's plasmas have a pretty good anti-reflective coating as well. Sony's LCDs and many LG LCDs offer a matte, non-reflective screen, but virtually all of Samsung's LCDs use a very glossy screen that is far more reflective than a Kuro or Panasonic plasma!
My point is this: Ara, do not dismiss all plasmas simply because of misconceptions about power usage and reflective screen surfaces. Particularly when it comes to 50" and greater screen sizes, plasmas offer better picture quality and lower prices. And while they might use more power than a LED backlit LCD, they cost so much less that you would have to use that LED display for many, many years before you would make up the difference in energy cost savings. Furthermore, almost all of the LED backlit LCDs make use of very glossy screens, making a good plasma even more attractive!
So Ara, go for picture quality! Go for the lower cost per square inch. Go for plasma! :D
Hi Rob,
Thanks for the info. And you are correct about power usage. We'll talk a bit more about this on the next show.
Thanks for the feedback!
Ara
I was surprised you didn't mention that twitter also has RSS feeds.
And my 2 cents on the Plasma issue:
Even if you would end up paying less because a plasma is so much cheaper compared to an LED-backlit LCD of the same size that the energy savings don't translate into sufficient financial savings, I'd still avoid any kind of energy hogs.
After all, it's not just about your wallet, it's also about the environment.
So until Plasma is really on par with the competition as far as power consumption goes, it is simply no alternative for me.
Dave, if your number one priority is using as little electricity as possible, then you're certainly correct! Plasmas will never use as little as LED edge-lit LCDs.
But if your number one priority is the environment, then it isn't necessarily so cut and dry. A modern 46" plasma is going to use about 280 Watts/hour. A 46" LED edge-lit LCD will use about 90 Watts/hour. If you're watching an average of 5 hours each and every day, that's about 1 kilowatt more per day with the plasma. So, in terms of just the cost to you, if we take an average US rate of $0.15 per kilowatt.hour, the LED edge-lit LCD saves you about $55 per year. Over 5 years, you'd save about $275 in electricity costs.
So let's say it's a Panasonic TC-P46G10 vs. a Samsung UN46B7000. Just going by the price on Amazon, it's about a $1000 difference! Even over a 5 year span, the Panasonic plasma costs you $725 less. To be fair, let's assume that electricity prices will rise 5% every year. You'd still be spending about $695 less on the plasma all told!
If you take that $695 difference, you could use those funds to lessen your environmental impact in other ways. Improving the insulation in your home, using it as funds for public transportation or ride sharing so that you can leave the car at home, paying into a carbon capture programme, etc. All I'm saying is that using 1 kilowatt of extra electricity per day on your plasma doesn't necessarily have as much of a negative environmental impact as other things in your life that could be altered. If you use the money you save by buying a plasma rather than an LED edge-lit LCD - just in terms of retail cost - to help the environment in other ways, I think it's entirely possible to offset the extra electricity that is used :)
By the way, I didn't realize how high electricity costs are in the US! Here in BC, Canada, almost all of our power for our major urban area (the area around Vancouver) comes from our hydro-electric dam. We're only paying $0.06 (actually, a few fractions of a penny less) per kilowatt.hour. So I guess that's why I don't worry so much about my "energy hog" Kuro since my monthly electricity bill doesn't even hit $20 - even after all of our additional transit levy, regional levy and tax charges :)
Just thought I'd mention that I found your PG-13 discussion hilarious. Perhaps it was because I was listening at 5am on my way to work, but I found it to be an excellent analogy. :-)
I, too, would like to hear more about the Insteon products and where is the best source of information. A custom install is just not for me. I am a tinkerer and a custom installation is just not what I am looking for. It's not that I would not acknowledge the value of what the dealer/installer provides, but as soon as it is turned over, I would want to change it. would love to have a whole-house system, but it will be built piecemeal as I learn and add. But where and how to get started?
Tom in Huntsville, AL
I'm glad that you guys are looking into reviewing home automation like Insteon. I'm wiring my home theater right now and am looking at lighting controls by Control4, Crestron (Prodigy), and Grafik Eye... all of which are rather pricey. I'd prefer to take the difference and upgrade my projector, receiver or speakers. I understand your plate is full for the next month, so I'll hold off on completing the wiring until I hear what you have to say!
Thanks!
The sad thing is that Insteon isn't available in South Africa. Their products are amazing! I would love to replace all my plugs with wire-in remote control outlets and all my lightswitches with their dimmers and switches.
Can anybody recommend an alternative product that I can investgiate its availability in SA?
About the plasma issue, the plasma I'm planning on getting is the Samsung PS50B650 50" plasma, which sucks 300w of power. The LED backlit LCDs are DOULBE the price of the plasma, so as much as I'd like to care for the env, affordability and better picture quality than current standard LCDs is more important. If I want to buy a LED backlit LCD, I'd have to take out a second morgage on the house.
You guys are way off on the plasma power consumption.
Ara, the Panasonic G10 series you were looking at uses approximately 281 watts after calibration. Here is the review/proof: http://reviews.cnet.com/flat-panel-tvs/panasonic-tc-p46g10/4505-6482_7-33497900.html
I love plasmas, but one thing I can't get over is their grayish-looking blacks during the daytime.
Aaron K., you and I think alike :)
The lack of black level retention (they greyish blacks that you mentioned) in a well-lit room is pretty much my only gripe with Panasonic's plasmas. That, and the somewhat reflective screen surface. Those to shortcomings were my primary reasons for opting to pay more for a Kuro plasma from Pioneer. The Kuro plasmas have better black level retention and a less reflective screen, but sadly, they are no longer being made :(
If Ara is thinking about buying a new display, he really ought to snap up one of the last remaining Kuro plasmas!
^^^I, of course, meant to type, "Those TWO shortcomings"; not, "Those to shortcomings".
Dang, I wish we could edit comments :p
While listening to the list of "things to hate about HD", one hit home: Watching something in SD that's being transmitted in HD. My local Telemundo 51 (Miami) transmits in HD, but Comcast doesn't carry it in HD. True, I can probably pick it up OTA, but it bugs me to no end since I'm paying Comcast for the HD option. I hope Comcast fixes this soon.
And for the record, I laughed with the PG-13 comment.
OK, to help offset your carbon footprint from using a plasma, just eat less meat. Here is a nice article about the carbon footprint of a cheeseburger.
I've heard this type of statistic about a lot of food. Eat less processed food, and local veggies and you'll cut down your carbon footprint. Then enjoy your plasma! :-D
150 HDTV compared on CNET for power consumption:
http://reviews.cnet.com/green-tech/tv-consumption-chart/
The latest plasmas from Panasonic and Pioneer aren't taking that much power compared to an LCD of the same size. If you compare the annual cost, between 40$ or 60$ a year... who cares?
On my part, I have a Kuro PDP-5020HD and I set it to power saving mode, which is probably not the setting they used for their test, and I couldn't see a differences in the contrast or image quality. Also, the like buzzing sound that plasma screen does dispeared at the setting also.
I am with the rest in I can't wait to hear more about the insteon products and how you have them setup and are using them.
Another point to reference is how insteon would install in a home where pulling additional wiring is more then likely not possible.
Thanks again for the great show.
Aaron
Hey guys,
I am big Home Automater. Have been doing it for several years. I use the Insteon and like it alot with the combination of powerline and wirless. I am curious about who's house tested the Belkin's (I think you mentioned it but I forgot) If it was your house Ara, I am wondering if your new Insteon may have interfered with them, therefore giving them such a horrible review. I am not a Belkin fan, but was suprised how poorly they worked. I do know that things that use the powerline for data do interfere with each other (for example powerline intercoms and X10 is a bad combo).
Even if the powerline ethernet adapters were not tested at your house Ara, this issue would be a good one to bring up with the guys at Smarthome (been buying products from them for a long time).
Love the podcast! Glad to hear you are getting into HA. Its a whole new world of HA controllers and other things now!
v/r
Kevin
Springfield, VA
Hi Kevin,
I tested them at my (Ara's) house. When I got such poor performance I unplugged all the Insteon gear to make sure it wasn't interfering with the powerline equipment. I have since spoken with the people at Belkin and they are sending me new adapters with a firmware upgrade. They claim that this may resolve my issues.
Have a great day!
Ara
Thanks for sharing such nice information on adapter. It inspires me to buy it. I like this site as it is very informative and hence people who will come across this site will gain lot of information about it. I am very glad to being a part of this site. I will visit this site in future too.
I thought it worth mentioning that when testing GigE networks you can run into 2 issues.
1) Normal mechical HDs can't support full GigE.
2) If you don't got PCIe, the normal PCI 33 bus can't support full GigE.
I think powerline adapters are a fantastic devices. They are so easy to set up and allow me to use my PS3 in any room.
With the growth of OD TV, do you think that these devices will become more popular? I see that a lot of people are already using them with the Slingbox. But transfer speeds need to increase to allow Blu-ray distribution.