bit-tech published a review of Belkin's Powerline AV Network Adapters

While the actual speeds we experienced were a long way off the 200Mbps quoted by Belkin they're still great results for a power line connection, and while you can theoretically better them with a wireless N network and a gigabit connection is always going to be the fastest solution, here there's none of the hassle of installation, wireless security or signal strength woes.

It really is wonderfully simple to setup “ you just plug it in and you're sorted with a secure and fairly speedy connection to the rest of your network anywhere in your house. The decent network speeds and tiny effect to ping certainly make it an attractive proposition for those looking to play games far from the router or Internet access point without the extra lag of wireless, and it'll also nicely compliment a media centre “ the speeds we experienced are certainly enough for streaming high definition video.

Perhaps the only really off putting thing here is the price - £60 is steep to connect one machine (or room if you pop a switch on the end) to your network via the power lines and the cost of fitting out an entire house with them is even worse. There's also the fact that every machine connected to the network via the power lines will be sharing the same bandwidth, which if you've got multiple machines connected could soon cause a problem.

However, if you're looking for an alternative to the pricey Xbox 360 Wi-Fi adapter or want a fast and reliable connection for your media centre, this kit is perfect, and goes a long way towards proving that power line networking can not only work, but work well.

Belkin's Powerline AV Network Adapters Review