INTRODUCTION

   Although the majority of people out there seem to choose Wi-Fi as the primary way to share their internet connection there are some people who prefer wired connections for a number of rather obvious reasons (speed, security being the two most important ones). Powerline adapters were introduced in the market several years ago to help those who prefer wired connections save both time and effort by transferring the signal via the structures electrical wiring. The only downside with this technology is that in very old houses or in houses that have three-phase electrical wirings speed may get very low and in some rare cases they may not work at all. That being said most people i know always wanted powerline adapters to have one significant feature which is to broadcast the signal from the secondary adapter using Wi-Fi (quite useful for smartphones and tablets) and even though it took some time for manufacturers to do so there are such solutions available in the market as we speak. Today we will be taking a look at one such solution and more specifically the dLAN 500 AV Wireless+ Starter Kit by Devolo.

   devolo AG is the leading European company on the market in Powerline communication solutions. The company's core product is dLAN®, a technology that allows flexible networks via existing wiring like electrical and coaxial lines. Powerline solutions are employed in private households as well as commercial environments and they lead the way in future-oriented energy data distribution and home automation. devolo invests its development resources into improving dLAN® technology through its own patented solutions. The globally operating company has been the world market leader in the Powerline segment since 2009. Numerous top-product test reviews and distinctions, not to mention over 16 million shipped adapters, substantiate devolo's success. Through sustainable market practices, devolo upholds its responsibility to customers, employees and the environment.

   The new dLAN 500 AV Wireless+ adapter is pretty much an combination of the dLAN 500 AV+ adapter which we had the chance to test a while back with two internal Wi-Fi antennas which in turn can broadcast the received signal to 802.11 a/b/g/n compatible devices (2.4Ghz/5GHz) at the push of a button. Now as many of you know we don't really use Wi-Fi that much but there have been many times when we've had visitors who wanted to access the internet via their smartphones and tablets so this is a feature that can be very useful especially for people who want to turn Wi-Fi on and off at will. The dLAN 500 AV Wireless+ also features a power socket and offers 128 Bit AES encryption for the signal along with many different security options (WPE/WPA/WPA2/WPS PIN/WPS PBC). Our only concern is that since speed between two powerline adapters is reduced (always compared to the initial received by the modem/router) we don't know how powerful/fast the wireless signal can be so without further delay let's find out.