Devolo dLan 500 Wi-Fi Network Kit

Suffering from Wi-Fi blackspots? We review a new kit designed to wipe-out Wi-Fi woes

HomePlugs use the electrical cables in your walls to transfer data, which makes them a tidy and effective way to network your house. And unlike Wi-Fi, they aren’t affected by solid walls and doors. But if you still need Wi-Fi, you’ll need more than traditional HomePlugs with Ethernet connections.

HomePlugs use the electrical cables in your walls to transfer data

Previous kits that bridge this gap between HomePlug and Wi-Fi usually provide one Wi-Fi adapter and a bunch of regular HomePlugs. The Devolo dLan 500 Wi-Fi Network Kit takes a different approach, comprising just one normal HomePlug and two Wi-Fi adapters (also sold separately), so you can get a great Wi-Fi signal throughout your house.

The standard HomePlug in the kit is a Duo adapter, which has two Ethernet ports. By connecting this to your router and plugging it into a wall socket, you create the base connection that all the other HomePlugs will use to access your broadband. You then plug the other HomePlugs wherever your Wi-Fi needs a boost, making a note of the Wi-Fi password that’s printed on the back. Once the first one is set up, you can press the Wi-Fi buttons on additional units to use the same password.

The standard HomePlug in the kit is a Duo adapter, which has two Ethernet ports

We tested the HomePlugs using a network-speed-testing tool called Netstress Networking Benchmarking Tool from Nuts About Nets (nutsaboutnets.com). We ran the software on two PCs, one attached to the router and the other moving around the house, to compare the performance when connected to the existing Wi-Fi network with the network speed using the HomePlug Wi-Fi adapters.

At close range, on the same storey and with a single internal wall between the PCs, the HomePlugs didn’t offer any improvement over your standard Wi-Fi connection: the Wi-Fi managed 24Mbps and the HomePlugs only reached 21Mbps.

The HomePlugs in this kit are smaller and cheaper than Devolo’s top-of-the-range models, and offer good value for money

However, as we moved further away from the router, the benefits became more apparent. At a distance of two rooms, the Wi-Fi dropped to 18Mbps, while the HomePlugs almost maintained their full speed at 20Mbps. At the furthest distance, our Wi-Fi dropped to 17Mbps, while the HomePlugs got their best connection yet: 22Mbps. We suspect this is because the socket we used in the distant room wasn’t tucked away in a sofa, so the PC had clear line of access to the HomePlugs signal.

Our verdict

The HomePlugs in this kit are smaller and cheaper than Devolo’s top-of-the-range models, and offer good value for money. They lack certain features, such as pass-through sockets, and the hardware isn’t designed to keep up with the maximum speeds attainable on the fastest HomePlugs, but in a household reliant on Wi-Fi, they do a good job of banishing blackspots.