Belkin has released a new addition to their Powerline Networking products with the release of the Gigabit Powerline HD Starter Kit. These Gigabit Powerline adapters are designed to create an ultra-fast HD entertainment network through your home's electrical wiring.
Belkin is the first company to release home wiring adapters with speeds up to 1000Mbps (commonly called Gigabit). To put this into perspective the older 802.11b WiFi standard runs at 11Mbps and the newer ‘g’ version runs at 54Mbps. The cutting edge ‘n’ WiFi standard runs at a maximum speed of 144Mbps. This makes the Belkin adapters nearly 7 times faster. Belkin’s previous Powerline adapters reached speeds of 200Mbps.
Of course Gigabit Ethernet has been around for a long time too and most modern PCs and Macs come with Gigabit Ethernet, but the advantage of the Belkin, like WiFi, is that you don’t need to run wires to all the different rooms in your house where you want network or Internet connectivity.
Belkin is aiming this product at two distinct groups: 1) Those who want to quickly transfer large data files as well as stream multiple HD movies online and 2) PC gamers who rely on the stability and speed to reduce online gaming latency.
Setup of a Powerline network is simple with its plug-and-play connectivity: Plug one end of the adapter into an available wall socket and then connect the other end to any device with an available Ethernet port (RJ45), such as a gaming console, set-top box, or computer.
As with WiFi, the Belkin speeds are “theoretical” and based on “ideal physical conditions”. Actual data throughput and distance will be lower, depending on interference, network traffic and condition of the home wiring.
The Belkin Gigabit Powerline HD Starter Kit is available now in the USA for $149.99 and will be available in Europe (including the UK) in early August.