devolo dLAN 200 AVdesk - ultra-fast mains-borne networking

[Bob Crabtree]

Next week sees the introduction by devolo of a product - the dLAN 200 AVdesk - that promises ultra-fast around-the-home networking without the hassle and expense of installing a whole lot of Ethernet cables.

The dLAN 200 AVdesk - £180 for a pair and £100 as singles (not cheap, we agree) - is based on the HomePlug AV standard that uses mains-borne signals to provide data transfer speeds claimed to be up to a massive 200Mbit/sec (25MByte/sec).

Okay, that's only one-fifth of the speed of a gigabit (1000Mbit/sec) network but it's still fast enough to comfortably handle ADSL2 downloads and uploads. It's also suitable for punting around the home compressed high-def footage, either directly from the net or from PC to PC or PC to network media player.

More in this HEXUS.lifestyle.headline.

[popper]

[IMG]//img.hexus.net/v2/lifestyle/news/devolo/dlan_200_avdesk_starterpack_tn.jpg[/IMG]

More in this ://lifestyle.hexus.net/content/item.php?item=6941"]HEXUS.lifestyle.headline[/URL].

nice idea but at £100 quid a pop its not cost effective, you can get a wireless 11g+ card for £20 and be on par with these things.

Hmm and the site manager might want to change the MB settings it wont let me reply with the quoted urls in there yet so i have to remove the posters full urls before i can reply .
"Members are required to have a minimum of 5 posts before they can post any URL's "

[dave87]

11g isn't quite up to scratch for streaming Video files - unless they are very low quality. I would just go for Cat5E in the walls to be fair

The 5 posts thing is to stop the torrent of spam, and, if I'm honest, you don't really need to quote the original post as you are directly beneath it

[popper]

nice idea but at £100 quid a pop its not cost effective, you can get a wireless 11g+ card for £20 and be on par with these things.

and before someone pops up and says security, it should be pointed out that anyone on the ring main within range (i assume 100meter or perhaps more?) and that includes many in your street/close/avenue/etc with these mains boxs can also receave the lans data, now that might be a good thing if thats your intent I.E sharing your community network and data, but it needs stating anyway for thoughs that dont want this, you need to cover the tech side far better in future to cover these and other points to keep it clear for the novice and techy alike.

Hmm and the site manager might want to change the MB settings it wont let me reply with the quoted urls in there yet so i have to remove the posters full urls before i can reply .
"Members are required to have a minimum of 5 posts before they can post any URL's "

sorry for the editing confusion , i dont use this mb sw much and most have clicked the wrong option.

[popper]

11g isn't quite up to scratch for streaming Video files - unless they are very low quality. I would just go for Cat5E in the walls to be fair

The 5 posts thing is to stop the torrent of spam, and, if I'm honest, you don't really need to quote the original post as you are directly beneath it

with respect, thats rubbish, ignoring the fact i said 11g+ (thats PLUS), the older 11g at 54mbit salesman speak and 22mbit real data throughput, is perfectly good enough to stream a DVD film off the harddrive (or direct off the DMA'ed DVD if you want to punish that thing) over the 11g (22mbit) network, and still have lots of bandwidth to browse the web, i do it all the time useing nothing more than VLC as the server multicasting 224.0.0.1:7777 no less, and several other machines with copys of vlc or MPC (media player classic) to play the stream.

if you want to get inovative and upto date, then you would grab a copy of the free X264 AVC encoder and re-master your DVD collection to AVC format and a copy of coreAVC codec and then be in a position to massively save harddrive space and bandwidth/bitrate for the same quality of old MPeg2 video, doing that would also allow you to use the antiquated 11b wireless 11mbit cards and get you ready for the future AVC DVB transport streams coming online as we type including the DVB-T/-S/-C and DVB-H, plus the AVC IPTV stuff.

ohh and if you want a half way house as it were, for the data/bit rate verses the old Mpeg2 and the latest AVC(aka mpeg4-part 10/H.264)
you could also go for the cheap and cheerful Yuan hardware Encoders.

i cant yet post URL's so i cant direct you to the site exactly so edit this [edited] http://www.yuan.com.tw/en/products/vdo_pg400.html , keep in mind the saleman speak, and rememebr that MPEG4 is to generic a term and isnt refering to AVC but infact the older mpeg4 codec DivX/Xvid (aka mpeg4-part2 ASP) but notice its realtime encoding and has a "Composite video in- RCA jackS video in – Mini Din connector", hopefully one day soon they and every hardware maker will put a simple and cheap FPGA reprogramable chip on all their kit then we can then use any codec to encode and decode whatever video formats we care too in the future.

[dave87]

Honestly, I have tried. First time was through a couple of walls, and so I thought that might have affected it. Next time I put my Laptop no more than 2 foot away from the router, and it stuttered like hell. I was using a movie that I had ripped to my PC using AGK in DIVX format. Desktop was a Dell Dimension (p4 630) and laptop is a CoreDuo 2ghz- so that wasnt the problem. The Dimension was connected via ethernet, laptop via wireless.

When I run them both via Ethernet, streams no problems, via Wireless, it stutters, it takes forever to skip ahead/resume after paused. This was all using the latest VLC available off the net.

Your comment about using 11b cards is rubbish, as after overheads they are not even able to maintain 2mb broadband speeds, let alone the 5mb+ that ADSL Max & Cable brings. Therefore I would be supprised, to say the least, if it can carry high quality video feeds.

[popper]

Honestly, I have tried. First time was through a couple of walls, and so I thought that might have affected it. Next time I put my Laptop no more than 2 foot away from the router, and it stuttered like hell. I was using a movie that I had ripped to my PC using AGK in DIVX format. Desktop was a Dell Dimension (p4 630) and laptop is a CoreDuo 2ghz- so that wasnt the problem. The Dimension was connected via ethernet, laptop via wireless.

When I run them both via Ethernet, streams no problems, via Wireless, it stutters, it takes forever to skip ahead/resume after paused. This was all using the latest VLC available off the net.

Your comment about using 11b cards is rubbish, as after overheads they are not even able to maintain 2mb broadband speeds, let alone the 5mb+ that ADSL Max & Cable brings. Therefore I would be supprised, to say the least, if it can carry high quality video feeds.

im not trying to be difficult dave, im sat here trying to work out why you are having these problems, and will post a reply to try and solve it if i can, its good to help others after all, but its not rubbish streaming AVC encoded content over 11b as i have done it ( i never say it [whatever]can be done unless iv done it personally or know the man that did).

im not clear on your "after overheads they are not even able to maintain 2mb broadband speeds, let alone the 5mb+ that ADSL Max & Cable brings" are you saying you were trying to unicast over the tcp/ip internet and that was causeing you problems?, please clarify.

and just to be clear, when i said "perfectly good enough to stream a DVD film off the harddrive" i was not refering to some 'AGK in DIVX format' or any form of DivX/Xvid or even AVC re-encoded format, i am stating that i have and do personally UDP multicast stream bog standard Mpeg2/VOB format decripted DVD disks over the old tech 11g (22mbit real rate)wireless network without any problem what so ever, if you cant, then theres a problem with your wireless (i assume XP) connection/router/AP or its not running at the fastest rate, you have gone back to basics and checked the real connected data rate and average throughput using some standard tools to confirm its right i assume.

Your comment about using 11b cards is rubbish, as after overheads they are not even able to maintain 2mb broadband speeds,

for reference and other new readers trying to make sense of all this, i have personally tested the old and antiquated 11b cards i have here and get on average 9.5mbit/s and 10.3 mbit/s after overheads (tcp/ip),and mostly the higher side of this over a 20 minute test , so all i can assume is if your average is 2mbit/s then its eather a wrong data rate setting in your hardware or a very bad/broken arial connection and so its auto dropping the rate to 2 mbit/s to get a stronger signal , thats assuming your not getting crosstalk from another wireless card/router/AP close by?,change your channel for instance from 3 to 11.

[Bob Crabtree]

Popper,

The things you are saying about your own experiences and strategies to get around the shortcomings of wireless networking only underline, in my view, why HomePlug mains-borne networking is such an attractive alternative for ordinary people.

It's not plug-and-pray, it's plug and play and a WHOLE lot faster than wireless while being a lot less hassle than running Ethernet cables around the home. And cheaper too, if those cables are run by a professional.

What needs to be understood, too, is that for most people, right now, the slower 85Mbit/sec HomePlug standard delivers everything that's needed and is a good deal cheaper than the 200Mbit/sec AV standard, which will only come into its own when ADSL 2 and far higher download speeds are the norm.

Check out my review of the devolo MicroLink dLAN Highspeed Starter Kit and all will be revealed.

[popper]

Popper,

The things you are saying about your own experiences and strategies to get around the shortcomings of wireless networking only underline, in my view, why HomePlug mains-borne networking is such an attractive alternative for ordinary people.

It's not plug-and-pray, it's plug and play and a WHOLE lot faster than wireless while being a lot less hassle than running Ethernet cables around the home. And cheaper too, if those cables are run by a professional.

What needs to be understood, too, is that for most people, right now, the slower 85Mbit/sec HomePlug standard delivers everything that's needed and is a good deal cheaper than the 200Mbit/sec AV standard, which will only come into its own when ADSL 2 and far higher download speeds are the norm.

Check out my review of the devolo MicroLink dLAN Highspeed Starter Kit and all will be revealed.

Hi Bob, yes i can respect that view and indeed if it is really plug&play (personally i prefered AutoConfig (Amiga days lol) ) then your point is well taken, and i commend you for it.

did you look into the points about security and test for working distance/range etc?, it would be intersting to get your personal view seeing as you have the kit

ill take a look at that url now,thanks for pointing that out.

what id really like to see is some AutoConfig/P&P low DC voltage wireless MESH boxs with a simple plugin set your personal password/settings/etc and deploy.

did you ever get to try those Yuan mpeg4-ASP encoders yet or know if someones makeing some real personal mpeg4-AVC encoders you could review?, id like to see an indepth report sometime as AVC is the next big thing in DVB (and by extension near future personal video podcasts and net TV once DOCSIS3.0 arrives).
http://www.newvideobusiness.com/content/view/74/26/

i do like my tech LOL, sorry for going on....

oh and Bob, did you know that NTL:tw have put some peoples 10mbit/s cable broadband upto an unofficial 20mbit/s test deployment ?,look over on
(looks, it says 7 posts) http://www.cableforum.co.uk/? for the threads
http://www.cableforum.co.uk/board/sh...php?t=33601614

[Funkstar]

and before someone pops up and says security, it should be pointed out that anyone on the ring main within range (i assume 100meter or perhaps more?) and that includes many in your street/close/avenue/etc with these mains boxs can also receave the lans data

Thats not what i understand from these powerline ethernet type devices. Many people have problems getting the devices to be recognised if the sockets are on different loops on the same fuse box, so having the signals appear on a neighbours ring main is extremely unlikely. Then even advise you not to use them on power strips or multi socket adapters.

Wireless completely depends what else is in the air around you. My 11g signal regularly has problems in my flat streaming FLAC files (~700Kbit/second) to my laptop and SqueezeBox in my bedroom reliably, depending on what the other half dozen wireless networks in the area are doing. Yes i've changed channels etc, but really there is only so much you can do to get decent wireless networking going on the very congested 2.4GHz spectrum.

There is no way on earth i could get streaming DVD, yet along HD video, across my network, and thats *with* a high gain antena.

[dave87]

AGK stands for Auto Gorian Knot - the utility used to encode the avis in Xvid format.

When tested using an FTP connection between two computers connected via 11b & ethernet (in otherwords, through a router) the maximum sustained transfer rate was 3-400kb/sec (that admittedly gives a speed of about 3.5mbps - which is the true speed of an 11b network) - my 8mb ADSL Max can go to about 500k/sec given the correct download sites - hence my comment 11b cannot keep up. That speed is not high enough to stream any kind of movie - may work fine for mp3s, but not flac audio as funkstar points out.

Unless, due to being an early adopter of Wireless technology (I had one of the first Wireless Modem/Routers available - 6 or so years ago ) I was just stung with a poor implementation of the wireless protocols, or the hardware wasn't up to scratch, then my above comments could be shown not to be true. However, much like yourself, I would not comment on something unless I had been able/unable to do it myself.