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Homeplug AV socket by Power Ethernet offers slimline speedy home networking

Powerline network adapters can be bulky and take away a vital power socket, but the Power Ethernet Socket solves both problems and offers four Ethernet ports.

The £110 Power Ethernet Socket fits into a standard 35mm two-gang UK power socket cavity, and provides four switched Ethernet ports plus a built-in Homeplug AV powerline network adapter.

It will communicate with any other Homeplug AV adapter, and features four LEDs which indicate the status of your powerline network.

Power Ethernet Socket

Most broadband installations – especially fibre broadband – need your modem and router close to the BT master socket.

That’s usually near the front door, nowhere near the home office or the living room, which is where you’re most likely to find devices in need of a high speed internet connection.

WiFi often doesn’t have enough bandwidth or range to reliably reach the places it’s needed, while even new British homes are rarely wired up with Ethernet sockets in every room.

The only wires you can guarantee to reach every corner are your mains power, which is where powerline networking comes in, piggy-backing network data over the mains.

Even the smallest powerline adapters are the size of a DC power brick, and if you want a ‘pass-through’ adapter that doesn’t take up the socket, they often stick out in the way of passing pedestrians.

Power Ethernet Socket back view

Homeplug AV is the current sweet spot for powerline networking, with a total bandwidth across all sockets of 200Mbps over up to 300m of cable.

It has built-in 128-bit AES encryption and has been ‘notched’ to reduce interference with amateur radio, DAB, and other radio users.

Powerline networking is completely invisible to other devices on the network, and can be fine-tuned to optimise video streaming or VOIP services like Skype.

The Power Ethernet Socket is the first device from Power Ethernet, but we’re hoping they continue to add features such as WiFi hotspots and multi-plug sockets in future devices.

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