Devolo dLan 200 AVsmart+ kit

Devolo’s AVsmart+ kit is a powerline networking product, which means it allows users to connect computers through their home's mains electrical wiring.

It’s one of the more expensive powerline networking adapters, with this kit of two costing over £100, but it has some handy features.

For starters, unlike many cheaper adapters, the AVsmart+ models have a pass-through socket so you can continue to use the power sockets when they are attached. More importantly, though, the front contains a small screen that shows the status of the connection. This is most useful when setting up the network, as it allows the user to easily check whether there is a connection and how good the signal strength is.

Security was easy to set up, too. The adapters can be configured using the supplied software which was easy to use, but there is also a button on each adapter that can be used to encrypt the network simply and quickly.

There are two competing standards for mains networking and this kit uses the one called Homeplug. If you have existing powerline adapters make sure they are compatible with this and not the competing DS2 standard.

At almost £110 for two adapters the AVsmart+ kit is rather expensive when you consider that some kits of the same speed cost around £70.

If you will be setting a network up once and leaving it in place we would recommend a cheaper product, but if you want to move your adapters around the house regularly, the network status display on these adapters could be worth the extra outlay.