Devolo dLAN 650 triple+ Powerline Review

Could Range+ technology give Devolo the edge?

by Greg Hook
Tech Review

18

Recommended
Devolo dLAN 650 triple+ Powerline Review
MSRP: £119.99

Introduction

Powerline Adapters are quickly becoming one of the most useful accessories in the modern household. For a minimal outlay, with a pair of 200Mbps devices costing as little as £15 these days, you can easily reach those areas of the home that have been internet and network black spots for far too long. No longer will you need to have 20m CAT5 cables snaked down stairs and around walls to reach a particular room. There should now be no reason for that poor device to sit in the corner bereft of its network connectivity.

We've recently reviewed many of these Powerline Adapters from manufacturers such as Netgear and TP-LINK and found that, on the whole, they perform well and offer an extremely easy setup and installation. With features such as wireless access points, AC pass-through and Gigabit Ethernet ports, you can certainly get a lot for your money. Another manufacturer we see often on AVForums is Devolo and the provider of the Powerline Adapter for this review.

Looking to be an updated version of the 500Mbps dLAN 500AV Plus we reviewed back in November, the dLAN 650 Triple+ Starter Kit contains a pair of adapters, with one featuring 3 Gigabit Ethernet ports. It promises 'High-performing 600 Mbps for lightning-fast data transmission' thanks in part to their new Range+ technology which uses all three wires of the electrical circuit, rather than two in convential powerline Adapters. Let's see if this pair of adapters delivers on that promise...

Styling and Design

The Devolo dLAN 650 Triple+ Starter Kit contains two Powerline adapters. The main one features just one Gigabit Ethernet port whilst the second adapter features three Gigabit Ethernet ports. A useful feature that could remove the need for additional 4 port switches in a basic system, thus keeping things nice and tidy. It's also worth mentioning that the ports are on the top of the adapters rather than the bottom as with the previous versions, which could solve issues if your sockets are close to the floor but could appear a tad unsightly with the cables sprouting from the top.

Whilst keeping to the same overall all white hard plastic design you see with most Powerline Adapters, Devolo has much improved on the look, especially when compared to its predecessor, the 500AV Plus. Gone are the rounded edges and prominent air vents replaced with a sharper and much more modern look. In fact there are no air vents on either adapter, which could explain the rather warm feel to each one. Not alarmingly so, but they definitely seemed hotter than we usually experience.

Devolo dLAN 650 triple+

One of the most useful features we find with some Powerline Adapters is the AC pass-through and both of these in these units include this. It saves on sacrificing a power socket but does result in a slightly larger adapter, especially when compared to the likes of Netgear's Nano adapters. The main adapter, which is the smaller of the two, measures 131mm high x 65mm wide x 41mm deep and the adapter with the three Gigabite ports measures 143mm high x 70mm wide x 41mm deep.

They are slightly bulkier than we are used to even with AC pass-through adapters, with the larger of the two possibly too big to fit in a double wall socket without affecting the neighbouring socket. They are too wide to fit in a four-way extension lead without taking up another socket, but due to the AC-pass-through you'd probably have no reason to do that anyway. It is stated that Powerline Adapters will not work in some cases with four-way extension leads, but we've not found one yet that has failed during our testing with our standard surge protected four-way extension lead.

To the front of each adapter we find the usual array of three LED lights, this time in white. The Power LED illuminates steady white when ready for use and flashes when in power saving mode, the second LED is for the dLAN. Unlike with the LED on the dLAN 500AV Plus and also Netgear's Pick-a-Plug feature which gives an instant indication of the speeds you are likely to receive from your chosen socket, the 650 Triple+ will simply illuminate white if there is a connection and then red if the connection is not optimal, so no real use in getting a quick idea of the speeds you might receive. The final LED is for the Ethernet and will illuminate steady white if there is a LAN connection. So a slightly simplified LED setup than we are used to but still covers the basics.

Setup and Installation

An effortless setup and installation is a feature that we find with most of the Powerline Adapters, with all the various manufacturers keeping to a similar theme of an installation time measured in the seconds rather than minutes and no software needing to be installed or settings messed about with. This is again something we find with this 650 Triple+ Starter Kit from Devolo.

The setup is as troubling as plugging both devices in, connecting one to your router and then pressing the security buttons on each device for a couple of seconds and that's it. A few seconds later your Powerline network will be up and running and you can connect whichever device you wish to your new network.

These adaptors are fully Homeplug compliant so adding additional ones will present no problems. We tested with both Netgear and TP-LINK branded Powerline Adapters and after the security button on each device was pressed we found no issues with connecting these to the Devolo network. The kit also comes with two 2m Ethernet cables and a pictorial style installation guide.

Devolo dLAN 650 triple+

Testing Method

It's important here to give you an idea of how we test Powerline Adapters, particularly as they are a product open to huge differences in performance levels between one house and the next, due to their very nature. Our testing is carried out in a standard 4 bedroom detached house. The router is a BT HomeHub5 (located on the ground floor), connected via Gigabit Ethernet to both a PC and the main dLAN 650 Adapter at one end, then with a laptop via Gigabit Ethernet to the dLAN 650 Triple Adapter at the other end.

We use a program called LANSpeedTest by Totusoft which is a simple but powerful tool for measuring Local Area Network (LAN) speeds. It does this by building a file in memory, then transfers it both ways (without effects of windows file caching) while keeping track of the time, and then does the calculations for you. The LANSpeedTest program gives the results of transferring files from our main PC to the Laptop via the Powerline Adapters.

We test in four different locations of the home - the distances are straight line, not wiring lengths.

1. 2m between adapters, ground floor, same ring main.
2. 9m between adapters, ground floor, same ring main.
3. 5m between adapters, 1st floor, same ring main.
4. 15m from the main adapter in the garage, not the same ring main, a single spur from the main consumer unit.

Our tests are as follows:
1. 2 x 1GB files simultaneously transferred.
2. 2 x 100MB files simultaneously transferred.
3. 2 x 1GB files successively transferred.
4. 10 x 100MB files successively transferred.
5. 100 x 5MB files successively transferred.
6. 1000 x 10KB files successively transferred.
7. 1000 x 1MB files successively transferred.

The simultaneous test results shown are the maximum throughput speed, whilst the successive tests results are shown as an average speed.

Devolo dLAN 650 triple+

Performance and Test Results

The results of the tests with the dLAN 650 Triple+ Starter Kit are as follows:

Devolo dLAN 650 triple+

As you can see from the results above in all the tests over the 4 locations we achieved a peak throughput of 264.94Mbps with the highest average being 173.9 Mbps, the best results as expected being via the location 1 which has the two adapters closest together. In all the locations the speeds received were far in excess of our Internet connection which therefore comfortably allows for HD streaming of Netflix for example. What impressed us most was the results from the garage which gives the greatest distance between the two adapters we could achieve in our home. A peak of 131.79Mbps shows we can now comfortably network enable the garage, should we ever need to someday.

One major issue we have had in the past is the speed claims that all of the different manufacturers make. They all do same and as reviewers we can complain till we are blue in the face for better transparency and explanation to the average consumer of what the actual speeds they may receive will be but nothing appears to be forthcoming. Some of the previous 'up to' 500Mbps kits have been particularly poor as they only included Fast Ethernet ports which meant you could never exceed 100Mbps anyway. This has improved massively with the general use of Gigabit Ethernet ports, but you need to understand that the 'up to' speeds quoted won't ever be seen under normal conditions.

The 650 Triple+ Starter Kit for example quotes speeds of 'up to' 600Mbps. But it's worth remembering that is the best possible link rate, which includes both the up and down streams, so immediately halve that to 300Mbps as your best possible. As far as our results go we actually weren't that far off in one test with a top speed of 264.94Mbps which is the highest we have seen to date in our Powerline reviews.

We were very pleased with the overall performance of the 650+ adapters and the speeds received were generally excellent. We suffered no issues during our testing. It's also worth pointing out that this set from Devolo uses their new Range+ technology. Simply put the Range+ uses all three lines in the electrical circuit whereas other Powerline Adapters often use only two (phase and neutral), this set can use the earth wire too, which Devolo claim maximises the transmission capacity but also gives a longer range as well. Something that the surprising results in our distant garage test would attest to.

dLAN Cockpit Software

One last item to mention with these Powerline Adaptors from Devolo is a very useful piece of free software called the dLAN Cockpit. This gives you a visual display of your Powerline network and the link rates currently being achieved. It also allows you to easily change the security options and provides a very simple route to update the adapter's firmware and change a few basic settings.

Devolo dLAN 650 triple+

Conclusion

Pros

  • AC Passthrough
  • Fast tested speeds
  • 3 Gigabit Ethernet Ports
  • Range+ Technology

Cons

  • Could be cheaper

Devolo dLAN 650 triple+ Powerline Review

The Devolo 650 Triple+ Starter Kit includes a pair of adapters one with a single Gigabit Ethernet port and the other featuring an excellent 3 Gigabit Ethernet ports. Whilst keeping to the usual design and style we see with most Powerline Adapters, with a hard white plastic finish, these two Adapters have had a few minor design tweaks so you might not be concerned about them being visible. They feel solid and well built although the absence of any air vents in the design does give them a rather warm feel, but not excessively so.

During our tests we received a superb maximum throughput speed of 265Mbps which is not far off the 'theoretical' 300Mbps you could receive. The 'up to' 600Mbps speed quoted by Devolo is based on both the uplink and downlink speed, so is still a little misleading to the average consumer, who might be expecting those sort of speeds. We do hope one day the Powerline Adapter manufacturers are a little more transparent in their marketing.

There are now so many Powerline Adapters available from all the various manufacturers that it is often difficult for one product to stand out from the crowd. The likes of Zyxel, Netgear, TP-LINK and Devolo all offer similar ranges but Devolo appear to be edging ahead with neither Netgear or TP-LINK currently offering in the UK a 600Mbps set with Gigabit Ethernet and AC Pass-through. Priced at £120, compared to the basic range of adapters it may seem expensive but you do get a lot for your money, with the highlights being 3 Gigabit Ethernet ports on one of the adapters and Devolo's Range+ technology described earlier in this review, which helps deliver very fast speeds.

Scores

Build Quality

.
9

Connectivity

.
9

Ease of Use

10

Connection Speed

.
9

Value for Money

.
.
.
7

Verdict

.
.
8
8
AVForumsSCORE
OUT OF
10

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