Conclusion:

The D-Link DHP-701AV is impressive for a variety of reasons... It makes extending your high speed network about as easy as possible, the system is expandable to include up to 16 adapters, the throughput is more than adequate for streaming HD and other networked content, and the adapters are rather small / unobtrusive. Other devices I have used, including Actiontec's WCB3000NK01 kit, had me installing larger devices in the remote location (my bedroom), with multiple bright LEDs which really didn't suit the environment. The DHP-701AV has all but disappeared, plugged in to an outlet behind a dresser, with a dim LED that doesn't have a chance to bother me. While I did not endeavor to test the effect of low power mode, it is nice to see that the device can intelligently manage its power consumption to provide up to an 85% lower draw when idle.



On the downside, I was really hoping the performance of the DHP-701AV would have blown away the other devices I have tried in similar settings. The maximum speed I saw in my environment was just over 750Mbps, which makes it about the fastest solution I have tried, but which is well short of the advertised speed. That 750Mbps was while downloading from the Internet, so streaming any HD content should not be a problem. While streaming from a NAS server on the local network, the speeds were lower - but still faster than anything else I have tried.

Heading over to Amazon.com shows that if you want one right away, you can get one from a third party seller for about $175 shipped. That seems kind of pricey to me, and if you are willing to wait 2-4 weeks you can get one delivered from Amazon.com for about $142. Definitely quite the savings, but also quite the wait. Newegg.om has the DHP-701AV in stock, but the price is still about $142, and considering that the MSRP of this product is under $130, perhaps we have a case of supply and demand pushing up the current price. Testing showed that this kit performed very similarly to Actiontec's WCB3000NK01 kit, which uses your home's coaxial cabling to transmit network data, and sells for about $124 at Amazon.com. The Actiontec kit takes more work to get up and running, but for similar performance and a savings up $20-$50, it makes choosing the D-Link DHP-701AV less of a no-brainer.

In the end, the D-Link DHP-701AV 2000Mbps AV2 2000 powerline adapter kit earns the Bigbruin.com "Recommended" award for being fast and very easy to use.



Pros:

» Simple plug and play operation
» Provides high speed data transfers
» Ready to stream HD and 4K content
» Low power mode lets the devices draw up to 85% less electricity
» Expandable - up to 16 adapters can be added to your "powerline network"

Cons:

» Was expecting it to be even faster
» Included CAT5 cables (not CAT5e or even CAT6)
» No power outlet pass-through provided

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