TechRadar.com - Deep into technology

The appearance of the Linksys PLK200-UK system indicates that it is manufactured by a networking company rather than a consumer electronics company such as, say, Apple or Sony.

The adapters are painted in a bright silver finish that would look a bit tacky on a router and simply looks out of place in your living room. The other snag is the HomePlug adapters are very wide at 71mm and risk blocking adjacent power sockets.

Setting up

The Ethernet ports on the two adapters are covered by stickers that warn you to 'Run CD first before connecting the cables.'

As it happens you can rush ahead and plug the system together but you're best advised to do things the Linksys way if you want to change the password for the 128-bit AES encryption.

Provided you're using the PLK200-UK at home and are confident no outsiders have access to your cabling then you may be perfectly happy with the default settings.

Once the configuration utility is installed it appears in the Control Panel as 'PLE200' without any mention of the Linksys name so you may overlook it if you uninstall the hardware at a later date.

Unappealing styling

There are three blue activity LEDs on each unit for Power as well as Power Line and Ethernet connections. They are located on the corner of the unit so you can see them from both the front and from one side.

It's possible that the blue-on-silver colour scheme appeals to you but it's seems more at home in a teenagers bedroom and isn't really the sort of thing you want in your living room.

The connection speed and the function of the Linksys units are perfectly acceptable but the styling and high price greatly reduce their appeal.