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Linksys PLK200-UK

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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.

Hawking Hi-Gain 12dBi

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If you live in a built-up area and suffer from a weak wireless signal on your home network, the Hawking Hi-Gain 12dBi directional window antenna is worth a look.

The rectangular antenna, which is styled like a socket extension, can either be attached to your window using suckers, or to your wall by screws, and offers a much stronger signal over standard 802.11b/g routers.

Improved Wi-Fi

Unfortunately, you'll also need an external USB Wi-Fi stick - even if your laptop already has a wireless capabilities - as the Window Antenna has to be connected to the adapter's aerial. For this review, we used Hawking's wireless 108G USB adapter (£18 inc. VAT).

It needs to be connected to the Windows Antenna with the provided cable. It's a simple case of unscrewing the aerial from the USB stick and connecting the wire, but this approach stops you enjoying the freedom found when using a regular wireless network.

Configuring the device to a network can be tricky for first-time users. This is due to the drivers being hidden on the supplied disc. Once up and running, we found wireless performance was greatly improved.

We tried using the laptop in a different room from the router, with several walls in the way, and at a considerable distance.

Strong signal

Using our regular Wi-Fi adapter, signal strength was low, showing up to only two bars and occasionally encountering network problems. Using the external Wi-Fi adapter and Windows Antenna, we had no such problems.

Signal strength was excellent, maintaining a stable connection and showing up as five bars on the Windows Wireless Connection manager.

If your router is stored in a separate room and you need a stronger signal, Hawking's Hi-Gain Windows Antenna is a potential solution. It's not without problems, however, and it's frustrating that you'll also have to buy a plug-in wireless adapter.

Trendnet 2.4GHz Wi-Fi Detector TEW-T1

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This device comes in the traditional TRENDnet colour that we're more used to. Which is to say, this is the colour we don't like. Regardless of that, this product deserves to be tested with the same diligence we'd allow a £400 graphics card.

This is a device with manifold uses. In essence, it's a wireless detector. That means it can detect, identify and rate various wireless signals in a given area.

You can then use that information to detect wireless hotspots while on the move, find the sources of interference on your wireless network, or find the best places to put your wireless adapters to give the best signal. It can even detect wireless cameras - although a practical application for this escapes us.

High unmighty

It's a small and light device, which points to good portability. Unfortunately it's a little too tall to be comfortably pocket-sized, and doesn't feel particularly sturdy.
Using the device is simple. You can plump for either manual or automatic modes, and the information is passed on to you via the gift of green LEDs. Yup, that's right, it's a blue plastic box with a few LEDs on it. Doesn't exactly scream "value for money", eh?

There's a further problem in that it doesn't support wireless N networks, so it doesn't even work with the latest technology. That seems a bit of a howler from TRENDnet. Although it picked up our cordless phones, we had to get close to the microwave before that was detected.

There's undoubted potential here, but it remains unfulfilled in this incarnation. An LCD display showing network names and security status would be much more useful for finding hotspots, for example. Detecting sources of interference is a good idea, but the feedback of a flashing light fails to impress. At the moment, this is just a device that replaces trial-and-error with LEDs.

Linksys WRE54G Wireless-G Range Expander

tech.co.uk staff — 1164981889

Compatible with both 802.11b and g, the WRE54G Range Expander is undeniably a simple solution to add range to your network. It's one of the only examples of such kit on the market, too. Acting as a repeater, the WRE54G picks up signal from your existing router or access point and bounces it.

We envisage it to be most useful when you have good range in the main part of your house or office, but poor range in another part of the building. It could also help in multi-storey homes - after all, it's cheaper than Powerline for this purpose.

However, for £58 you have to wonder if you could just use a cheap wireless access point as a repeater - you should be able to pick up one of these for around £40. Where the WRE54G does have an advantage is that it doesn't need to be connected to your network via Ethernet unlike a second access point. The unit also has a generous three-year warranty. Dan Grabham