NETGEAR Powerline 1000 Mbps WiFi, 802.11ac, 1 Gigabit Port - Essentials Edition (PLW1010-100NAS)

Long post including setup information for NETGEAR genie PLW1010 (for those of you network gurus, please don’t laugh at me). Hopefully this will help save some hair-pulling. Biggest thing to keep in mind is it WILL work, so don’t let your stomach get into knots. I originally performed the connection exactly as written in the book. It worked flawlessly. But when I tried to set up my phone, and then security, the wheels fell off the wagon, so to speak. If I were to do it again, I would do as follows: SET UP SECURITY FIRST. You WANT a secured wi-fi router… these things blast a wide wi-fi signal outside of your home, and you do NOT want a perv sitting out there downloading kiddie-porn off your unsecured ISP/IP address. There is a long history of owners being prosecuted for having an unsecured wi-fi router that let this occur! I set up my security second, and that’s where it got more complicated for me. 1. Plug in both the base unit and the wi-fi unit where they will live. a. Follow the booklet’s instructions for finding a good outlet, etc. b. At this point, if you follow the booklet’s instructions, you will be up and connected with your laptop, but you will not be secure. c. You will then have to go through some of the hair-pulling I did. 2. Secure the base-unit part of this duo: a. Connect an Ethernet cable (2 come with this package) to a laptop/desktop and to the base portion of this (it connects to your ISP’s router using an Ethernet cable also). At this point, you will have 2 Ethernet cables connected: 1 to ISP modem, and 1 to your computer. b. Using a browser, type in “mywifiext.net” > admin > password c. Click on Maintenance > Set Password and use “password” as the old. d. Change to the new password using letters, numbers, a special character or 2 and capture that somewhere (screenshots are good for this) e. Be sure to click Apply button to save your changes NOTE: In order to do the next part, the router software will require you to log back in with your NEW password. 3. Secure the wi-fi unit of this duo: a. Click Setup > Wireless Settings b. Change the SSID if you want (the name of the network you will see when you are looking for one to connect to) c. Change the password(s) of the wireless networks. d. I recommend leaving the other settings in here as they are, and click Apply button to save your changes. i. You will get a new screen showing your new settings. ii. Copy that into an email to yourself if you wish for future reference (screenshot of this is best practice). 4. Connect to your new wireless router a. Follow the instructions for connecting that are in your accompanying booklet i. Push WPS on wi-fi device you just plugged in, and WPS on your own device. ii. This will apply the new password you just created in the Wireless Settings page b. If you have to add the network manually: i. Choose to add a wireless network in Control Panel, or your handheld device’s connections settings ii. Pick the network SSID you just renamed (or left as it was) iii. Type in the password your just created in the Wireless Settings panel iv. Enjoy your excellent signal! MY ACTUAL EXPERIENCE AND WHY I WROTE THE ABOVE 1. INITIAL SETUP: The auto-setup is 100% easy and accurate. I connected quickly and easily. I was lucky enough to have wired my own 105-y-o house when I replaced plumbing. I ran circuits that serviced 1 or 2 outlets per room, with several rooms on a single circuit. (This used to be best practice, not sure now though.) Because of that, the outlet in the room where my ISP’s modem connects to the exterior cable (a bedroom downstairs) is on a circuit that runs to my (upstairs) office as one of the many rooms it passes through. (I added 13 new circuits, in case you wonder about this.) I plugged in the base unit, then I went to my office, plugged in the wi-fi piece, and I got the green light I wanted (perfect connection). I went over to my laptop, found the WPS Push button (software), pushed the WPS button on the wi-fi router (blue lights blinks in this mode), and I had an instant connection. 2. SECURITY SETUP mixed with ANDROID SETUP: The phone setup led to a security setup, and was more difficult due to my own lack of knowledge. a. I’ll state what is probably obvious to the network gurus, but not to a simple user like myself, and took a while to figure out: The WPS PUSH button searches for the WI-FI SETUP PASSWORD (internal to itself), and passes that to the device you are connecting. It is not some scrambled code that is unique to that moment’s push of the button. So whatever password the wi-fi router is set to (or you set it to)… that is what gets passed. Thus my recommendation to do the security piece first… the rest falls into place. b. This is where it got a bit more complicated for me. Once my laptop was connected, I tried to connect my Android phone. It would not connect at all, and I could not find the WPS Push on it. Darn. And I had 2 networks to choose from. No luck on either. I didn’t know what password to use. c. Since I had a wi-fi connection to the router, I went into the router setup from my wi-fi connected laptop (mywifiext.net). I changed the router password (from default of “admin” and “password” and tried my phone again. No luck. This turns out to be the actual MODEM’S password… that unit that is the “base” of the two that come in this box… downstairs next to my ISP’s modem. So of course it didn’t work on my phone. d. Then I discovered that I had another screen I could go to in my router setup: Setup > Wireless Settings. In there, I found both of the wireless networks newly available. One is “5G” and the other is not (5G has a faster speed). So I changed both passwords there. At this point I could connect my phone manually by typing in the password that I had just set. e. But then I lost connectivity on my laptop. Hmm…. Thinking it through, the WPS Push apparently picks up whatever that wi-fi router password is. Not some unique-to-the-moment code. OK. Opened my laptop’s network setup (click the little bars on the lower RH corner of the taskbar and choose “Open Network and Sharing Center”), navigated to my “manage wireless networks” and change the password in there for the earlier auto-connected wireless. I added the second, slower one as well. I then went back to my connection panel (the little bars in the lower RH corner of the taskbar), entered the password manually, and I was good to go. I tested my speed when I was done (over the Wi-Fi). It was 12mbps down, and 2.5mbps up. That's actually faster than my ISP provides on my plan, so I think I did OK with this purchase.

I have a lousy Google OnHub and was getting regular dropped connections despite being no more than 12 feet above the router with a wood-beam floor in-between. I considered just buying a wifi extender, however, the prospect of repeating a weak/slow signal didn't seem logical to me, so I researched the Powerline AV2 options. I was concerned about the number of breakers that it might have to pass through, and it's a 40-year-old house (not too old, but not new either). IIRC, it should only be passing through one breaker with my house configuration. PROS: - The price is (relatively) a pretty good deal considering the hardware seems to be high-quality and it includes a wifi transmitter, not to mention: - Setup is extremely easy! I bought mine used from one of the Amazon sellers and it came with no box/docs (which are available on NetGear's web site, so I didn't care). I didn't even read the instructions - I just plugged them in a hit the connect button and it just started working! - High speed & reliable: Once I installed the PLW1010 (which took minutes) and changed my SSIDs, my connectivity issues disappeared! CONS: - It has its own SSID rather than cloning. Not a big deal. - If you want to add more *wifi* enabled receivers, NetGear doesn't sell them separately (lame). However, TP-Link has one (AV500) available as an adapter only and it also supports cloning. - I wish that it had a passthrough outlet. Yeah, the PLPW1000 does, but I didn't want to spend an extra $50 just for an extra outlet. The CONS, in my opinion, are minimal and do not affect my delight with this product! Highly recommended. #happiness I've only had it for a week, but I have not had ONE dropped connection since I installed it (versus MANY per day with the router-only). I will update if I encounter future issues and/or if my opinion changes.

I'd never used a powerline Ethernet adapter before and was skeptical as to whether this product would adequately address a WiFi deadspot in my townhouse. Installation is easy - plug the transmitting unit into an outlet near the router, with an Ethernet cable connecting it to an open port of the router. The second unit with WiFi capability goes into any other power outlet and after about a minute startup starts broadcasting its own WiFi SSID - the ID and password are printed on a label on the back. I had trouble getting the unit to replicate the settings of my existing WiFi setup using WPS, so I ended up doing it manually via a web browser, so that it now shares an SSID and password with my router. (The instructions that came with the unit are rather brief and somewhat difficult to follow.) The WiFi unit has lights to indicate power and status as well as the quality of the connection to the transmitting unit. I tried it in several outlets but never achieved anything more than a "medium" connection - indicated by an amber-ish light. Still, it worked just fine, and provided a stable WiFi connection where my router didn't reach well and the speed seemed perfectly adequate.

Attached to router in house and plugged it in the wall. Plugged the second one out in the garage. Waited a few minutes all green and good to go. Same wireless download speed out in garage as in house hardwired to router. Couldn’t be easier. Wifi everywhere in yard even down the back alley. Highly recommend!!

Basically a 2 piece item. Plug one in near your router and plug the other one in a remote location. The device uses your electrical wiring to relay the wifi signal.

Al principio algunos problemas para que el dispositivo reconociera la red wifi de mi casa, pero una vez instalado no he tenido ninguna dificultad en cuanto estabilidad de la señal, ni a intensidad de la misma

Purchased to solve issues with wifi speeds in certain areas of my house. Once installed, the connection provided by the Netgear device was even slower than the already awfully slow wifi. (The device was not very far from the router either)

Fonctionne parfaitement. Débit rapide, connexion wifi disponible avec très bonne qualité de signal. Correspond exactement à mes besoins