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The dLAN® 1200 triple+ is the latest powerline company from Devolo. Powerline adapters are a fantastic option for people wanted fast and stable connections between their router and connected device without the mess or difficulty installing ethernet cable.

With Powerline, the adaptors use the electrical wiring without our home to establish a physical connection, similar to how wired ethernet works. This physical connection provides significantly more reliability and speed than WiF.

The Triple+ is rated at 1200 Mbps, and there are Wi-Fi routers out there that are rated faster, but the quality degrades quickly, and I doubt any router can achieve that speed between rooms. Wi-Fi Repeaters are a viable and cheaper option, but again it is not as good as some form of physical connection. Powerline isn’t perfect itself though, the 1200 Mbps speed is the theoretical maximum, and you always receive less, but it is still good.

This new model is the same speed as the fantastic dLAN 1200+ WiFi Ac Powerline Adapter I reviewed back in 2015. However, this one lacks the WiFi option but adds a 3rd ethernet port. This is a useful configuration if you want to connect your router to your TV room where you may have multiple devices like TV, console and streaming device all required internet. Of course, with the 2-port version, you could just add a switch to expand your ports, but that is an extra cost, wires, and plug sockets.

As with previous dLAN review, the physical hardware is quite large and not particularly attractive. Thankfully Devolo has kept the width of the adaptor thin enough not to block sockets to the left or right. Instead, the adaptor rises above your sockets quite a large way. This would block sockets if you use it on a power strip but it is highly recommended you never use a powerline adaptor this way as it degrades the quality of the line and therefore speed. The adaptors have a pass-through socket, so you don’t lose any socket space when you use one of these.

The Devolo adapters are fully HomePlug compliant so adding additional adapters to the existing Powerline network won’t cause any issues. You can also mix and match different manufacturers. I have tested TP-LINK, Netgear and Devolo Powerline Adapters together on the same network and all paired and connected without issue.

You can technically use these adaptors by just plugging them in and having them sync up automatically, or but you can manage the devices either directly in the browser or via the myDevolo app. myDevolo is poorly reviewed on Android, but I don’t have any significant issues with it, it is just a bit clunky and poorly designed. Within the app, you can see any dLAN devices, also home control and LiveCam devices. In dLAN you can update the firmware, assign a name to the device, and change the passwords. Alternatively, there is also the Cockpit software, which functionally is the same as the android app, again, the design isn’t great, but it does the job.  Once things are set-up to your link you should never really need to reaccess the settings.

Performance

From here, using the system is as simple as plugging in your ethernet cables. The speed you achieve on the network is dependant on many variables, such as the quality of your home wiring, the distance between adaptors and other devices plugged in. The dLAN products use something called Range+ which uses all three lines in the electrical circuit compared to other manufacturers which often only use two, that being the phase and neutral.

Using LAN Speed Test, I tested the connections at a couple of points within my home, the first approximately 8-10m away between 2 thick brick walls where the router is located in one room, and my media room, with a hallway between them. In this scenario, my WiFi connects fine for my phone, it can even see the 5GHz network, but it is not much use from streaming large local files or 4K Netflix. In this scenario, I was able to achieve speeds of 197/178 Mbps read and write speeds. Quite a bit lower than the advertises speed but double the speed of 100Mbit ethernet and significantly faster than the 35Mps I achieve on Wi-fi.

The 2nd location is in my garage, where I have gym equipment, it is a bit of an extreme test as, not only is it about 15 meters away, passing through 4 rooms and four walls, but it goes across my garden. In this situation, I can’t see the Wi-Fi network of that router. Here I was able to achieve 55/45Mbps. While not super-fast, it is more than adequate for most needs, and more importantly, it is the only feasible option for providing a connection, as running ethernet across my concrete back garden would be difficult at best.

Overall

As usual from Devolo the dLAN is a fantastic device, there is nothing major to criticise about it, the android app could be better, but you hardly need it, and you won’t get 1200Mbps, but that is true with all these devices.

I would say the only thing you need to consider when buying this is how much do you need 3 ethernet ports over 2 + Wi-Fi. At the time of writing the Devolo dLAN 1200+ Wi-Fi AC Powerline Starter Kit is the same price as the dLAN 1200 triple+ on Amazon, though the Wi-Fi model has a higher RRP. I would personally be inclined to get the WiFi model, so then you can reliably extend your Wi-Fi network at the same time, and buy cheap switch if required.

Whichever model you choose though, this is one of the most efficient ways to extend your network for any devices that are particularly data hungry.

Devolo dLAN 1200 Triple+ Powerline Lan

Product Name: Devolo dLAN 1200 Triple+ Powerline Lan

Offer price: 129.99

Currency: GBP

Availability: InStock

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Overall
83%
83%
  • Performance - 90%
    90%
  • Ease of use - 90%
    90%
  • Features - 75%
    75%
  • Price - 75%
    75%

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