In my house, I have a mixture of WiFi and Powerline networking technology. Almost everything needs WiFi, but for my DVR systems, Powerline was the only way to go; unfortunately, my Powerline adapters are painfully slow. Belkin has released a 1GB Powerline kit called the Gigabit Powerline HD kit. My DirectTV video on demand would love me if I were to purchase these.

If you are unfamiliar with Powerline networking, the premise is very simple. You plug one adapter into a wall outlet near your broadband router, and connect it via a networking cable. Then, in other places in your house, you plug in the other Powerline adapters, and connect the network cable. Shazam! You have a network, and you did not have to run any cable. The problem is that Powerline technology has been capped at 200 mpbs, which is painfully slow for HD television On Demand. These Belkin Powerline HD adapters bump up the speeds considerably, which would allow me to download video amazingly fast. These Belkin Gigabit Powerline kits can even handle multiple video streams at once, which make them the perfect companion to a home media server.

The starter kit, which includes 2 adapters and RJ-45 networking cables, will be available soon in Europe and the US for $149.99. This might seem expensive, but considering you do not have to install any infrustructure into your home, and many media appliances and set top DVR units are not WiFi compatible, $150 is a steal for such high speed devices.

Via UberGizmo