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Page 1 of 3  Instead of running messy cables all around your house or unit, one of the latest trends in home networking is Ethernet Over Powerlines, we take a look at D-Link’s DHP-300 unit to see if it’s any good.
The DHP-300 is a very simple device, you plug it into your wall socket, connect a standard network cable from it to your computer, and that’s it. It does help a great deal though if you have another one (or more) elsewhere in your house also plugged in and attached to a computer or router, otherwise you may find the whole thing rather frustrating and pointless. On the device itself there are no buttons and nothing to configure, it doesn’t even have a power button – if it’s plugged in, it’s turned on and working. There are 3 status LEDs on the front of the device, one for power, one for network cable connectivity, and one to indicate that it has found other devices on the power circuit that it is connected to. D-Link DHP-300  If you’re not worried about security, then the DHP-300 is one of the simplest devices in the world to set up and use, simply plug it in and it’s working. There’s no DHCP server or anything fancy like that built in, so you either have to manually configure your IP address on each machine, or have a unit that’s plugged into your router/server/rest of network etc... Network Port  With only 2 devices plugged in, the DHP-300 acts as little more than a cable extender, however you have the ability to add as many devices as you want onto the network/power circuitry, then all the devices are connected in somewhat of a matrix - in that they can all talk to and transmit to each other and as far as your PC is concerned it’s plugged into a normal hub or switch. Underneath - Power Plug  The software included with the DHP-300 is not required for basic operation, however it is needed if you want to add some security to the network. Each individual unit can be set with its own password and you can even setup separate networks on the same power circuit, all you need to do to get the devices to talk to each other is give them the same security passkey. For example is devices 1, 2 and 3 use passkey #1, and devices 4, 5 and 6 use passkey #2, you will have 2 separate networks, it’s that easy – quite impressive in its simplicity. The D-Link Configuration Assistant  Configuration Page for Passwords and Passkeys  Some sort of passkey (other than the default) is a good idea, as even though the devices have to be on the same circuit, D-Link warn that it is possible for the signal to stray beyond your house, so just like securing your Wi-Fi, if you don’t want neighbours leeching off your connection, some security is a good idea. The DHP-300’s don’t need to be plugged into a PC, they can connect to and work with any network capable device. Think of the DHP-300’s network “matrix” as a standard hub/switch, but a huge hub that conveniently has a port just where you need it all round your house.
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