By utilizing your existing electrical wiring, powerline networking brings wired Ethernet capabilities to areas of your home that are out of reach of your Wi-Fi router. With the Tenda P1002P 2-Port Powerline Adapter Kit, you get everything you need to quickly and easily create a secure powerline network for a list price of $79.99. The adapters in the kit are fairly big and take up both outlets in a two-outlet wall receptacle, but you get one back, thanks to a pass-through outlet. You also get two wired LAN ports with each adapter. Moreover, the P1002P adapters delivered speedy throughput and moved large chunks of data very quickly in testing, making it our Editors' Choice for powerline network adapters.

Design and Features

The P1002P kit comes with two glossy-white powerline adapters that support the HomePlug AV2 standard, two Ethernet cables, and an installation guide. At 5 by 2.3 by 1.7 inches (HWD), each adapter is a good deal larger than the ones that came with the D-Link Powerline AV2 2000 Gigabit Starter Kit (DHP-701AV) (3.8 by 2.8 by 1.3 inches), but almost identical in size to the TP-Link TL-PA8030P adapters (5.2 by 2.8 by 1.7 inches). As with the TP-Link kit, the Tenda P1002P adapter's bulky form factor blocks the second outlet of a two-outlet wall receptacle, but its three-pronged pass-through outlet gives you a place to plug in your laptop or another device.

The rear of the adapter has a three-prong plug, and there are two gigabit LAN ports on the bottom. The front panel contains LED status indicators for power, powerline connectivity, and LAN connectivity. You use a small button on the left side of the adapter to create a secure network using 128-bit AES Encryption.

You can manage the adapters using the PLC-Config utility, which is available on Tenda's website. The utility lets you create custom names for your adapters and your powerline network and select one of five optimized Quality of Service (QoS) settings, including Surfing, Games, Audio/Video, Voice over IP (VoIP), and IPTV (Internet Protocol Television). The utility also allows you to upgrade the adapter's firmware.

Installation and Performance

Installing and setting up the P1002P adapter kit is as easy as can be. First, plug one adapter into a power outlet that's close to your router and connect it to your router using the included Ethernet cable. Next, plug the second adapter into an outlet in any room in your house. To create a secure network, press and release the pairing button on one adapter, and within two minutes press and release the pairing button on the second adapter. You can add up to eight adapters on a single network.

I test powerline adapters using an outlet in my living room that is in close proximity to my HDTV and Sony PS4 gaming console. I plug the adapter directly into the outlet, and it is the only appliance that uses that outlet. I use the JPerf network-measurement tool to create and send four data streams and measure throughput from point to point.

The P1002P turned in very good throughput speeds in testing. Its score of 93.2Mbps squeaked past the D-Link DHP-701AV (92.5Mbps) to take top honors for powerline adapters. By way of comparison, the Comtrend G.hn PG-9172 scored 62.3Mbps, and the TP-Link TL-PA8030P scored 77.6Mbps. The P1002P needed 1 minute 4 seconds to transfer a 500MB folder containing music, photo, video, and document files from point to point. That score also took first place, beating the D-Link DHP-701AV (1:17), the Comtrend PG-1972 (1:17), and the TP-Link TL-PA8030P (1:22). Results were similar on the 1.5GB transfer test; the P1002P's score of 3 minutes 3 seconds led the pack, while the D-Link scored 3:54, the Comtrend PG-1972 garnered 4:56, and the TP-Link PA8030P scored 4:41.

I connected my PS4 console to the adapter and played Grand Theft Auto V online with no noticeable lag. I also watched episodes of Breaking Bad and Gotham on Netflix and enjoyed smooth video, with no stutter or motion artifacts.

Conclusion

The Tenda P1002P 2-Port Powerline Adapter Kit offers a relatively affordable alternative to running cable in order to bring wired Ethernet to various rooms in your house. It takes minutes to install, and it delivered speedy throughput and some of the fastest file transfer speeds we've seen from a powerline device in testing. The adapters may not be a compact as those of the D-Link Powerline AV2 2000 Gigabit Starter Kit (DHP-701AV), but they offer a pass-through outlet (the D-Link adapters don't) and two LAN ports (the D-Link adapters only have one). Additionally, the P1002P kit costs $50 less than the D-Link kit. As such, the Tenda P1002P is our Editors' Choice for powerline adapters.